Well positioned for green industry jobs
JOBS HOPE FOR £100BN
THOUSANDS of jobs could be created in Teesside industry from the UK’s CO2 capture and storage industry (CCS) – if the government takes urgent action to support them, a new report has said.
The study, by Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) finds that the engineering and other skills developed in areas involved in oil and gas industries mean they are ideally placed to become hubs for CCS.
Jobs could be created in such regions, focused on areas like Teesside and Humberside. The UK’s CCS industry is predicted to be worth up to £100bn a year by 2050.
It follows a decision by the North Sea Transition Authority to include several areas off the coasts of Teesside, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in its first-ever CO2 storage licensing round.
CCS involves capturing CO2 emissions from burning hydrocarbons such as gas, petrol and oil. Currently most such CO2 is released into the atmosphere, but this accelerates processes such as global warming and ocean acidification.
The aim of CCS is to capture the CO2 and transport it via ships or pipelines to be permanently stored deep underground in geological formations.
Developing such technologies was a key element in the 2021 North Sea Transition Deal, under which the offshore energy industry committed to work with the UK government to achieve net zero by 2050.
In 2021, the UK government selected two industrial clusters – places where energy intensive industries are located close to each other – for the UK’s first CCS deployments.
These are the East Coast cluster, made up of Net Zero Teesside and Zero Carbon Humber and the Hynet cluster, based in North West England and North Wales.
Net Zero Teesside was named the UK’s leading carbon capture scheme by the Government last October, putting it in line for a slice of £1bn cash.
The East Coast Cluster aims to remove nearly 50% of all UK industrial CO2 emissions by 2040.
CCS has been recognised as a critical technology to help energy intensive sectors, like cement and power generation, cut emissions. The Government’s Net Zero Strategy says the UK will need to capture 50m tonnes a year by 2035.
The concentration of companies and skilled workers already involved in the offshore supply chain in areas like northeast Scotland and Shetland means they are ideally placed to pioneer the UK’s CO2 CCS industries.
The new report, commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and produced by OEUK, finds that offshore oil and gas supply chain companies already have capabilities in areas including plant design and engineering, plant fabrication, and construction.
It identifies 13 actions through which government and industry could help the sector grow, including early-stage funding from government, the awarding of more CO2 storage licenses and collaboration between companies on fabrication, storage and transport facilities.
Other findings include:
CCS could be worth £20bn to the offshore supply chain in the next ten years, and £100bn by 2050.
Thousands of new ‘green’ jobs could be created by CCS development and implementation.
The UK has an estimated total storage capacity of 78 gigatons, one of the largest in Europe and enough to hold two centuries’ worth of the UK’s current emissions.
This means the UK could also become a centre for disposing of CO2 from many other countries. The UK already has most of the components necessary for a successful CCS sector, including:
A big potential market for exports of technology and expertise
Large industrial clusters capable of handling high volumes of gas
Extensive gas transport infrastructure
Good scientific understanding of the geological requirements for long-term CO2 storage
However, the report also warns the UK supply chain is fragile, and the huge opportunities of CCS could be lost to foreign competitors unless the government and industry worked fast to secure “first-mover” advantage.
Katy Heidenreich, OEUK’s supply chain and operations director said: “If we get this right, it could unlock £100bn worth of work for UK manufacturing employers by 2050.
“This will support UK jobs, cut emissions, boost the economy, and develop skills which can be exported globally.
“Northeast England, meaning places like Humberside, Teesside and much of Yorkshire, are among the best-placed regions to take advantage of, and benefit from, these exciting new technologies.”