Just over a couple of weeks ago, the team behind the Exxon Solent CO2 Pipeline Project held their first in a series of public meetings on the Isle of Wight.
One OnTheWight reader who attended said they were shocked that out of 31 legitimate questions put to the project team, 18 were answered with ‘don’t know’.
Cutting across the Island
Exxon are seeking permission to install an underground pipeline to transport CO2 for a carbon capture programme, and the Isle of Wight features in two of the three possible routes that are being considered.
As shown below, both of these routes would cut through the Island, one going from North to West and the other from North to South, affecting homes, road infrastructure, farmland, biodiversity and more.
Why so many “Don’t knows”?
The purpose of the public meetings is billed by them as providing information for residents about the plans. Thomas Cowley, as a representative of Shalfleet Parish Council and Yarmouth Town Council and as a member of the National Landscape Steering Committee, attended the first public meeting and shares his report below of the questions raised and the answers given by the project team.
Many will be concerned to see that out of 31 questions, more than half (18) were answered with ‘don’t know’.
Offer to challenge any of the report
OnTheWight approached the Solent CO2 Pipeline Project team and asked whether they challenged any of the Q&A report from Thomas Cowley.
They initially responded, but didn’t answer our questions. We chased again on Monday this week, but still, as of the point of publishing (Friday 23 Aug 2024), there’s been no response.
Below is Thomas’s Q&A report, which, as a reminder, the Solent CO2 Pipeline Project team have not challenged.
What’s the cost of the pipeline?
Don’t know
Who’s paying for it?
Exxon are paying for it
Why did the project get turned down for government funding previously?
They were one of the last projects to arrive at the funding round
Do you expect to get government funding this time?
Don’t know, because they don’t know the approach of this government
There are many other sites your presentation highlights, in the North Sea. Why this project, here?
There are allegedly other projects that are progressing in the North Sea. This is the only suitable site in the South of England area
What’s the estimated timescale from now to commencement of works on the pipeline, to completion of the pipeline project and then how long to commission it in to work?
5-7 years of planning
2032-35 for completion of the pipeline and immediate commissioning
How many other CO2 pipelines like this are there in the UK and across the globe?
Don’t know
What issues have occurred with these other pipelines?
Don’t know
How is the CO2 injected on-site?
Using ‘standard and well-proven techniques’ for injection of gas into oil wells
What equipment is needed on-site at the point of injection?
There is no rig, all equipment is sub-sea
How many tonnes of CO2 will it be capturing per year?
5 million cars per year. He said they know the actual tonnes, but that’s commercially sensitive
What’s the total capacity of the site for carbon capture?
Don’t know until the well is drilled
How many years is it expected to be in operation?
Don’t know until the well is drilled
What are the geological conditions needed to capture the carbon on this site?
Don’t know, apparently the government is the body that has defined the site as suitable.
How long do you expect the CO2 to be held in the ground?
Indefinitely
What stops it leaking out?
“It stays in the ground” (don’t know)
How many other sites are there, globally where this process is in use?
Don’t know
How many of them are successful?
Don’t know
How long have they successfully captured CO2 so far?
Also, don’t know
How many sites have not been successful in capturing CO2?
Don’t know
How have they failed?
Don’t know
What is the probability of failure of the storage site?
Don’t know
Where is the CO2 being generated?
Fawley and the surrounding complex, although some might be shipped in from further afield
If not at Fawley, how and why is it being transported to Fawley?
Don’t know
If at Fawley, who owns the process that is generating the CO2?
Exxon
What are the processes that generate the CO2?
Generation of hydrogen fuel (not ‘green’ hydrogen)
How are you expecting those processes to grow, or shrink in volume and over what time period?
Don’t know
What work are you doing to develop new processes to create replacement projects that generate less CO2?
Generation of hydrogen fuel and synthetic aviation fuel were the only examples given
How much is being invested to develop those alternative processes?
Don’t know
Why isn’t it being proposed to tanker it to the injection site?
Don’t know – at first he thought I was suggesting they might road tanker it across the Island
What are the cost comparisons for tankering to the site vs this project, for the life of the injection site?
Don’t know, because didn’t think tankering (by boat) had been considered as an alternative to digging up a National Park and AONB.
Contradiction?
Thomas Cowley also added that the responses at the meeting directly contradicts, what the company’s lead told openDemocracy, specifically,
“The company’s UK lead, Paul Greenwood, told openDemocracy a carbon capture project at its Fawley oil refinery in Hampshire would only meet its target to be operational by 2030 if it receives taxpayer subsidies.”
UPDATE: Delayed response from project team
After 15 days of silence, and following publication of the above article, a spokesperson for the Solent CO2 Pipeline project finally replied to our requests.
Despite being given several opportunities to challenge the Q&A report, he now stated that,
“Having spoken to the team, I’m not sure this is an accurate portrayal of the conversation and some of the questions asked are outside the scope of the consultation for the pipeline.”
They also gave a stock quote from Michael Foley, UK Low Carbon Solutions Executive at ExxonMobil, one that had already been provided to other media earlier in the week, which said,
“We are here to listen and to understand views on how the proposed consultation corridors would perform, and encourage everyone to take part.
“CCS is proven technology, which the UK Climate Change Committee, and the UK Government, consider key to achieving a significant reduction in industrial CO2 emissions – the industries that produce essential products that we rely on every day.
“Our proposed pipeline will be able to transport millions of tonnes per year of captured CO2, with a capacity equivalent to removing over five million cars off the road each year.
“It’s easy to take part in the consultation at www.solentco2pipeline.co.uk.”
Article edit
5.40pm 23rd Aug 2024 – Comment from project team added
Image: Gas pipeline being installed by NPCA Online under CC BY 2.0 – for illustrative purposes only
