Chamber and committees

Good morning, minister. You touched on the issue of carbon capture and the committee has heard how vital the Scottish cluster carbon capture project is to supporting the transition of Scotland’s industries, especially in the central belt of Scotland.

You said that the Acorn project is one of two projects in pole position in the track 2 process, but we have had few details on what that actually means at a time when Ineos has said that it is committed to investing £1 billion to decarbonise Grangemouth and support the cluster.

Will you tell us more about the track 2 process? Will the planned update in the summer set out once and for all whether the UK Government is committed to ensuring that the Acorn project is taken forward?

I hope so, minister.

I should declare my interest as a Co-operative Party MSP, convener.

What does that mean in practical terms, minister? What proportion of the Scottish economy should co-operatives make up as a result of the support that the Government is likely to give them?

I agree, minister, that we need to move at pace, but the Acorn project has been under development for more than a decade, and I am sure that you appreciate that there is considerable frustration among potential developers.

Will you tell us why there has been what appears to be such a lack of progress in supporting that project? Also, to go back to my first question, will we get a clear announcement in the summer on whether the UK Government supports taking forward the Acorn project?

Do you have a target for the proportion from Scotland of those supply chain jobs?

I will give the officials more time to scribble, if you wish, minister. Do you accept that, without the Acorn project, we will not decarbonise Grangemouth and we will not have a just transition in that area?

Do you accept that, without the Acorn project, we cannot decarbonise Grangemouth on the scale that is required?

Good morning to the panel. One of NSET’s priorities is to capitalise on the opportunities of the transition to net zero. Would it be a fair assessment to say that, although the growth of renewables has significantly reduced carbon emissions, it has not delivered for Scotland the economic benefits that it might have delivered? We were promised 130,000 green jobs by 2020. The Fraser of Allander Institute put the actual figure at 27,000. Recently, the trade unions highlighted the fact that only around 3,100 jobs have been created in offshore wind. Why have we failed to deliver the real potential in jobs from the growth in renewables?

You talk about learning the lessons from onshore wind, but the trade unions recently highlighted analysis that showed that we are also failing to deliver when it comes to offshore wind. Their analysis highlighted that the latest Office for National Statistics low carbon and renewable energy estimates showed that

“In 2014, every £1 million in income made by offshore wind companies translated to 7 jobs for workers in Scotland”

and that

“this plummeted to 1 job per £1 million”

of turnover for offshore wind farm companies in 2021. Therefore, the big wind farm companies seem to be doing rather well out of it, but why is that not translating into jobs? Why do we appear to be going backwards?

This is a whole new subject, which means that you will need to completely change your papers, minister. The committee is keen to hear from the Government on the role of co-operatives in the wellbeing economy. What do you see as the role of co-operatives and how will the Government support their growth as a model?