Storing a century's worth of CO2 undersea could create 13,000 jobs

A study by the Scottish Government, industry and researchers highlights the vast potential to store up to a century's worth of CO2 from Scotland's power plants beneath the waves off the east coast.

The Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage (SCCS) study builds on previous SCCS research which highlighted Scotland's North Sea storage potential as being of European scale significance.

Experts believe carbon capture and storage - which involves capturing carbon dioxide, pumping it along disused gas pipelines and then storing it beneath the sea - will be crucial to enable power stations across the globe to continue operating while meeting environmental targets.

Energy Minister Jim Mather welcomed the findings and the Scottish Funding Council's 2 million funding for the emerging industry.

Mr Mather said: "Today's research cements Scotland's position as the number one location for CCS technology development and deployment in the world.

"CCS can create thousands of new low-carbon jobs in Scotland and we must move quickly to seize the full economic and environmental opportunities."

He added: "We now need the UK government to recognise the Scottish potential and award a CCS demonstrator project to Longannet, the outstanding contender left in the UK competition."

The research calculates that a rock formation, known as the Captain Sandstone - buried more than half a mile beneath the Moray Firth, could store at least 15 years and potentially a century's-worth of CO2 output from Scotland's power industry.

Professor Eric Mackay, from SCCS, said: "This is an exciting and landmark moment in the development of carbon capture and storage.

"The Captain Sandstone is just one of many rock formations filled with salt water in the central and northern North Sea.

"We have shown that this is a feasible site that could store massive amounts of CO2, helping the UK meet its targets for carbon emissions reduction.

"The future potential for this and other areas of the North Sea is immense."

The study predicts that CCS could create 13,000 jobs in Scotland by 2020, and another 14,000 elsewhere in the UK, spread across a wide range of skills.

By 2030 another 10,000 jobs could be created across the UK - half of them in Scotland - and by 2050 there could be 85,000 UK jobs, 30,000 in Scotland.

Properly developed, the UK's share of worldwide carbon capture and storage business could be worth more than 10 billion a year by around 2025.Prof Mackay said the posts would be filled by a variety of engineers as well as geology experts and construction staff. "We envisage having to gain some expertise from people currently working in the oil industry, which will open up new opportunities in the oil industry.

"We are now looking at what training is needed to be in place to make sure we have new people with appropriate skills becoming available at the time when they will be required," he said.

Dr Richard Dixon, director of WWF Scotland, welcomed the findings. He said: "CCS is an important bridging technology in reducing climate change emissions, on the way to a 100 per cent renewable energy future. This report confirms that Scotland is a great place to make this new technology work.

"We have the skills and the right connections to the North Sea storage sites, and carbon capture could sustain and create many skilled jobs here.

"Along with renewables and energy efficiency, CCS should be a major part of Scotland's energy policy going forward."

He said CCS proposals at Longannet and Peterhead power stations are important projects that would reduce current emissions and should proceed.

However, he added the proposal for a new coal-fired power station at Hunterston "makes no sense at all".