RSPB calls scrapping of Longannet carbon capture projects ‘a major disappointment’

News that plan’s for the UK’s first carbon capture and storage project at Longannet power station in Fife have been scrapped is hugely disappointing.
 
Energy Secretary Chris Huhne announced that the deal to capture carbon dioxide emissions at the coal-fired plant and pipe and store them under the North Sea had folded because of problems with the length of the pipeline needed.
 
Commenting on the announcement, Aedán Smith, Head of Planning and Development at RSPB Scotland, said: “This is a major disappointment, and a significant setback to Scotland’s transition to a low carbon economy in order to fulfil the Scottish Government’s world-leading climate change ambitions.
 
“The Longannet project was the most obvious choice in the UK to trial carbon capture and storage (CCS) because it is so close to the oil and gas pipelines and infrastructure that it would effectively plug into. It also wouldn’t have any direct impact on designated wildlife sites and would lead to a net reduction in polluting emissions.
 
“The fact that pipeline length is cited as the stumbling block to the deal just serves to underline the complete unviability of the proposal for a new coal fired power station with partial CCS at Hunterston in Ayrshire. This is on the opposite side of the country from all the infrastructure it needs to dock with, and it would also destroy a designated wildlife site and lead to a net gain in emissions. To persist with Hunterston in the face of this announcement is ludicrous!”