Last week at Westminster, the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committee published a report on the need to accelerate the development of carbon capture, storage and utilisation (CCUS) technology.
Since I was elected as the MP for Banff and Buchan in 2017, I have campaigned for the North East Scotland cluster, with St Fergus terminal linked to Grangemouth, to lead the way in this technology.
I continue to believe that CCUS can be part of a great future for the energy sector in Banff and Buchan, provided that the right proposal comes along.
And it’s in that light that I am particularly excited by the Acorn project by Pale Blue Dot, which focuses on the St Fergus gas terminal, the third largest emissions site in Scotland.
Unlike previous proposals, Acorn aims to achieve commercial viability by starting small, and then growing by adding to that core project later on.
This technology will be vital for continued use of oil and gas in a low-carbon economy, and in assets which have ceased production, decommissioned infrastructure can be converted to use for CCUS purposes.
So I was pleased to see that both the UK and Scottish Governments wrote to the Committee on Climate Change to ask advice on setting more ambitious emissions target following the publication of the IPCC’s special report.
But I have seen a lot of poorly-chosen language by some SNP politicians about the future of energy generation in this area and Scotland.
The SNP spent part of their party conference declaring a “climate emergency” while attempting to detract from their failures in meeting Scotland’s green commitments.
Their poor performance means transport emissions have not seen any sizeable reduction, we are seeing our wildlife impacted, recycling targets are on course to be achieved 12 years later than promised, and their target for increasing cycle journeys will not be achieved for 239 years.
Meanwhile, they failed to appreciate the successes we have seen and the leadership by the UK Government in making us the top G20 country in fulfilling our climate change obligations.
Even in the Scottish Parliament, Conservatives lead the way - winning cross-party support to enact stronger energy efficiency targets for homes by 2030.
We have committed to promoting a secure and low-carbon based energy sector, supporting sustainable transport and to maximising Scotland’s resources; all of which can help achieve ambitious emissions reduction targets.
Scottish Conservatives will continue to stand up for the best interests of the planet and hold the Scottish Government to account on climate change issues.
As always, we will take an evidence-based approach.
This is vital to ensure that Scotland can make real progress instead of the unfortunate position we are in whereby the SNP Government have consistently overpromised and underperformed on key environmental targets.
Last week I saw an excellent show put on at Alvah Parish Hall, organised by the Alvah and Forglen Community Council, Arts Group.
This is one of many shows held regularly in Alvah and Forglen halls.
There are many beautiful halls all around my constituency which are often used for coffee mornings and other fundraising events.
It is great to see them fulfil the role of bringing acts to the stage, for which many of them had been designed in the first place.