Dear Supporters.
DON’T FORGET- THIS WEEKEND - The Peak Cluster Massive Carbon Capture CO2 pipeline project “Consultation” is taking place this weekend. PLEASE TRY AND ATTEND one of the events and ask lots of questions.
There is a drop in event at Hoylake Parade Community Centre on Sat 24th Jan from 1pm to 4.30pm
There is a drop in event at Willaston Memorial Hall on Sunday 25th Jan from 11.30am to 2.30pm
An above ground (AGI) Carbon Capture Facility for the Concrete and Cement Industry is proposed in Meols and also near Neston. The joint venture "Peak Cluster" includes major Cement and Lime producers such as TARMAC, Buxton Lime and Breedon Concrete.
The Meols AGI (above ground installation) will be used for further compressing the Carbon Dioxide and then transferring it to an off-shore pipeline. Consultation documentation produced by the company states: “We are currently considering compressor, tall vent, layout and site location options." - for Meols
More info can be found on the peak cluster website: https://peakcluster.co.uk/
In addition, the £5billlion project will bring a Carbon Dioxide Pipeline from Staffordshire and Derbyshire, to Ellesmere Port and will be built through the Wirral, requiring a 30-40m wide construction strip, from Willaston through Thornton Hough, Brimstage, Barnston, Thingwall, Arrowe Park, Royden Park, Irby , Frankby, Greasby and Meols.
This “Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project” will NOT go to Wirral Council for Planning approval, instead it will go straight to the Government Planning Inspectorate for public examination and the decision to approve lies with the Planning Inspector and then the Secretary of State.
This massive project involves an unproven technology, unspoken real risks, huge destruction and disturbance (to life, safety, roads, services, landscape, wildlife, heritage assets, etc.)
The Centre for International Law recently published a paper “Deep Trouble – the Risks of Carbon Capture and Storage” which states:
“Facing growing scrutiny over their contributions to climate change, polluting industries are increasingly looking for ways to cover up their continued emissions rather than phase out the fossil fuels driving them. One way companies claim the world can continue producing and using oil, gas, and coal without harming the climate is through carbon capture and storage (CCS), which purports to enable polluters to trap their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and bury them underground or under the seabed.
Despite the fanfare around CCS, it is a costly and risky endeavor and nearly all the world’s past CCS projects have experienced unexpected problems or failed outright. The technology’s poor track record hasn’t stopped the fossil fuel industry from championing new projects, and over the last few years, companies and governments have put forward a rash of new proposals that aim to store industrial emissions offshore under the seabed.
A new wave of proposed projects aims to pool CO2 waste from various fossil fuel and industrial activities for injection in offshore storage “hubs” in oceans around the world. This untested technique, which involves a step change in the scale and complexity of offshore CCS, poses uncalculated risks. Some of the envisioned hubs are associated with the buildout of new fossil fuel projects, and most would store waste from industries that must be scaled down or phased out if the world is to avoid catastrophic climate change.”
We believe this massive project is just “Green-washing”. i.e it is being presented as an environmentally / climate friendly way for these Concrete and Aggregate companies to just continue to produce “essential” products, just as they have always done, rather than looking for alternative products or ways of production to scale down their carbon emissions.
This pipeline will be dumping their waste under the sea off Barrow in Furness, via the Wirral, in the depleted North and South Morecambe Gas Fields.
Please try to attend the “Consultation” events. Apart from this learning exercise, communities along the Pipeline route need to get the detail of the exact route, see what damage, etc., that routing would entail, and assess whether there would be less-destructive or more acceptable alterations. Local communities also need to inform Peak Cluster of their local knowledge of environmental issues and possible problems which they are not currently aware of. Please press for less destructive alternatives. Press for these directly with Peak Cluster and through the Council, Councillors and MPs (although the Council has no part in the Approval Process apart from commenting, as the Planning Inspectorate will determine/advise the SoS (Secretary of State).
Some questions to ask at the “consultation” events:
· Why has this Carbon Capture Project and Pipeline been decided as the solution for the issue of the massive amounts of CO2 produced by the Cement and Lime Industry?
