Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of developing carbon capture storage facilities in the North Sea.

The UK has one of the largest offshore carbon dioxide storage potential of any country in the world. It is estimated that the UK Continental Shelf could safely store 78 billion tonnes of CO₂^[1], the equivalent of 200 years of the UK’s annual CO₂ emissions.

Unlocking this potential through the development of carbon dioxide transport and storage networks could generate strategic national assets. This market, according to government commissioned analysis, could be worth up to £54 billion by 2050^[2].

^[1]http://www.eti.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/D16-10113ETIS-WP6-Report-Publishable-Summary.pdf

^[2]Energy Innovation Needs Assessment: Carbon capture, utilisation, and storage. (October 2019). Commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy & Industry Strategy and lead by Vivid Economics. Report available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/845655/energy-innovation-needs-assessment-ccus.pdf