Carbon Capture and Net Zero
In early October a press release from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirmed that the UK government had made “up to £21.7 billion of funding available, over 25 years, to make the UK an early leader in 2 growing global sectors, CCUS and hydrogen” (DESNZ, 2024). The article was headed “Government reignites industrial heartlands 10 days out from the International Investment Summit”: the heartlands are in the Northwest and Northeast of England, centred on sites in Teesside and Merseyside, and the summit aims to drive UK economic growth by attracting private sector investment. Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) is seen by many as “a critical tool in decarbonisation” and is “expected to support 50,000 good, skilled jobs as the sector matures in the 2030s”. The funding “will also help turbocharge the low carbon hydrogen sector by paving the way for the UK’s first large-scale hydrogen production plant, decarbonising vital industrial sectors.” CCUS and hydrogen ar