BCA’s Views on the Peak Cluster Carbon Capture Scheme

Buxton Civic Association is aware that there is a public consultation on the proposed Peak Cluster Carbon Capture Scheme (CCS). The scheme proposes the development of carbon capture facilities at the four emitter sites in and around the Peak District and an associated underground pipeline to transport CO2 from these sites to Morecambe Bay, in the north-west.

One of the emitter sites is at Tunstead, to the east of Buxton so the proposed pipeline would pass through a corridor to the north east of Buxton.  It is understood that the proposal would be the subject of a development Consent Order because of its scale and the fact that it crosses several local authority boundaries.

The Association has strong concerns about the proposal as it is likely to have a significant impact on the area through which it passes, having a potentially harmful impact on landscape, cultural heritage, ecology and biodiversity. This harm would only be acceptable if there are very significant public benefits arising from the development and there are no environmentally preferable alternatives.

The Association considers that before this scheme is progressed any further a range of alternatives to the proposed development should be considered. Any such assessment should include the following:

• The ‘do nothing’ scenario, allowing the emitter sites to continue to operate without capturing the CO2 they emit.
• Whether an alternative means of transporting captured CO2 would be a more sustainable option e.g. transport via tanker on road or rail.
• Whether there are means of storing the CO2 effectively at the emitter sites or at other locations which would not require such damaging infrastructure over such a long distance, as with the Peak Cluster CCS.
• The option of ceasing cement/lime production at the emitter sites when their planning consents and associated mineral reserves are technically exhausted, together with an assessment of whether it is possible to obtain cement from other sources and/or locations, in order to meet the UK’s need for cement and lime.

We are concerned that the substantial investment in the Peak Cluster CCS would lead to such a commitment to the existing emitter sites and their associated quarries that this would be used to justify retention and extension of these intrusive works and quarries beyond what would otherwise be considered acceptable and beyond what is permitted by the existing planning consents.

Ensuring that alternative ways to limit and capture carbon at site must be fully explored and developed rather than simply continuing the production of cement, with the associated carbon emissions, and trying to transport and store the carbon through the Peak Cluster CCS, a scheme that would inevitably have significant and harmful impacts in the Buxton area and beyond.