The government has pledged to reignite the industrial heartlands in the North West and North East of England with funding for carbon capture sites.
It has reached commercial agreement with industry to create two sites, one in each region, which it says will directly create 4,000 jobs and support a further 50,000 jobs in the long-term.
The announcement of £21.7 billion of funding comes 10 days before the government hosts an International Investment Summit.
CCUS technology removes CO2 emissions before it reaches the atmosphere and stores it safely beneath the seabed – using tried and tested technology that has been deployed across the globe for over 20 years.
It is claimed that the new carbon capture and CCUS-enabled hydrogen projects will also help remove over 8.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year – the equivalent of taking around 4m cars off the road.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband are visiting the North West today to confirm the funding for the sites in Teesside and Merseyside, which are expected to bring in £8 billion of private investment into these communities.
“We’re reigniting our industrial heartlands by investing in the industry of the future,” said Starmer. “For the past 14 years, business has been second-guessing a dysfunctional government – which has set us back and caused an economic slump.
“Today’s announcement will give industry the certainty it needs – committing to 25 years of funding in this groundbreaking technology – to help deliver jobs, kickstart growth, and repair this country once and for all.”
In the week in which Britain became the first industrialised nation to end its 150-year usage of coal to produce power, the nation now begins a new era of clean energy technology. The UK has enough capacity to store 200 years’ worth of emissions – making CCUS a revolutionary method in tackling the climate crisis and helping industry to decarbonise.
James Richardson, acting chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, said: “It’s fantastic to see funding coming through for these big projects. We can’t hit the country’s targets without CCUS so this commitment to it is very reassuring. It will no doubt provide comfort to investors and businesses about the direction of travel for the country.
“We know these projects will provide good, reliable jobs in communities that need them. It is important that prosperity for these parts of the country is built into a clean energy future.”
Energy UK chief exec Emma Pinchbeck added: “CCUS is a tool in our armoury of technologies which we need to decarbonise parts of energy that we currently can’t do with clean electricity, such as major industrial processes.
“The energy transition is gathering pace, and the development of CCUS here for industrial processes unlocks inward investment, creates jobs and helps areas with a proud history of engineering and industry pioneer the technologies of the future in the UK.”