· What other alternative solutions have been considered and discounted?
· Why weren’t the public consulted on the other alternatives?
· Why is the pipeline coming through the Wirral – why, for example, could it not be routed to the Point of Ayr in North Wales?
· Peak Cluster state the project will capture 3 million tonnes of CO2 per year – what is the carbon footprint of building and maintaining this pipeline?
· Rough estimates calculate that to offset 3 million tonnes of CO2 per year you would need approximately 90 – 120 million trees. The new Yorkshire White Rose Forest will plant £134million trees. Why not simply plant millions of trees along the pipeline route, creating a fantastic wildlife corridor that will be safe and a lasting legacy and not store up potential problems for the future?
· https://www.thisisthecoast.co.uk/news/local-news/134-million-new-trees-for-yorkshire/
· Will the Carbon Dioxide be used to displace any remaining gas in the Morecambe Gas Fields? If so, how much gas will they displace and what is the Carbon Footprint of the gas that will be displaced?
· Is this project just a way of allowing the concrete and lime industry to continue polluting in the same way as they always have done, without having to look at more sustainable alternatives?
· Peak Cluster is seeking planning permission for the pipeline from Staffordshire and Derbyshire through the Wirral, compressing the CO2 and taking it off shore to the mean high water mark. The mean high water mark is the boundary of the onshore planning regime. A separate consent for the offshore pipeline and infrastructure to store the Co2 will be sought by Spirit Energy. How long will Spirit Energy be responsible for monitoring and maintaining the CO2 under the sea? What if there are problems? Will the tax payer be responsible for picking up the bill?
· How big will the AGI (above ground installations) be? What will they look like? What is their footprint? How tall will they be? How big will the vent stacks be? How noisy will they be?
Carbon Dioxide is a heavy gas than air and it can displace the air causing asphyxiation. How can we be sure that leaks would be detected and shut down promptly? How quickly would a leak be shut down? In February 2020 a CO2 pipeline rupture near Satartia, Mississippi, caused mass asphyxiation, hospitalizing 45 people and forcing evacuations as a heavy, invisible CO2 cloud displaced oxygen, leading to confusion, collapse, and lasting health issues, highlighting significant safety failures by operator Denbury and raising serious concerns about the regulation and risks of expanding CO2 pipeline networks for carbon capture. How can you be certain that similar incidents wont occur with this pipeline?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/19/exxon-pipeline-leak-carbon-capture-safety-gaps
· In summer 2025 the Health and Safety Executive consulted on “Regulatory Proposals for Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage and offshore hydrogen production”. Wouldn’t it be better to wait until any regulatory changes come in to place before progressing this pipeline?
· How long will Spirit Energy be responsible for monitoring and maintaining the CO2 which be injected under the sea bed? Will the tax payer eventually become responsible?
· Peak Cluster estimate 6 months of construction works at each location. How long will construction of the AGI facility take?
· What traffic problems will be caused and how long will they last? How many wagon loads of imported fill will be required for the pipeline? Will the pipeline trench be backfilled with imported fill? Will the pipeline be sat on imported bedding materials? How big are the pipe sections and how many lorries will be required to transport the pipe sections?
· Peak capture state much of the pipeline will be built in open trenches but some sites, such as “motorways and major roads” will require trenchless technology. This implies that “minor” roads will also have open trences for the pipelines. How many “minor” roads will be closed for the construction of this pipeline and how long will they be closed for?
· What environmental impacts will the route of the pipeline take? For example, the potential location of the Meols AGI is in an area that is often flooded and under water, or with very high water tables for much of the winter. what effect will the peak cluster project have on the proposed Hoylake Wetlands Project? What effect will the marshland (i.e water logged ground) have on the stability of the pipeline?
· How much susbsidies will the Government be giving to this project?
Please be careful of how you answer any any peak cluster questionnaires – they are loaded with biased / leading questions such as “do you agree that industry is important to the uk economy?” Peak Cluster will use the answers to support their case and state that they have community support.
Please make every effort to attend these consultation exercises and ask as many questions as possible.
Thank you for your support