UK Greenhouse gas removals: call for evidence
Ember’s submission warns that ‘power BECCS’ risks falling short on carbon savings, costs and timely delivery, and recommends prioritisation of more scalable, cost-effective abatement solutions.
Summary
Ember recognises the need to scale greenhouse gas removals in order to address residual emissions in the UK economy by 2050. However, it is critical that any engineered removals technologies supported by HM Government are proven to be cost-effective, the carbon savings have been demonstrated internationally, and are deliverable within realistic timescales.
This submission focuses on large-scale power bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). It concludes that deploying large-scale power BECCS in the UK remains highly uncertain, with no clear timeline for delivery. It is likely to require significant public support and will lock-in dependence on imported biomass feedstock in the near-term, both of which will add costs to UK households. Further challenges with power BECCS include uncertainty around its true carbon neutrality and generation efficiency, as well as its negative environmental impact.
Ember’s submission recommends that the UK Government:
- Prioritise greenhouse gas removals that can realistically be achieved in the near-term, evidenced with small-scale projects, and scaled up at a reasonable pace and cost.
- Focus on policies and investment that accelerate decarbonisation of easier-to-abate sectors in the near-term (including power, buildings and transport) to increase the likelihood of staying within carbon budgets.
- Wind-down Drax subsidies arrangements after the 2027-2031 package, as it is unlikely that renewed subsidies would be sufficient to incentivise and guarantee further progress on delivery of power BECCS at the plant in the timescale required.
- Monitor the impact of the new subsidy package from 2027, assessing the volume of public subsidies, Drax emissions and profits during the period, to ensure the new arrangements are delivering a fair deal to UK households.
- Focus on policies that will reduce UK household exposure to volatile international fuel markets, both for power generation and greenhouse gas removals.
- Continue to encourage Drax to increase its share of non-woody domestic feedstock between 2027-2031, but without increasing the volume of public support.