Chamber protests to Energy Secretary over Humber’s omission in BECCS announcements and calls for rapid rethink

THE Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce recently wrote a joint letter to the Secretary of State for Energy, Grant Shapps, alongside local Council leaders expressing its strong concern over the omission of the Humber in the Government’s bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) announcements.

The Chamber is concerned that there is now a serious risk that the £15-billion of investment which was planned for the Humber’s Carbon Zero agenda may now be spent elsewhere, leaving the Humber, which should be leading the world on the carbon capture and storage agenda, adrift.

The Chamber welcomes the announcement by Drax’s Chief Executive, Will Gardener, that the Government has now opened a dialogue with this important Chamber Patron and hopes there will be further Government announcements shortly on other Humber Carbon Capture proposals which were submitted to Government by other leading Chamber members such as Equinor and Phillips 66.”

External Affairs Director David Hooper said: “The shock that the Humber missed out completely in these announcements is palpable among the region’s business leaders and puts the Humber’s leading role on this agenda in serious peril.

“The Chamber’s view is that the UK should go green through the Humber, and the country cannot go green without the Humber!

“We urge Energy Secretary Grant Shapps to reconsider the Government’s stance on the Humber proposals and do the right thing by advancing these largely privately funded schemes which are ready to go!”