State of the art in carbon dioxide capture and storage in the UK: An experts’ review

This paper presents results from the first round of an extensive on-line Delphi survey of experts in the field of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS). Questions related to key drivers of energy technology in the UK, capture and engineering, CO2 transport, storage, risks and leakage, monitoring and remediation, costs and economics, incentives, regulation, international context. The survey has constructed a comprehensive picture of expert opinion on the current status of CCS in the UK from across the CCS and related energy supply community. The results contribute to understanding how large-scale deployment of CCS might be realised in the UK and the challenges associated therein. The survey revealed that key barriers to implementation of CCS are currently a lack of long-term policy framework in the UK and costs. There remain aspects of the process that require further investigation but until the technology is adopted on a commercial scale, in the context of a commitment to significant reductions in CO2 emissions across all demand sectors, it is neither possible nor appropriate to predict the details of how the process will evolve.