The UK Government was yesterday accused of leaving Scotland’s nascent carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry in the lurch.
It follows publication this week of a study by Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), which says urgent action is needed for Britain to become a leader in the field.
CCS could be worth an estimated £100billion to the country's manufacturers between now and the middle of the century, with Aberdeen among locations which could benefit from the new technology.
Energy Voice says Aberdeen South MP Stephen Flynn has now written to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to demand movement on CCS as soon as possible.
Mr Flynn lamented the "incomprehensible" delay in announcing a timeline for Track 2 of the UK Government's cluster-sequencing process.
It is widely assumed that the Scottish Cluster - which was picked as the reserve scheme in the Track 1 round - will be given the nod by ministers next time.
Once the timeline for Track 2 is issued, it will give a clearer picture of when the Acorn CCS project, based at the St Fergus gas plant, could be up and running.
Supporting jobs
Currently under development, the project is expected to create and support thousands of jobs.
Mr Flynn said: "The OEUK report was explicit that urgent action is required from UK Government to progress carbon capture, and it reiterated the economic and environmental case for carbon capture in the north-east of Scotland - something that was clear when the UK Government snubbed the Acorn site for Track-1 status.
"Despite the need for urgent action, the UK Government is yet announce the timetable for the track-2 process - leaving industry in the lurch and our net-zero targets in jeopardy.
"Reserve status for the Acorn site is utterly meaningless if there is no process laid out for progression and certainty that the UK Government will take the Scottish Cluster forward."
A UK Government spokesperson told Energy Voice: "We are determined to make the UK a world leader in carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and are accelerating development of this vital technology, with UK Government funding of £1billion via our Carbon Capture Infrastructure Fund.
"We have committed to establishing two CCUS industrial clusters by the mid-2020s and a further two clusters by 2030. The strong potential of the Aberdeenshire Acorn project has been confirmed by the cluster-sequencing process - which is just the start and good news for the future competitiveness of Scotland's industry."