Climate groups urge caution on Carbon Capture and Storage

Climate groups urge caution on Carbon Capture and Storage
Press Release – for Immediate release
8 July 2025

Derbyshire climate groups urge caution at the Government’s announcement of a £59.6 million project to develop a pipeline to capture carbon emitted by cement and lime factories in the Peak District and bury it below the Irish Sea.

Derbyshire Climate Coalition published their research on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) for cement and lime last year, written by a local planning expert. While many hopes in the cement and lime industry are pinned on CCS, the group argues that there are significant impacts associated with building and operating the plant, pipeline and storage facilities. These include a large environmental footprint (in areas of valued landscape and a national park) and heavy energy use.
CCS also comes with high risks: it is still not proven to work at large scale and the storage of carbon dioxide underground or undersea, on a geological timescale (hundreds or thousands of years), gives rise to the risk of undetected leaks which are likely to be very difficult to repair.
While cement and lime are responsible for a third of Derbyshire’s carbon dioxide emissions, the group argue that the cement and lime industry have not looked at the role of demand reduction (i.e. reducing the amount of cement needed in the first place).
For example, the use of cement-free concrete or recycled concrete, reusing existing buildings rather than demolishing them, better design and substituting less carbon dioxide-intensive materials ─ especially timber for construction. Given that over four-fifths of cement in the UK is used in building, a move towards timber in construction of buildings has significant potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The group’s detailed report includes a number of recommendations for government to reduce demand for cement and concrete, including ambitious and robust standards for net zero/carbon negative homes, and national standards for the reuse and refurbishment of existing buildings and the recycling of concrete.

The group also warns that if permission for CCS is given there must be the following conditions:

1. A robust tariff regime in place to prevent the market for carbon-mitigated cement from being undercut by imports of non-mitigated cement;

2. Clear responsibility for ongoing monitoring and maintenance of the carbon dioxide storage reservoirs over an indefinite and constant period, including replacement of wellheads when necessary, with minimal carbon dioxide leakage;

3. Proper account of the total carbon budget of CCS including the energy used to build and operate the plants and pipeline and

4. Effective mitigation of the cumulative environmental impacts of CCS, especially on sensitive protected landscapes.

Sheelagh Handy from Derbyshire Climate Coalition said

“The government needs to ensure that responsibility for the costs of monitoring, maintaining and remediation do not fall on council/tax payers if anything goes wrong, costs overrrun, or companies go bust”

For more information, please contact Lisa Hopkinson at 07908 649648


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