Storage of Carbon Dioxide (Inspections etc.) Regulations 2012

Lord Oxburgh Excerpts

Monday 23rd January 2012 Grand Committee

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Lord Marland)]

My Lords, the development of carbon capture and storage is a significant strand in my department’s work for decarbonising the UK’s energy supplies and therefore for the transition to a low-carbon economy. The Government are committed to making the UK a leading player in CCS. Creating an effective, fit-for-purpose licensing regime is necessary to ensure the safe, long-term storage of carbon dioxide and is a necessary condition for the effective deployment of CCS. The Energy Act 2008 provides for a licensing regime for carbon dioxide storage in the UK, for the appointment of inspectors, and for regulations to be made about their powers and duties.

In October 2010, the Government made the licensing regulations that transpose into UK law most of the requirements of the EU directive on the geological storage of carbon dioxide. These regulations are necessary to ensure compliance with Article 15 of the directive, which deals with inspections of storage sites, and put in place an important element of the licensing regime to ensure the safe, long-term storage of carbon dioxide. Article 15 requires that the competent authorities organise a system of routine and non-routine inspections of all storage complexes within the scope of the directive for the purposes of checking and promoting compliance with the requirements of the directive and of monitoring effects on the environment and on human health. It states that inspections should include activities such as visits to the surface installations, including the injection facilities, assessing the injection and monitoring operations carried out by the operator, and checking all relevant records kept by the operator. Article 15 further requires that routine inspections shall be carried out at least once a year until three years after the closure of a storage site, and subsequently every five years until responsibility for the relevant storage site is transferred to the competent authority.

These regulations amend the existing licensing regulations to implement those requirements. The form of the powers given to inspectors is the same as those that our inspectors have under other regimes to inspect and monitor offshore installations used for oil and gas activities. The bringing into effect of these regulations achieves these requirements and will essentially complete the transposition of the directive. I therefore commend them to the Committee and I beg to move.

[Lord Oxburgh]

My Lords, I declare an interest as president of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association. Given that geological formations do not respect international boundaries, are protocols in place to handle the quite significant likelihood that some of the proposed repositories will cross the border between Scottish waters and English waters? This is a problem which the oil industry faces and solves regularly, and it is simply a matter of ensuring that appropriate protocols are in place in this area as well.

[Lord Teverson]

My Lords, having read through these regulations and the Explanatory Memorandum, I find that most of my questions have been answered. I had not thought of the point about Scotland which has just been raised by the noble Lord, Lord Oxburgh, and I note that the Explanatory Memorandum states that this procedure fulfils the Hampton principles. I would like to be clear on that. The Explanatory Memorandum stated that this would require only one person for three days a week, and that that would probably be the same person who inspected oilfields. Does that mean that the regulatory authority is the same as the one that looks at oilfields, or is it a separate authority that uses someone from the other authority? It is important to understand what the Government's proposals are in that area.

I was also slightly surprised to see that there had been no consultation. Perhaps this is a minor area but it is always quite useful to learn from industry, and the directive will be three years old in April.

My other question perhaps falls outside the scope of the order. Is the safety of pipelines or other means of transport to the storage area covered by the directive or is it covered elsewhere? I would have thought that that was potentially more risky than the storage itself. Although carbon dioxide is not directly dangerous, if it excludes oxygen or air, it can cause death through overconcentration.

Lastly, I would like to get an understanding from the Minister. Inspection regimes are all very well, and the UK has a very high standard of inspection in these areas. What does he see as the smart areas of inspection of carbon dioxide storage? What are the things that will need to be looked at? Leakages are an obvious answer, but what work will go on to make sure that the inspectorate is active and forward-looking, and that it makes sure that problems do not arise rather than fixes them after they have arisen?