SNP’s climate targets thrown into doubt over Acorn carbon capture ‘fairy tale’

Scotland’s climate strategy has been thrown into doubt amid fears SNP ministers are over-reliant on a “fairy tale” energy technology to clean up harmful emissions. With a funding row engulfing Scotland’s flagship carbon capture project, concerns have been raised about the technology and the Scottish government’s lack of a contingency plan if the project and other so-called negative emissions technologies (NETs) are not scaled up as hoped.

The future of the Acorn carbon capture and storage project, poised to be based at the St Fergus gas terminal near Peterhead and promised to support 15,000 jobs, was called into question after the UK government eventually admitted last week’s Budget has switched the funding model from a promised grant to loans. The Scotsman has revealed that only £12m of the promised £200m grant has and will be handed over to the developers of the Acorn project.

Promises have also been made that the Acorn project could be pivotal in getting future plans for the Grangemouth industrial hub moving forward. Overall, SNP ministers have predicted that up to 77,000 “low carbon energy production jobs” could be in place in Scotland by 2050, five years after the country is legally obligated to reach net zero. But SNP ministers are now facing accusations they have “failed to do the hard work involved in tackling the climate emergency” despite previous warnings over carbon capture technology.

The Scottish government’s climate plan, published in May, states that carbon capture and wider NETs could deliver up to one third of Scotland’s climate pollution reductions by 2036. But so far, no industrial carbon has been stored across Scotland or the UK. The key document states that action on carbon capture and storage “will be crucial to achieving Scotland’s climate ambition”. “NETs are required to achieve our net zero targets”, the blueprint adds.

In its documents, the SNP government argues that carbon capture “costs are expected to decrease over time” which it claims will make the technology “more relatively cost effective as a means of reaching net zero”. The climate plan also admits that “emerging options carry uncertainties around technology readiness, integration with existing infrastructure, and scalability”. Despite those fears, amplified by the funding concerns of the flagship Acorn project over the last week, SNP ministers are reliant on the technology for around one third of forecast emissions reductions over the next decade.

The reliance on NETs and carbon capture in the SNP government’s climate strategy has come at the same time as John Swinney’s government dropped a flagship commitment to cut transport journeys, watered down and delayed plans to replace fossil fuel boilers and was forced to scrap its legally-binding pledge to cut 75 per cent of emissions by 2030 because it was no longer possible to achieve. The fears emerge as SNP climate action secretary, Gillian Martin, is poised to travel to Turkey next week to represent the Scottish government at the COP31 global summit in Antalya, where she will “highlight Scotland’s expertise and leadership in community-led climate action”.

Five years ago, Holyrood committees scrutinising the previous 2018-2032 climate plan update urged SNP ministers to come up with a Plan B’ to meet climate commitments without using carbon capture, if the technology failed to materialise. In February, independent advisors on the Climate Change Committee (CCC) warned SNP ministers that their new climate plan relied “heavily” on negative emissions technologies and represented “an area with significant risk” with powers to deliver on these policy levers “largely reserved to the UK government”.

Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander fuelled speculation the UK government could back away from the Acorn project after last week suggesting there are concerns over “the market-readiness of the technology”. Friends of the Earth Scotland’s head of campaigns, Caroline Rance, said: “For too long, Scottish ministers have been sticking their fingers in their ears when anyone has tried to warn them about the risks of relying on carbon capture.

“MSPs, advisors and experts have repeatedly said that their entire climate plan was too reliant on this unproven technology to deliver at Acorn. “Carbon capture has failed everywhere it has been tried at scale and the Acorn project is in serious trouble. The funding farce of the last week exemplifies the repeated delays and failures of the so-called carbon capture industry. Despite years of unthinking political support, Acorn has not stored a single gram of carbon.”

She added: “The UK government clearly has major doubts about this project and is rightly indicating that there can be no more blank cheques for it. “It is time for the Scottish government to stop believing in fairy tales and instead put time and money into climate solutions that will improve people’s lives such as insulating homes and improving bus services. “This fantasy should never have been peddled to oil workers, who instead need a credible plan for support and retraining that can move them into truly green jobs.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson, Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, said: “Carbon capture is an innovative technology that we should be investing in, but it cannot be the sole solution to cutting emissions. “For too long, the SNP have failed to do the hard work involved in tackling the climate emergency. Targets have been set in one breath and dropped in the next. “We need a proper strategy that will focus on insulating homes, investing in low-carbon heating systems and harnessing the potential of Scottish renewables.

That’s also how we provide the win-win of cutting bills and meeting our climate goals.” The Scottish Greens’s energy spokesperson, Kristopher Leask, has warned that the technology has “always been an expensive gamble rather than a credible climate solution”. He added: “Instead of pumping public money into carbon capture, the Scottish and UK governments should be creating green jobs and investing in the skills and industries that are already working.

“Scotland already has the skilled workers and natural resources that any country would envy. “We need both governments to back that potential now, delivering secure and long-term jobs and leading a new energy economy that puts workers and their communities first.” The concerns come as it is revealed that the Scottish government has only handed over around £5.1m of the promised £80m of funding to the Acorn project, despite SNP politicians criticising the UK Labour government over failing to follow through with funding vows for the initiative.

SNP energy minister, Stephen Gethins, said the Scottish government “has received two requests for support and has provided two grants” to those bringing forward the Acorn project. A £2m grant was provided to National Gas Transmission after a written request for support to repurpose a pipeline for the transport of captured carbon from the Central Belt and Grangemouth to the Acorn project in the North East. A £3.1m grant was handed over to the developers to “help support them develop a business case to unlock” the £200m of funding promised by the Labour government last year, which has now been pivoted into loans.

Mr Gethins added: “We are already seeing carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) being deployed elsewhere in Europe such as our neighbours in Norway and Denmark reducing emissions whilst delivering jobs and investment. “Acorn is a nationally significant project that is key to decarbonising Scotland’s important industries and will unlock economic opportunities for people across Scotland as part of the energy transition. The Scottish government will continue to do all that we can within devolved powers to support its development.

“It is deeply regrettable that the UK government’s Budget caused confusion and uncertainty about the project. Scotland’s energy is sending billions in additional revenue to the Treasury and the UK government should commit to using that revenue to invest in this vital project which could support thousands of jobs. “The UK is one of the only states to have discovered significant oil and gas but not to have created a future generations fund, making a long term benefit out of a finite resource and ensuring that we have the appropriate resources to meet the challenges of the transition.”