A REPORT into the future of clean air technology has called for financial measures to support the industry, and emphasised the positive impact carbon capture and storage (CCS) could have on the Tees Valley economy.

Teesside’s leading chemical and steel companies have welcomed the report by the Parliamentary Advisory Group on CCS, which says the country could save billions by investing now in the production of CO2-free electricity.

The premise of CCS is that the carbon dioxide emissions from heavy industry can be captured before it enters the atmosphere and stored underground.

A CCS bidding competition was cancelled by the government last November on the grounds of excessive cost, but the new parliamentary report sets out a six-point plan to free the logjam that has blocked the technology’s development.

It emphasises the need to act now on developing CCS and calls for financial measures to support the technology based on the government’s existing scheme for renewable electricity providers.

The report, overseen by group chairman Lord Oxburgh, also notes that Teesside could have a role to play in becoming a CCS hub.

Energy-intensive businesses across the Tees Valley’s industrial sector previously joined together to form the Teesside Collective in a bid to establish the region as Europe’s first clean industrial zone. The Collective produced a plan last year in the hope of securing funding for a CCS network on Teesside.

It wants the technology to come to the region as it could safeguard thousands of existing jobs and create around 2,600 more over the next 15 to 20 years.

Neil Kenley, director of business investment at Tees Valley Combined Authority, which heads the Collective, said: “Lord Oxburgh’s report captures the importance of pursuing CCS now, not later.

“The focus it gives to incentivising industrial CCS and the recognition of Teesside’s role as a potential CCS ‘hub’ to drive down cost and boost economic regeneration tally with Teesside Collective’s own analyses.”

He added: “Working together to develop a national CCS infrastructure, we can cut substantial amounts of damaging carbon emissions, retain high value jobs and inject growth into the UK’s industrial base.”

Lord Oxburgh said Britain can show ‘global leadership’ in tackling the problem of global warming by deploying CCS. He added: “We can dramatically reduce our CO2 emissions, create tens of thousands of jobs, and give our domestic industry a great stimulus by making use of technologies which are now well understood and fully proven.”

The report proposes a publicly-owned CCS Delivery Company to kickstart implementation.