The United Kingdom government is targeting carbon capture and storage with plans to make a new global market by 2035.
Dubbed the CCUS Vision -- carbon capture, usage, and storage -- the plan includes starting with U.K.-backed projects and transitioning to becoming a competitive market by 2035. The vision also includes U.K. companies competing to build carbon capture facilities and sell their services globally.
The plan comes as the U.K. is investing in climate change mitigation methods. Carbon capture is one method that works by capturing CO2 before it reaches the atmosphere and storing it safely underground. The technology is being explored all over the world, but the U.K. sees itself as having a particular advantage, namely due to its “unique geology, skills and infrastructure as an island nation,” the government said.
The U.K. is said to offer enough space under the North Sea for up to 78 billion tons of carbon.
“That is why we’re making one of the biggest funding commitments in Europe on carbon capture that will cut emissions from our atmosphere, while unlocking investment, creating tens of thousands of jobs and growing the U.K. economy,” Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho said in a statement.
According to the government, the plan would add $5 billion to the economy per year by 2050. Creating the competitive market would also help the U.K. reach its net zero commitments in a way that eases the financial burden on taxpayers. The plan also aims to store between 20-30 tons of CO2 per year by 2030 and support 50,000 jobs by 2030, supported by up to more than $25 billion of investment.
The vision lays out how the country will move to a competitive allocation process for carbon capture projects from 2027 to speed up the building of the CCUS sector, as well as measures for creating conditions for projects that cannot transport carbon by pipeline to enter the market starting in 2025, using ship, road, rail and other forms of transport. Plus, the vision establishes a working group led by industry to look for ways to reduce costs of capturing carbon.
The vision comes after the U.K. announced two other carbon capture clusters, bringing the nation’s total to four– -- HyNet in North West England, East Coast Cluster in Teesside and the Humber, Acorn in Scotland, and Viking in the Humber.
“We see strong demand from businesses across the UK for CCS so today’s announcement is a welcome step forward,” Luciano Vasques, managing director, Eni U.K., said in a statement. “We look forward to providing transportation and storage at HyNet for a wider range of companies in North West England and North Wales, helping them to reduce CO2 emissions, protect local jobs, and boosting industrial competitiveness for the region.”
