Some of the Peak District’s biggest industrial employers have announced what they are calling a world-first partnership project to slash their greenhouse gas emissions and ensure a sustainable future for their sector – but questions remain about the environmental credentials of the scheme.
Five cement and lime plants in the Peak District and Staffordshire Moorlands, owned by Tarmac, Breedon, Lhoist and Aggregate Industries are joining together with the Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant in Northwich, Cheshire, to create the Peak Cluster.
The companies believe that can capture more than 3million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions a year from manufacturing sites such as the Breedon Hope cement works, and Tarmac’s Tunstead quarry – equivalent to taking 1.2m cars off the road – and then transport the gas via a network of underground pipelines to be locked away in the rock bed beneath the Irish Sea.
John Egan, project director for Progressive Energy, said: “Peak Cluster will cut Derbyshire and Staffordshire’s carbon dioxide emissions by a quarter. In doing so it will make a crucial contribution the UK’s drive to net zero, making a serious impact on local, regional and national climate change targets.
“The project will help industry to continue to thrive into the future – safeguarding jobs, maintaining a booming supply chain and allowing current and future generations to continue to work in, and enjoy, this beautiful region.”
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