Carbon Capture & Storage and Hydrogen
Greenwashing technologies risk prolonging the life of oil and gas
Hydrogen and Carbon Capture are technologies supported by the oil and gas industry in a bid to delay the end of fossil fuels. These so called ‘false solutions’ cannot deliver the urgent action we need to cut emissions this decade.
There is a real risk that relying on these speculative technologies will divert support, resources and money away from proven and far more effective solutions to the climate crisis. If Scotland is to meet its climate commitments and contribute its fair share we must take urgent action today rather than waiting for these speculative solutions.
These oil and gas industry technologies will keep us locked into fossil fuels, further endangering our climate and our future.
The false promise of Carbon Capture
Despite billions of pounds of investment and years of research, there are no Carbon Capture and Storage plants anywhere in the world that work effectively at the scale promised.
The majority of existing Carbon Capture plants use carbon captured to actually force out more fossil fuels from underground. Carbon Capture and Storage provides oil and gas companies with the excuse they need to keep on extracting fossil fuels, while claiming a magical technological solution is just around the corner.
Don’t fall for Hydrogen’s Hype
Hydrogen is being promoted as an alternative to the fossil fuels used for heating homes, transport and heavy industry. But it’s expensive to produce, inefficient and far from a low carbon solution. In fact, three quarters of the global hydrogen supply is made from fossil fuels (‘blue hydrogen’).
Blue hydrogen can also be highly polluting and is reliant on unproven Carbon Capture and Storage technology. Meanwhile, the less common Green hydrogen risks diverting renewable energy away from direct uses in heating buildings and powering transport.
Stop new gas at Peterhead power station
Energy giants want to build a new and additional gas-fired plant at Peterhead power station in Aberdeenshire.
This could keep us locked into burning fossil fuels for electricity for the next 20 years or more.
Find out more about these dangerous proposals and how we are taking action to stop it.
Carbon Capture & Storage Explainer
What is Carbon Capture and Storage, how feasible is it and why should we be worried about its false positioning as a climate solution?
This easy to read guide answers these questions, and sets out our deep concerns about the growing push for public investment in CCS from fossil fuels companies.
Hydrogen Explainer
This simple guide explains why we should be deeply sceptical about large scale plans to develop hydrogen in Scotland to use in heating and transport.
Blue Hydrogen relies on fossil fuels and unproven CCS technology. Meanwhile, Green Hydrogen is an inefficient and expensive use of renewable electricity.
Relying on Carbon Capture and Storage will not solve climate crisis, expert research shows
CCS technology cannot not deliver the action needed in the energy sector this decade despite huge Government support.
After decades of over-promising and under-delivering, there are just a small amount of plants capturing less than 0.1% of the world’s emissions.
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What we are doing
- Commissioning expert research including exposing how Carbon Capture will not deliver the cuts to climate pollution from energy this decade
- Challenging the oil and gas industry’s hype around Hydrogen, exposing flaws in their case and urging the Scottish Government to think again about their plans
- Producing easy to read guides to help people make sense of the spin around CCS and Hydrogen
- Working with allies we are opposing dangerous and ill-advised schemes to burn trees to generate energy in a process called Bio-energy with Carbon Capture and Storage.
Hydrogen Report undermines case for political support
Research shows the high costs and low efficiency of hydrogen, as campaigners call on Scottish Government to rethink their commitment
'Green' hydrogen also demands enormous quantities of renewable energy.
Electrification of heating and transport found to be better solution than using hydrogen.
How we have been challenging Hydrogen and Carbon Capture
We have been working hard to end the Scottish Government’s dangerous over-reliance on so called ‘negative emissions technologies.’
By amassing evidence of their failures and engaging the public, we are putting pressure on decision makers to change course.
How we are making progress
We will continue our important work in this area, and have recently:
- Exposed the Scottish Government’s over-reliance on CCS & Hydrogen in their plan for climate action this decade
- Spoken to media and politicians about the threat of Carbon Capture
- Built opposition amongst the public and climate groups to these dangerous distractions.
Carbon Capture is the oil and gas industry's latest greenwashing tactic with a long history of over-promising and under-delivering.
Alex Lee, Climate Campaigner
Public money would deliver more jobs, faster emissions cuts and bigger boosts to wellbeing if it was invested in renewables and energy efficiency.
Latest Blogs
Energy bills are rising again – fossil fuels are the culprit
Households energy bills are rising again but we can break the stranglehold of the fossil fuel industry on our finances
Revealed: the true climate cost of new gas at Peterhead power station
Annual pollution could be 1 million tonnes more than companies have disclosed to the Scottish Government
Dozens of organisations demand Scottish Ministers reject polluting Peterhead gas plans
Pressure is growing on the Scottish Government to reject plans that would lock in climate pollution and high energy bills.
Latest Press Releases
Climate Minister slammed for attending “greenwash fest” conference
Protestors targeted the Edinburgh event which was full of big polluters pushing carbon capture.
£22billion carbon capture handout could push energy bills higher
Ahead of the expected energy price cap rise, fuel poverty campaigners are highlighting how Labour’s £22billion handout to controversial carbon capture technology is likely to push bills even higher in…
Labour accused of ‘hypocrisy’ over fossil fuel donation
The firm behind controversial Peterhead gas plant gives £25k to party despite UK Ministers saying we ‘must protect billpayers from fossil fuel price rollercoaster’
Resources
The real climate emissions of Peterhead carbon capture power station proposals
A briefing for MSPs about the real emissions of the proposed new gas-fired power plant at Peterhead.
The Real Climate Pollution of Peterhead Power Station – Report & briefing
The true climate pollution could be five times greater than disclosed by the developers.
Carbon Capture Factsheet: The True Cost of Funding Failure
CCS projects have cost the public £500million – with another £25billion in subsidy promised
Open Letter to Scottish Government urging them to reject Peterhead power station plans
Dozens of groups warm about impact on climate and household bills of new fossil fuel commitments
Why we need to stop new gas at Peterhead
Short briefing on why this proposal is bad news for our climate, workers and the transition away from fossil fuels.
Friends of the Earth Scotland’s response to the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan consultation
Related work
Just Transition
Ending our dependency on oil and gas is an opportunity to replace our broken energy system with one that prioritises people and planet, instead of profit.
No New Oil and Gas
To ensure a liveable future for everyone, we must urgently stop climate-wrecking oil and gas.
Why BioEnergy isnt the climate answer
A briefing on the dangers posed by the unproven and dangerous technology of BioEnergy with Carbon Capture and Storage.
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