Not content with the threat of a Nuclear Waste Dump Theddlthorpe has now been chosen for the land base of a Carbon Capture and Storage project.
When it was first mooted it was to be an underground pipeline rising up to a shutoff valve and connected to the LOGGS pipeline to take the gas to an offshore injection platform.
As the project develops, we are told that Theddlethorpe would have to accommodate a 1000 sq metre site housing a control room, a pig launcher and a 25 metre high vent stack similar to those pictured. At regular intervals, this stack will be used to vent over a million cubic metres of Carbon Dioxide, carrying other poisonous chemicals, to the atmosphere..
Carbon Dioxide is heavier than air and will sink to ground level. It is hoped that the gas will be sufficiently dispersed by the time it sinks to the ground. However, if there is no wind that cannot be guaranteed and a concentration of only ten per cent kills people and wildlife.
Do we need Carbon Capture?
Environmentalists say that CCS releases as much Carbon Dioxide as it saves. It only captures fifty per cent of the Carbon Dioxide generated by any process. The capturing process involves dangerous chemicals and uses electricity to pump the exhaust through the chemicals. The extracted gas is then compressed to form a liquified gas once again using electricity. The Liquified gas is then pumped over thirty miles and these pumps are again powered by electricity. More than forty per cent of Britain's electricity is produced using fossil fuels which release large amounts of Carbon Dioxide so at every stage of the process Carbon Dioxide is released in order to execute the process. From Theddlethorpe the gas is sent out to an offshore injection platform which is completely Diesel powered. So much greenhouse gas is generated in order to run the system that the net amount saved is very small. Many environmentalists claim that more Carbon Dioxide could be captured by planting trees along the route of the pipeline.
So why do it at all?
The government offer subsidies and tax exemptions for companies engaged in carbon capture. The company can also claim that it has reduced its emissions..
The companies benefit from the subsidies and tax breaks and that money gets passed onto shareholders. The process is known as greenwashing. The company claim green credentials for reducing its emissions. In reality, those emissions have not been cut, they have simply been transferred to the power generators.