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COP26 protest against carbon markets

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.

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.

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.
Public money would deliver more jobs, faster emissions cuts and bigger boosts to wellbeing if it was invested in renewables and energy efficiency.

Alex Lee, Climate Campaigner