‘The aim to hit Net Zero targets has to start here’
KEY FIGURES SET OUT THEIR HOPES FOR COP26 CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE
KEY figures leading on the Humber’s Net Zero ambition have underlined what they want COP26 to achieve as the attention of the world settles on the UK next month. Setting the stall out for the Energy Estuary’s pioneering plans to take pole position, the focus of the launch of The Waterline Summit was also on the finish line for the upcoming United Nations climate change conference.
Enabling policy, a clear pathway to hitting enhanced targets and acceleration of the roll-out of solutions were seen as vital - while putting the Humber region first.
It came as a cinematic 17-minute film created to take to Glasgow underlined the critical role the region can play and the urgency, with strong contributions from across the area.
Showcasing the test bed credentials and developing decarbonisation plans, it brought emotion and impact to the bare facts that it is a place with the most to contribute and lose.
The worst polluting industrial cluster sits at sea level, making interests several-fold - with importance of emphasis underlined at local, national and international levels.
Louise Minchin, former BBC
Breakfast presenter chaired the opener, with Equinor, Orsted, Yorkshire Water, University of Hull and Yorkshire Energy Park brought together at Hull City Hall.
Equinor is looking to bring hydrogen production to Saltend, as the anchor for the Zero Carbon Humber network.
Dominic Martin, Equinor’s vice president for government and regulatory affairs, said: “If the Government
wants to hit Net Zero targets, it has to start in the Humber. There is no getting away from that fact.
“12.4 million tonnes is the amount of carbon the Humber produces at the moment, if we want to reach the goal - to have the Humber in the UK as the world’s first Net Zero industrial cluster - we need to do something about that. I think we can do it, it is about optimism and recognising the scale of the challenge.
“We see the Humber as the focus of our future growth. We have seen the technology, it works, and there are real possibilities for taking traditional energy intensive industries and turning them into productive low carbon parts of the future economy.
“Places that move first have huge advantages by being the incumbent, look at Silicon Valley.”
Alongside hydrogen distribution
comes carbon capture and storage - one of two such schemes alive on the Humber.
On the South Bank, Orsted’s world-leading role in offshore wind - anchored in Grimsby - is turning to green hydrogen production too, uniting with Phillips 66 Humber Refinery to fuel switch as the sector looks to clean up.