Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Accepted
Set out rationale for supporting CCUS in each sector, considering cost-effective alternatives
Recommendation
To date, the Department has done little to ensure that government support for CCUS is directed to the sectors or locations where it will be essential for achieving net zero. CCUS is currently seen as the only way to decarbonise certain industries. For example, it is estimated that 60–70% 6 of carbon emissions from the cement industry comes from chemical reactions. The government sees CCUS at the only means to prevent these from being released into the atmosphere. Projects producing energy from waste are also reliant on CCUS due to the lack of alternate green energy sources. Other applications for CCUS capture carbon from the burning of fuels and there can be alternative methods to decarbonise these processes (for example, through electrification). However, the Department’s current cluster–based approach focuses on supporting carbon capture projects that are located close to one another. While this makes sense in terms of maximising the use of infrastructure such as pipelines, it does not ensure that financial support for CCUS is directed at the sectors which will need it most. The Department has not decided how it will support the use of CCUS at sites outside of industrial clusters, known as dispersed sites. recommendation The Department should set out its rationale for supporting CCUS in each sector where it could be applied, including considering whether alternative approaches could be more cost effective.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees, stating the recommendation has been implemented as the Department already sets out its rationale for supporting CCUS in various sectoral strategies and compares costs with alternative approaches to achieve net zero. It ensures resources are allocated to sectors with few alternatives and where CCUS is cost-effective.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented In various sectoral strategies the department sets out the relative role of CCUS in decarbonising a given sector, including in the Net Zero Strategy, Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, Clean Power 2030 Action Plan and the report on Future Opportunities for Electrification to Decarbonise UK Industry. It also takes into account analysis by the Climate Change Committee and organisations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The department sets out its rationale for supporting CCUS in each sector, as highlighted in these documents. The department is committed to ensuring that it meets the government’s net zero targets in a way that protects consumers and taxpayers alike. Costs of decarbonising using CCUS are compared with alternative approaches to achieving net zero; the department is ensuring that CCUS resources are allocated to those sectors where currently few alternatives exist for achieving net zero and where it is cost effective to do so. The department regularly updates its analysis as part of the carbon budget delivery cycle. The analysis to date has indicated that the projects selected, as part of the HyNet and East Coast Clusters, are consistent with allocating resources to those sectors with few alternatives for achieving net zero. Separately, on 10 February 2025, government announced an independent review to consider how Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGRs), including large-scale Power BECCS and Direct Air Capture with Carbon Storage (DACCS), can assist the UK in meeting the government’s net zero targets and ensuring security of supply, out to 2050. Further details of the review will be shared in due course.