In September 2024, scientists and NGO representatives wrote to Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, calling on the government to pause plans to invest £1bn in carbon capture and storage to produce blue hydrogen (from fossil gas) and to capture carbon dioxide from new gas-fired power stations. (see coverage in the Guardian here)
One of the main concerns raised in our letter was that even if carbon capture is successful (and the technology has a dubious record) it cannot compensate for the upstream emissions from methane leaks, transport and processing of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US.
A follow up letter expanding on some of the concerns was sent a month later, but it was not until 10th February that we received a reply from minister Sarah Jones at DESNZ (the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero). Despite waiting five months for this reply, it does not address the problem that the UK's current plans seem to rely on increased imports fracked gas from the US. These have very high associated emissions because of methane leakages during production and transport, and a significant climate impact.
We will continue to campaign on this issue. Last year the UK Supreme Court ruled that planning applications for fossil fuel projects must take into account 'downstream emissions' from burning the fossil fuels extracted. We believe it is just as vital that upstream emissions should be taken into account.