Wireline Magazine Issue 51 - Summer 2021

for parity between blue and grey hydrogen (the latter produced in refineries without CCS), while the European Commission put the figure at €55-90/tCO 2 in 2020. OGUK’s Webster reaffirmed that the oil and gas industry is behind the UK’s net-zero 2050 target and process. “A reliable economy-wide carbon price is a big part of [the UK’s net zero target], driving decarbonisation across sectors – which helps support projects decarbonise, including electrification, CCS and hydrogen.” However, he noted there was a dilemma, in that if the carbon price were pushed up to the level where such projects were viable, “you may risk driving manufacturing industry overseas”. The carbon price must therefore be accompanied by government incentives and guarantees to be effective. “Government, with OGUK’s and other industries’ help, is trying to work out business models where CCS and hydrogen work, which require incentives at this stage, not just carbon penalties. Like wind, it needs support to get going – then costs can be reduced over time and in future potentially we may be able to rely just on the carbon price.” In the EU, as part of its ‘Green Deal’, the carbon market is being expanded to include emissions from areas other than power generation and heavy industry.

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