‘Unproven’ green tech to have significant impact on energy bills, MPs warn
Government investment into “unproven” carbon capture schemes is set to have a “very significant effect” on households’ energy bills, an influential group of MPs is warning.
Ministers have backed investment into carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) schemes in a bid to achieve the UK’s legally mandated climate goals, including net zero by 2050.
But the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which looks at value for money in public spending, has warned the government has failed to assess the impact on energy bills.
In October last year, the government pledged £22bn would go to UK CCUS facilities, which prevent industrial carbon dioxide being released into the air, by capturing it and storing it underground, with nearly 75 per cent of the cash sourced from consumers’ energy bills – “who are already facing some of the highest energy bills in the world”.
The report released today highlighted concerns that ministers and officials had not fully looked at the affordability for businesses and homes.
It described “a high degree of uncertainty as to whether these risky investments in unproven technologies present best value for money for taxpayers and consumers”.
The MPs are urging ministers to “assess whether its full CCUS programme will be affordable for taxpayers and consumers, given wider pressures on energy bills and the cost of living.
There are currently no examples of CCUS technology operating at scale in the UK, the report added, with MPs stressing that it may not capture as much future carbon as expected.
Contracts for the two new CCUS projects do not include any provision for the government to share the profits or for consumers to benefit from lower energy bills should things go well, despite any such profits being linked to “early public support”.
Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: “The government is gambling on carbon capture technology becoming foundational to achieving net zero.
“This £21.7bn policy is going to have a very significant effect on consumers and industry’s electricity bills. Whether this is acceptable remains to be seen.”
He added: “All early progress will be underwritten by taxpayers, who currently do not stand to benefit if these projects are successful.
“Any private sector funding would expect to see significant returns when it becomes a success. We were surprised that the government had not even considered this aspect.
“Our committee was left unconvinced that CCUS is the silver bullet the government is apparently betting on.”
The report recommends regular assessment of taxpayer and consumer exposure; ensuring taxpayers and consumers benefit financially from “the success of the projects they have supported financially”; assessing whether the full CCUS slate will be affordable in light of cost of living pressures; annually reappraising value for money assessments; considering alternative, more cost-effective approaches; and clarifying carbon targets and monitoring.
Speaking to the BBC Today programme, energy secretary Ed Miliband admitted the technology was new, but insisted it was crucial to efforts to tackle climate change.
He said: ”CCUS is an innovative technology in terms of being used at scale, but all the expert advice – UK Climate Change Committee and others – say if we don’t do this we are never going to cut global emissions.”
And he pledged he was “100 per cent committed” to the government’s climate goals.