(Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
(SNP): Does the hon. Gentleman not agree that the Government
could be even more ambitious on carbon capture and storage by
progressing the Scottish cluster on track 1 as
well, instead of having it stuck as a reserve?
(South Cambridgeshire)
(Con): The more ambitious the Government are, the happier I
will be, but I totally bow to the Government’s metrics. The first
two projects are right for the first phase, and the Acorn project
is in reserve. I think the Minister said yesterday that being the
reserve puts the project in a more advanced position for the
second phase of the next two that will come—I am not sure whether
anyone picked that up...
(Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
(SNP):...Excluding Scotland seems to be the theme of the week for
the UK Government. I need to say again that the decision to not
include the Scottish cluster as a track 1 CCS
project is disgraceful. It has been classed as a snub in the
north-east of Scotland, and has in turn been widely reported in
the press. It is not just Scottish National party politicians
saying that; that is the feeling. It is a real snub to Scotland,
and I urge the Minister to think again about that decision. He
has still not been able to explain why the Scottish cluster has
been tagged as a reserve, or even why he thinks he needs a
reserve. Is it because he is not sure about the deliverability of
the two clusters that the Government propose to take forward? It
seems illogical, but hopefully we will get a bit more information
about that...
