Policy update

UK highlights

With Parliament on recess, Government policy activity has slowed down slightly. A key recent development is publication of the UK Government’s 10 year industrial strategy, which sets out eight sectors that the government sees as having the highest potential. The Government has also been publishing specific plans for each of these sectors – all but one of these areas now has a specific plan. IChemE responded individually to the industrial strategy, and also responded in collaboration with the Chemical Industries Association, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Society of Chemical Industry.

Other recent policy developments include IChemE responding to a consultation on Regulatory proposals for Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage and offshore hydrogen production; and IChemE convening a roundtable on the energy transition in Scotland, at the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) are releasing a series of four policy documents with calls for evidence on the economic frameworks around carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS). Two of these documents have been published; one on Future Network Strategy for CO2 Transport and Storage and the other on the Evolution of Economic Regulation for CO2 Storage. IChemE will be working with members to develop organisational responses to these documents. We encourage businesses involved in CCUS to make their own submissions, highlighting the challenges they face under the current regulatory settings and their aspirations for how the sector is regulated in future.

Beyond the UK

IChemE convened its first policy roundtable in Australia, on engineering circular economy outcomes in the clean energy transition. A second roundtable is happening later in the year in Adelaide.