London’s leading sustainable venue 15Hatfields, has welcomed last week’s government announcement that places carbon high on the agenda but warns that its intended £22bn commitment is not the long-term solution.
Set to take place over the next 25 years, the government’s investment will fund two Carbon Capture Solution clusters and storage projects to keep carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere and will help it reach net zero by 2050 as well as kickstart economic growth in the North of the UK.
Even though it is expected to be one of the biggest environmental spending promises for the newly elected government, the Southbank venue believes the approach is likely to extend the life and use of fossil fuels.
Warren Campbell, General Manager at 15Hatfields, said: “While we support the investment that will help to take carbon out of the system, the reality is that we should not be releasing carbon in the first place, which is what we as a sustainable venue are working tirelessly towards. As such, the government should instead be focussing on using hydrogen power as a cleaner level of energy production, which has no emissions at all.”
He added: “It is positive to see that the reduction of carbon is high on the government’s agenda and to see that the UK has now stopped using coal power stations. However, while this investment will help to remove carbon out of the system, it is not a long-term solution to eradicate it. Over the coming weeks we will be launching a carbon reduction campaign detailing how we are making great strides in this area and will be calling upon other venues to follow suit.”
