BGS responds to Government’s ambitious Ten Point Plan for net zero transition
BGS has welcomed the Government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution which highlights the importance of geology and the ongoing need to support essential geoscientific research that will underpin the UK’s long term energy transition.
18/11/2020 By BGS Press
Clean hydrogen, carbon capture and storage (CCS), zero-carbon transport and offshore wind are all key pillars of the Prime Minister’s ambitious Ten Point Plan to drive the UK towards a net zero emissions target, which will be backed by £12 billion in Government investment and aims to create 250 000 new, ‘green’ jobs.
BGS, which provides expert and independent advice on key areas of geoscience, says that before meaningful progress can be made towards technologies required for decarbonisation, scientists rapidly need to advance their understanding of the subsurface.
The Prime Minister’s statement illustrates how important geology and geological technology is for the energy transition and for the commitment to net zero.
The underground plays a vital part in this agenda and it is very important that we don’t underestimate the efforts needed to achieve this.
We recommend more funding for research in this area, and policy and regulatory support to improve investor confidence and to encourage business to get involved and make a green industrial revolution a reality for the UK.
Our role in providing expert and independent advice on key areas of geoscience, places us in a unique position to work with partners in supporting the net zero agenda.
Dr Karen Hanghøj, BGS Director.
If we want to reach net zero by 2050, we need to focus on increasing our knowledge of the subsurface of the UK.
Geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and subsurface heat storage are four technologies that could get the UK towards net zero.
We need more large-scale pilot and demonstrations of geothermal, CCS and subsurface heat and hydrogen storage so that we can make rapid advances in these fields.
Prof Mike Stephenson, BGS Chief Scientist for Decarbonisation and Resource Management.
To support this, BGS will continue to research the optimal use of the rocks under the seabed for carbon dioxide and hydrogen storage, as well as establish the geological foundations of the infrastructure we will need to realise this important endeavour – new platforms, new windfarms and new pipeline infrastructure.
Through the newly established £31 million UK Geoenergy Observatories along with the broader research community, BGS will research the extraction of geothermal heat from old coal mines and other buried rocks, as well as looking into storing industrial heat or summer heat below the surface, so that it can be used later.
To support the nuclear industry, BGS will research the safe and long-term disposal of radioactive waste in deep, secure underground vaults so that it will be safe for future generations, and so that the UK can benefit from low carbon, reliable baseload electricity.
BGS also welcomes the Government’s support to develop homegrown electric cars in the UK’s world-leading manufacturing centres in the West Midlands, north-east England and North Wales. As the UK’s national provider of information and data on metals critical for battery manufacture, the BGS will research both the prospects for metal extraction in the UK and the international security of supply of metals which can help to meet the demand for batteries and other low carbon technologies.
Relative topics
Related news

Dr Marie Cowan awarded the Energy Group Medal by the Geological Society
18/05/2023
This award is presented annually to individuals with a geoscience background who have made an outstanding contribution to the energy industry.

BGS appoints new members to Science Advisory Committee
17/05/2023
Four new members’ three-year terms begin in June 2023.

AGS file utilities tool: production release
16/05/2023
BGS’s online tool for validating AGS files against the official AGS data format rules and its own NGDC data submission requirements goes live.

BGS releases 10K maps through updated maps portal
16/05/2023
BGS releases an updated maps portal, which allows users to view all publicly available, maps and includes 10 000 and 1:10 560 scale maps for the first time.

BGS maps out priorities with five-year strategy
11/05/2023
BGS publishes its new strategy for 2023 to 2028, ‘Understanding our Earth’.

Improvements to borehole delivery
25/04/2023
BGS releases improvements to its borehole layer on the GeoIndex, which makes access faster and improves quality.

Report identifies areas of the UK prospective for critical raw materials
17/04/2023
Areas from the Highlands to south-west England have the right geology to be prospective for several critical raw materials such as lithium and graphite, according to a new report.

World Mineral Production 2017 to 2021 is now available
14/04/2023
The latest edition of World Mineral Production has been released.

How does public water use influence the amount of phosphorus in the environment?
11/04/2023
New research looks at how phosphorus accumulates in public water systems in the USA.

Scientists discover regions of the UK with greatest potential to use heat from deep thermal waters
30/03/2023
BGS geologists have mapped the UK’s potential to use heat from thermal groundwater deep beneath central and southern Britain.

BGS laboratories become first in UKRI to receive gold LEAF accreditation
28/03/2023
BGS achieved gold certification in the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) accreditation in March 2023.

World Water Day 2023: groundwater photo stories
22/03/2023
A showcase of groundwater use from around the world highlighting how developing groundwater has benefited the lives of many people.