Teesside CCS project calls for backing from Paris

As a vital summit starts in Paris today, businesses working to establish Europe’s first CCS equipped industrial zone in Teesside have called for “a level playing field” across Europe.

Neil Kenley, Director of Business Investment at Tees Valley Unlimited which is part of the Teesside Collective said: “The UK and the EU have taken a lead on climate change but our members face tough international competition making it hard to deal with the additional cost of carbon pricing and other climate change policies.

“To remain competitive, and to underpin our business case for a shared CCS network, we need to see a level playing field in which all regions of the global economy are taking responsibility for climate change.

“We need a Paris agreement that works for the planet and that works for our industrial base in Teesside.”

Industries in Teesside employ in the region of 10,000 people and make a vital contribution to the wider UK economy. The area produces polyester resin for 15 billion recyclable drinks bottles a year and North-east process industries as a whole contribute £26 billion to the UK economy.

CCS will be a key component in the global effort to tackle climate change, helping reduce emissions from the burning of fossil fuels in power station and industrial processes. A shared industrial CCS network in Teesside would be capable of reducing carbon emissions by between 5 and 15 million tonnes of CO2 a year from the mid-2020s.

Source: Evening Gazette

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