Tackling industry's carbon emissions: drivers and barriers to CO₂ capture in Scotland

Scotland's manufacturing industries are key to its prosperity. However, inward investment in processes such as oil refining, chemical manufacture and cement manufacture will be increasingly affected by the implementation of environmental regulations, such as the European Union's Industrial Emissions Directive. In addition, anticipated rises in carbon prices within the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will only add to the challenges faced by industry. “In contrast to the power sector, several of the world's most carbon- intensive industries have no alternatives to CCS for deep emissions reduction because much of the CO2 is unavoidably generated by their production processes, and not from fuel use. CCS will thus be essential for these sectors In autumn 2013, Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage (SCCS) held two workshops, which brought together key players from Scottish industry, government and academia, to explore the drivers and barriers to implementing carbon capture for industrial sources across Scotland. The workshops were funded by Scottish Enterprise. Although some analysis of industrial emitters and clusters of these businesses has already been undertaken in Scotland1, this has largely focused on carbon dioxide transportation and storage aspects. While some learning can be drawn from work on industrial capture in Yorkshire and Teesside2,3 to date, there has been a lack of focus on its potential in Scotland. SCCS therefore proposed the workshops as a means of identifying the technical, economic, regulatory and policy-related barriers to, and drivers for, the creation of industrial CO2 capture clusters in Scotland. This summary report describes results from these workshops, which are intended to help the Scottish Government, policy makers and other stakeholders develop a successful strategy for the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) - with the aim of contributing to Scotland's ambitious emissions reduction targets4.Scotland's manufacturing industries are key to its prosperity. However, inward investment in processes such as oil refining, chemical manufacture and cement manufacture will be increasingly affected by the implementation of environmental regulations, such as the European Union's Industrial Emissions Directive. In addition, anticipated rises in carbon prices within the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will only add to the challenges faced by industry. “In contrast to the power sector, several of the world's most carbon- intensive industries have no alternatives to CCS for deep emissions reduction because much of the CO2 is unavoidably generated by their production processes, and not from fuel use. CCS will thus be essential for these sectors In autumn 2013, Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage (SCCS) held two workshops, which brought together key players from Scottish industry, government and academia, to explore the drivers and barriers to implementing carbon capture for industrial sources across Scotland. The workshops were funded by Scottish Enterprise. Although some analysis of industrial emitters and clusters of these businesses has already been undertaken in Scotland1, this has largely focused on carbon dioxide transportation and storage aspects. While some learning can be drawn from work on industrial capture in Yorkshire and Teesside2,3 to date, there has been a lack of focus on its potential in Scotland. SCCS therefore proposed the workshops as a means of identifying the technical, economic, regulatory and policy-related barriers to, and drivers for, the creation of industrial CO2 capture clusters in Scotland. This summary report describes results from these workshops, which are intended to help the Scottish Government, policy makers and other stakeholders develop a successful strategy for the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) - with the aim of contributing to Scotland's ambitious emissions reduction targets4