Unsuitability Regarding the Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage Site

That the Parliament notes the selection of a saline aquifer site for the Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage Project, the Lower Cretaceous Captain Sandstone Member formation in the Moray Firth Basin; notes reports that the Captain Sandstone Member (CSM) has few barriers to stop stored carbon emissions rising to the subsurface and has potential risks of seabed leakage; further notes reports that concerns regarding the CSM as a site were raised as early as 2017 in research by Heriot-Watt University; considers that use of the CSM as a site for CO2 storage remains unproven and inadvisable; pays tribute to the ongoing research across Scotland on the issue of Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage, including by the University of Aberdeen’s School of Geosciences and School of Engineering, through the Centre for Energy Transition, and calls on the Scottish Government to work with the UK Government and North Sea Transition Authority to ensure better screening of site geology for potential carbon capture and storage sites.