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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of achieving their net-zero carbon target (1) with, and (2) without, carbon capture, utilisation and storage.

The independent Committee on Climate Change has estimated that the annual cost of delivering a net zero target is within the same range as the 80% target was at the time that target was set in 2008 – equivalent to 1-2% of GDP in 2050. Our own assessment of costs falls within this range. The CCC also advised that meeting our net zero emissions target by 2050 without carbon capture and storage (CCS) is likely to be more costly to achieve.[1] We believe CCS is therefore likely to play a vital role in meeting our target to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

As well as reducing emissions, CCS can play a vital role in levelling up the economy – supporting the low carbon economic transformation of our industrial regions, creating new high value jobs, providing new economic opportunities for British companies and supply chains and attracting investment from all around the world. For example, the UK could become a global leader and capture up to £10 billion of an estimated £200 billion per year global CCUS market in 2050, which could support up to 48,000 new jobs[2].

[1] https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CCC-Independent-Assessment-of-UKs-Clean-Growth-Strategy-2018.pdf

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-innovation-needs-assessments