Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment she has made of the financial viability of (a) carbon capture and storage and (b) alternative options in helping to reduce the UK's carbon dioxide emissions.

The Government views Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as having a potentially important role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s economy. However, CCS is currently too expensive and costs must come down. Government will set out its approach to CCS in due course, informed by the findings from Lord Oxburgh’s CCS Advisory Group.

In comparing the costs of other low-carbon technologies in the future, DECC typically use the levelised costs of electricity generation. Levelised costs include capital and operating costs over the lifetime of a plant, as well as DECC estimates of projected fuel and carbon costs.

We are currently undertaking a comprehensive review of our evidence on levelised costs of electricity generation.