Motorists concerned about the impact on the planet of petrol and diesel cars may be comforted by Esso’s marketing campaign on “thoughtful driving”.
One of its most eye-catching initiatives is a proposal to trap carbon dioxide at a vast oil refinery and petrochemical complex on the south coast and store it under the seabed of the English Channel.
The oil refinery at Fawley, a village in Hampshire, is operated by the US firm ExxonMobil, Esso’s parent company. The oil firm says the scheme will mean drivers can “fill up with less impact” and make “a major contribution to the UK’s move to net zero”.
But now the oil giant faces allegations of greenwashing as an investigation by openDemocracy reveals that the project may never get off the drawing board. It hasn’t received a licence or government support, and the company has not committed any of its own money to build it.
Paul Greenwood, Exxon’s UK boss, has said a 2030 target to complete a first phase of construction may be hit only “if you wave a magic wand”.
Doug Parr, chief scientist for Greenpeace UK, said carbon capture and storage was hailed by the oil industry as a “miraculous silver bullet”, but had failed to deliver. “Carbon capture and storage does not appear to be much closer to reducing carbon emissions, or being affordable, than it did 20 years ago,” he said. “This scheme stands out as greenwashing.”
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) involves isolating and trapping CO2 emissions where they are produced – such as at a power station, refinery or incinerator. The captured gas can either be used to make products, such as synthetic fuel or fizzy drinks, or it can be transported by pipeline or ship to a permanent storage site deep under the seabed.
But the technology has developed “at a snail’s pace”, according to analysts. There were just 41 CCS plants operating globally by the end of last year, none of them in the UK. Collectively, they captured about 0.1% of annual global CO2 emissions. Four industrial “clusters” in Scotland, north-west England, Teesside and the Humber have been selected for funding by