Britain could store CO2 under the North Sea and earn £10b/yr

Carbon dioxide could be stored under the seabed as a new oil industry develops

According to new research, Britain has more storage capacity for waste carbon dioxide than all other northern European countries combined, with the exception of Norway. As one of the potentially boom industries of the next 20 years, Britain is well placed to earn huge revenue from this natural resource.

The CO2 storage industry which is in the developmental stage could support up to 240,000 jobs in the UK, as many as currently offered by the North Sea oil and gas industries. By piping in waste CO2 to the rock which lies beneath the North Sea, Britain could earn up to £5 billion a year by selling licenses to other countries to store their waste gas. Another £5 would be generated by the storage technology industry.

A demonstration project at the Sleipner oil field in the North Sea has been operated by the Norwegian oil company Statoil since 1996, taking a million tonnes of CO2 each year. The British Government currently has one demonstration project which will be ready for 2014, and scientists are calling for more demonstration projects to be ready, up to five in total by 2016.