Conclusions

By 2020 over half of the UK’s electricity generation will continue to be fuelled by coal and gas. CCS technology has the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel power stations and is therefore now a crucial element of the UK government’s energy and climate change agenda. The methodological approach adopted by industry and the regulators to CCS storage is strongly influenced by the level of knowledge of the subsurface. Whereas existing oil and gas operators and hydrocarbon service companies have extensive knowledge of the subsurface, new entrants to CCS, such as power companies and transport operators, do not. One of the defining differences is the acceptance of uncertainty.