SCOTLAND would not necessarily benefit from more carbon capture projects purely from being a part of the EU as the SNP have claimed, an expert has said.
The SNP claimed on Thursday that statistics on operational projects in Europe proved Scotland would be able to make more of its carbon capture potential if it was part of the bloc.
There are currently no operational projects anywhere in Scotland or the UK, but there are 12 operational sites across Europe.
The Acorn project in Aberdeenshire has been subject to repeated delays and uncertainty over UK Government support, which the SNP said shows Scotland is being "left behind while European countries deliver the technology at scale".
But Paul de Leeuw, director of the Energy Transition Institute at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, told The National it was a "push" to make a direct link between Scotland joining the EU and having more carbon capture technology.
He explained the reason carbon capture is not happening at scale anywhere in the world is because it needs economic backing from governments.
"It's very clear that if you want us to have net zero, carbon capture is part of the solution," de Leeuw said.
"The challenge is, it is just not a technology that is happening at scale anywhere at the moment, and the reason is the economic model needs government support. It still needs money from somewhere to make sure it is viable.
"If it was commercially attractive proposition, you would see carbon capture and storage happening everywhere.
"So then you come to the UK and there are really six clusters identified by the UK Government, five in England and one in Scotland, and the UK Government only has so much money and so it will have to prioritise, and it picked some of the larger industrial clusters."
He said while Scotland being in the EU may give access to greater funding, it would not necessarily fix the problem of projects needing financial backing.
Speaking about the SNP's EU claim, he went on: "It still needs support. That has to come from somewhere. Europe has a lot of countries, there are only 12 projects so far, more to come, so I don't think that link can be directly made, is my sense.
"You might have access to greater funding, but I don't think you can make the point that this would be the consequence. I think that is pushing it a little bit.
"The money has to come from somewhere. That challenge doesn't go away, no matter what bloc you're part of, and that's why that context is so important."
Figures from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) also show there are almost 200 more planned carbon capture sites across Europe.
The Acorn carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) project at St Fergus in Aberdeenshire aims to capture carbon dioxide emissions from industrial facilities and power plants, transporting them offshore to be permanently stored in depleted gas fields beneath the North Sea.
It plans to reuse existing oil and gas infrastructure, notably pipelines that already run from St Fergus out to former drilling sites.
It missed out on support in 2021, when funding instead went to two areas in the north of England, and was placed on the Track 2 reserve list for future backing.
While the UK Government pledged £200m to develop the site last year, the project ran into issues last December when one of the co-owners, Storegga, put its 30% stake up for sale.
The Scottish Greens have previously expressed opposition to carbon capture, saying it is not substitute for investment in renewable energy.
