CO₂RE Executive Director Dr Steve Smith has been cited in a letter sent by the influential Environmental Audit Committee to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on Negative Emissions Technologies.
The letter argues that the pursuit of removals is not a free pass for emitters to avoid their responsibility to reduce emissions, even in “hard to abate” sectors, and that government needs to do more to support the development of removals.
The EAC noted that the UK was well situated to deliver engineered GGR, given its access to some of the best geological storage in Europe. It also cites the sector’s “number one ask” is for economic support to generate private investment to support projects go further, pressing the Government to set out its strategy.
Last year, CO₂RE researchers were invited to provide oral evidence on Negative Emissions Technologies as part of the Environmental Audit Committee’s Technological Innovations and Climate Change framework enquiry.
Dr Steve Smith was invited to witness alongside Jon Gibbins, Professor of Power Plant Engineering and Carbon Capture, University of Sheffield and Ruth Herbert, Chief Executive Officer, Carbon Capture and Storage Association.
Find out more about the letter on the Parliament website.
A video of the evidence session is available on Parliamentlive.tv.
The invitation followed a written submission by the GGR-D Programme to the Committee’s call for evidence providing answers to specific questions regarding Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs), which is an equivalent term for Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR).
