CCUS and wage-driven employment displacement in a supply constrained labour market

Funder

UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre

Timeframe

November 2022 – June 2023

Overview

This project will aid timely Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) project delivery while meeting wider net zero and just transition commitments through focussed public policy and CCUS project level insight and evidence on the drivers, nature, and wider economy implications of wage-driven employment displacement risk in different time frames where UK labour supply constraints prevail and persist.

Using our applied economy-wide (computable general equilibrium, CGE) modelling framework we have developed for the UK, we will further build focussed understanding and evidence on how:

  • current and persisting UK labour supply constraints may impact not only on the costs of delivering CCUS projects within set timeframes; and
  • wage-driven pressures further impact the cost-of-living and -doing-business across the UK economy.

Publications 

The central focus is the key issue of jobs displacement across different sectors of the economy. The project will address two core research questions:

  1. What are the key drivers and mechanisms governing net employment, wage, and wider cost outcomes of investing in and delivering CO2 transport and storage projects both for CCUS-relevant industries and across all other sectors of the economy in different near, medium, and longer- term timeframes?
  2. How can understanding of these key ‘moving parts’ inform potential policy solutions to alleviate the impacts of persisting labour supply constraints and/or cost and price pressures thereof under different circumstances and timeframes