Cleethorpes MP welcomes carbon capture project for the Humber
It's thought thousands of jobs will be created as a result
Last updated 1st Aug 2023
The MP for Cleethorpes has welcomed the plan for an area of the Humber to become a carbon capture and storage site.
The Prime Minister flew to Aberdeenshire on Monday to announce Government support for future oil and gas licensing rounds.
Mr Sunak also confirmed backing for two further carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, including the Acorn project in Aberdeenshire.
This, and the Viking project in the Humber, will become the third and fourth such schemes to get Government backing, with Mr Sunak saying these would help see the UK "speeding our path to net zero".
With the Government providing up to £20 billion of funding for early deployment of CCS, the Prime Minister told how this was "new technology that Britain can lead the world in", and he was "incredibly excited" about it.
His comments came as he insisted granting new oil and gas licences for the UK was "entirely consistent" with the UK commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
It's something opposition parties and green campaigners say will damage the UK's green targets.
Mike Childs, head of policy at environmental charity Friends of the Earth, said the Government needed to "focus on energy efficiency and the UK's vast home-grown renewable resources, rather than championing more costly and dirty fossil fuels".
Martin Vickers said:
“The announcement by the Prime Minister that the Viking Carbon Capture project is confirmed as one of the Government recognised clusters is good news for northern Lincolnshire and the wider Humber region with a potential for thousands of jobs both direct and in the supply chain.
"When I go into the local colleges and the agencies that do training for the offshore sector you can see there's a real enthusiasm amongst the young people, they get the issues surrounding the environment and they get that we've got to make progress.
"There is an acceptance that we've got to reduce our carbon emissions. And the East Coast particularly the Humber region is ideally geographically located to capture the carbon and pump it.
"It's good news for the environment, business and jobs".
Harbour Energy are the operator of the Humber based carbon capture site
Linda Z Cook, CEO of Harbour Energy, commented:
"Today's announcement is an important step forward for Harbour's Viking and Acorn CCS projects and the development of the carbon capture and storage industry in the UK. It is also a further demonstration of the key role that the oil and gas sector is playing by using our existing infrastructure, skills and experience to build this new industry and help deliver the energy transition.
"Viking has the potential to be transformational for the Humber, the UK's most carbon intensive industrial region, creating thousands of jobs in the area and playing a vital role in supporting the UK to meet its target to capture 30 million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2030."