Peterhead power station protesters lock themselves to Holyrood

Climate campaigners opposed to Peterhead power station’s expansion locked themselves to the Scottish Parliament – and sent the keys to senior SNP figures including Aberdeenshire-based energy minister Gillian Martin.

Extinction Rebellion campaigners warned “carbon capture” facilities at the proposed second gas station are a “scam” and won’t help the environment.

Norwegian oil giant Equinor and SSE say their carbon capture plans at Peterhead will ultimately replace the existing gas plant and help reduce emissions.

The key used to lock up campaigners was sent to Martin, First Minister John Swinney, and Western Isles MSP Alasdair Allan, who is an SNP climate minister.

© DC Thomson

“We’re inviting them to come down and talk to us about the fact carbon capture’s a scam,” said Alex Cochrane, from Glasgow. “It doesn’t work. It has a long history of failure.”

He added: “Carbon capture is a sort of a magical unicorn the oil industry want to keep going with.”

© Extinction Rebellion

Carbon capture aims to trap carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels and store it to prevent harm to the environment.

But critics – including the United Nations – have warned the technology is “unproven”.

Cochrane denied Extinction Rebellion were fringe outsiders.

“We totally sympathise with the issue of our jobs. We’re representing common sense,” he said.

“We’re representing science which tells us we’re in a real mess.”

© Extinction Rebellion

As activists rallied outside Holyrood the topic of Peterhead power station came up inside parliament.

Green leader Patrick Harvie said emissions from the new station could be five times higher than companies have promised.

SNP leader Swinney side-stepped his question by saying he could not discuss the project because the application remains live.

“This government takes incredibly seriously the obligations we have on tackling climate change,” he said.

As for Extinction Rebellion, Cochrane would not be drawn on what future disruptive action we can expect from the group.

“Who knows?” he said when asked what’s next.

Police later confirmed two protesters, aged 46 and 69, were arrested.

They will appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date.