SLO to catch on for CCS?

"For something to gain social acceptance it needs to span political, social...and ideological divides"(Hoffman, 2012. Climate science as culture war)

CCS vital for net zero

CCS is vital to reach net zero by 2050 in the UK. The Climate Change Committee estimates that ~105MtCO2 per year needs to be stored by 2050. However, there are currently no operational CCS projects in the UK, despite at least 2 government led attempts to deploy the technology in the last 20 years.

However, both the East Coast and Hynet CCS Clusters are in development and set to capture and store 20-30MtCO2 per year by 2030.

Figure 1. East Coast Cluster aims to capture 20MtCO2 per year by 2030 from a number of projects and industries across Humber and Teeside (2022, zerocarbonhumber.com)

Will the issues that plagued CCS previously halt development again, or will this be a case of third time lucky?

Technically CCS is feasible; Sleipner in Norway has been successfully injecting and containing CO2 since 1996.

The downfall of CCS has been economics. Of the 27 current CCS projects worldwide, the majority are either associated with EOR, or supported by carbon tax.

Proposed business models for CCS in the UK look towards government grants, subsidies, and contract mechanisms to reduce risk and encourage private investment.

CCS is a key component of the governments drive for low carbon energy, offering many societal benefits:

• Regeneration of industrial heartlands

• Job creation

• Reduced GHG emissions

• Repurposing of existing oil and gas infrastructure

If carbon storage is technically feasible, and - with government support -economically viable, what barriers remain?

Social acceptance

Little has been made of the need for a social licence to operate for CCS.

A social licence is the acceptance, approval, and trust of a project by employees, community stakeholders and civil society.

A social licence drives engagement, builds transparency and leverages accountability; ultimately its aim is one of mutual value creation and respect between industry and the public.

A social licence for Hynet and East Coast Clusters would prove the economic and social benefits at local community level in the North West and Humber regions respectively.

Risks

The current absence of a social licence carries a number of risks and costs:

1. Project delay and/or derailment

2. Reputational harm

3. Reduced access to finance

4. Public misinformation regarding costs, benefits & impact on climate change

5. Loss of trust and confidence

In the UK there is currently no regulatory framework guiding how local communities should be engaged or consulted, or how public perception should be managed by industry.

Benefits

Gaining a social licence is actually good for industry, since it:

1. Provides opportunity to discuss the role of CCS in net zero framing

2. Enables debate on energy consumption and emissions

3. Improves ESG metrics and access to funding

4. Forces consultation and highlights disagreements early. (After all, minority voices can be amplified via social media, making social licence a national issue)

5. Assuages public fears and encourage community participation

6. Forces a social performance health check throughout the CCS lifecycle

Civil society

Is the lack of progress towards a social licence an indication that public opinion is purely positive on CCS?

No. The UK Government, independent research institutes and Universities all captured the following common concerns in interviews with the public:

• Safety of pipelines, leakage from subsurface

• Damage to environment

• Disruption during construction

• Cost effectiveness

• Prolonging of oil and gas industry

• Delays innovation to remove carbon in manufacturing chain

Local communities expressed the following requirements for any CCS projects:

• Strict safety standards

• Independent oversight and regulation

• Clearly communicated benefits, risks, and costs

• Transparency in contracts, no vested interests

• Limited damage to environment

• Cost effective and timely delivery

• Public engagement and participation

• Minimal disruption to local communities

• Guaranteed positive contribution to net zero

Call to Action

The public is aware of climate change and net zero; both are political hot topics that tend to polarise. Perhaps the greatest risk for CCS is not expounding the vital role CCS will play in reaching net zero. Avoiding engagement, or participating only with a light touch to fulfil a tick-box exercise, risks diluting this narrative.

CCS Clusters need to be proactively engaging all stakeholders to define what a social licence will look like from their different perspectives. Once framed, the social licence should be used as a risk management tool, to identify, manage, and mitigate issues to avoid conflict and delay.

CCS Clusters should enlist trusted independent experts to act as honest brokers to build aligned and shared narratives between industry, civil society, and government.

In doing so, agreement can be reached on the level of social acceptance required to expedite deployment of CCS

Civil society needs a participatory role, not to delay development, but to ensure the CCS is safe, sustainable, and clearly benefits local communities.