Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Accepted
Map critical path for BECCS deployment and develop contingency plans for decarbonisation goals.
Conclusion
The deployment of BECCS has been repeatedly delayed, even though it remains a key part of the government’s plans to decarbonise the UK. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) and DESNZ both see BECCS as essential to the UK achieving its decarbonisation goals from Carbon Budget 6 (2033–37) onwards. Government initially planned for the first BECCS plant in the UK to begin operations by 2030. However, this date will not be achieved and government has yet to settle on a new target date. There are no BECCS projects in the first phase of the government’s Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) programme and no clarity over when or if it will be included in later stages. Currently, smaller scale biomass power generators which primarily use waste wood from the UK are excluded from the CCUS programme. It is not clear if these plants will be helped to transition to BECCS. The most recent advice published by the CCC confirms that BECCS will still be needed to achieve net zero by 2050, but only half the amount of BECCS capacity compared to previous forecasts. recommendation DESNZ should map a critical path showing when BECCS needs to be operational for the UK to achieve its decarbonisation goals and take concrete action to meet it. If BECCS is no longer considered to be viable, DESNZ should put in place robust contingency plans setting out how it will achieve the net carbon removals it requires and what the future of biomass will be.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees, stating it will publish a report detailing its plan to meet carbon budgets and net zero targets. Additionally, an Independent Review of Greenhouse Gas Removals has been commissioned to assess how technologies like BECCS can assist the UK in achieving these goals.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. effective pathway to meeting the UK’s climate change targets. Greenhouse Gas Removal technologies (GGRs) like BECCS can support net zero targets by delivering negative carbon emissions and producing low-carbon electricity, hydrogen, or fuels. The department will publish a report setting out its plan to meet carbon budgets, in compliance with the High Court’s Court Order and Section 14 of the Climate Change Act 2008, in due course. The plan will set out the policies and proposals needed to meet Carbon Budgets 4-6 and the government’s Nationally Determined Contributions, on the pathway to net zero by 2050. The Secretary of State has commissioned an Independent Review of Greenhouse Gas Removals, led by Dr Alan Whitehead, which will consider how GGRs including BECCS can assist the UK in meeting the government’s net zero targets. The review is not centred on any particular project and will consider all GGRs, with a focus on engineered GGR approaches, which includes those that are reliant on the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) transport and storage network, as well as those engineered approaches that are not.