How does Labour think this ‘carbon capture’ plan is value for money? The public purse will spend £22 billion to win just £8 billion in private investment!
If the private buy-in was just £22 billion and one penny, This Writer might support it – but a loss of £14 billion at a time when Rachel Reeves is bleating about a £22 billion budget black hole, and county councils are warning about bankruptcy because they need £54 billion looks like insanity.
And green campaigners are saying that, far from helping end reliance on fossil fuels, this will be extending the production of oil and gas that cause global warming.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
The money will fund two “carbon capture clusters” [pictured – image is from a 2023 press release by the former Tory government that did not commit any cash to the plan] on Merseyside and Teesside, to be built over the next 25 years, which the government claims will create thousands of jobs, attract private investment and help the UK meet climate goals:
Up to £21.7bn will subsidise three projects on Teesside and Merseyside to support the development of the clusters, including the infrastructure to transport and store carbon.
It will also support two transport and storage networks carrying captured carbon to deep geological storage in Liverpool Bay and the North Sea.
The government said the move would give industry confidence to invest in the UK, attracting £8bn of private investment, directly creating 4,000 jobs and supporting 50,000 in the long term.
It will also help remove 8.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year, officials said.
The projects are expected to start storing captured carbon from 2028.
If any businesses that are attracted to the UK, as a result of this, do so in order to continue burning oil and gas, then This Writer can sympathise with the complaints of the green campaigners. But if the carbon dioxide produced by those companies is then captured, I’m not sure their argument will hold weight.
Friends of the Earth wants the government to concentrate on insulating every home in the UK – a plan with which I wholeheartedly agree. Labour could go a long way towards making this happen by demanding that such insulation should be mandatory in the 1.5 million new dwellings it plans to build over the next few years.
Greenpeace also wants insulation – along with a more offshore wind power.
But for me the big issue is the money.
If the investment could be shown to attract more than it costs, then I would support it – but we’re being told that it won’t.
So why are we spending public money on it?
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How does Labour think this ‘carbon capture’ plan is value for money?
How does Labour think this ‘carbon capture’ plan is value for money? The public purse will spend £22 billion to win just £8 billion in private investment!
If the private buy-in was just £22 billion and one penny, This Writer might support it – but a loss of £14 billion at a time when Rachel Reeves is bleating about a £22 billion budget black hole, and county councils are warning about bankruptcy because they need £54 billion looks like insanity.
And green campaigners are saying that, far from helping end reliance on fossil fuels, this will be extending the production of oil and gas that cause global warming.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
The money will fund two “carbon capture clusters” [pictured – image is from a 2023 press release by the former Tory government that did not commit any cash to the plan] on Merseyside and Teesside, to be built over the next 25 years, which the government claims will create thousands of jobs, attract private investment and help the UK meet climate goals:
If any businesses that are attracted to the UK, as a result of this, do so in order to continue burning oil and gas, then This Writer can sympathise with the complaints of the green campaigners. But if the carbon dioxide produced by those companies is then captured, I’m not sure their argument will hold weight.
Friends of the Earth wants the government to concentrate on insulating every home in the UK – a plan with which I wholeheartedly agree. Labour could go a long way towards making this happen by demanding that such insulation should be mandatory in the 1.5 million new dwellings it plans to build over the next few years.
Greenpeace also wants insulation – along with a more offshore wind power.
But for me the big issue is the money.
If the investment could be shown to attract more than it costs, then I would support it – but we’re being told that it won’t.
So why are we spending public money on it?
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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