ScottishPower has declared its sponsorship of the UK's first alliance between industry and academia to focus specifically on carbon capture and storage (CCS), which is the ground-breaking technology designed to remove CO2 from the exhaust gasses at fossil fuelled power stations. This will be known as the ScottishPower Academic Alliance, SPAA.

SPAA has been designed to match the needs of the UK's fast developing CCS industry with the research capacity of some of the country's leading academics from Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh. It will focus specifically on technical innovation around the capture and offshore storage of CO2, the policy and regulatory aspects of CCS and look at what the UK needs to do to capitalise on the commercial opportunities the technology offers - especially in developing a national skills capacity.

ScottishPower is investing almost GBP5 million over the next five years which will fund up to 12 full-time researchers working at University of Edinburgh and Imperial College London. ScottishPower will seek to leverage this funding through further contributions from Government and international sponsors which it hopes will consolidate the UK's growing reputation as a centre of excellence for this embryonic industry.

Nick Horler, ScottishPower's Chief Executive, said, 'This is a terrific step forward for ScottishPower and will help us in our ambitions to make CCS a reality in the UK by 2014. I am enormously proud to be associated with the work of some of the world's leading authorities on CCS. Their input will be vital to improve our understanding of this essential technology and help us to reduce CO2 emissions and tackle climate change.'

Professor Stuart Haszeldine, ScottishPower Chair of CCS at University of Edinburgh, said, 'Developing a CCS industry in the UK will capitalise on our established offshore and engineering expertise and make a significant contribution to the economy of the country, creating new jobs and skills. I am pleased to be building on the CCS research results the University of Edinburgh has already achieved with ScottishPower, and to welcome Imperial College London as partners. The expertise of all three organisations will help to maintain the UK's leading position in CCS.'

Professor Nigel Brandon, Director of the Energy Futures Lab at Imperial College London, added, 'CCS is a technology that has a real potential to reduce CO2 emissions globally, but there remain a number of technological, political and economic challenges to be overcome if this technology is to be widely adopted. I am delighted that ScottishPower is working in partnership with the College and the University of Edinburgh to tackle these important issues. Our aim is to help ScottishPower achieve its targets for CCS technology, and to provide our staff and students with exciting opportunities to translate their research into real industrial impact in this important field.'

Tags: ScottishPower Renewables