Photo caption: IEF logo
The Secretary-General of the International Energy Forum (IEF) commended the UK government on Monday for providing £21.7 billion in funding to two carbon capture sites in a major endorsement of the clean energy technology.
Carbon capture technology removes CO2 emissions before it reaches the atmosphere and stores it safely beneath the seabed. The funding announced on Friday will enable industry in northern England to decarbonize and supports the development of other new clean energy solutions such as low-carbon hydrogen.
“We welcome the UK’s leadership in supporting the clean energy revolution by deploying carbon capture at scale to decarbonize its industrial base,” said Joseph McMonigle, Secretary General of the IEF.
The announcement follows the launch of the Carbon Management Challenge last year, which brings together 20 countries to accelerate the scale up of carbon capture and set a storage target of 1 gigaton of CO2 per year by 2030. The IEF has been a long-standing advocate for scaling up carbon capture technologies. It published a report in 2021 calling for countries to raise their ambitions and capture 5.6 gigatons by 2050 to meet climate and sustainable development goals.
The two projects in the UK will remove more than 8.5 million tonnes of CO2 each year – the equivalent of taking around four million cars off the road.
The International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have endorsed carbon capture as a vital tool in meeting climate goals, particularly in heavy industry such as cement and steel.
Mr McMonigle said: “This announcement exemplifies the bold action needed to meet the Carbon Management Challenge. The UK’s commitment to supporting carbon capture and other low-carbon technologies will not only enhance its industrial competitiveness, but also set a global example for accelerating clean energy transitions.”
The UK has enough capacity to store 200 years’ worth of CO2 emissions, making carbon capture a revolutionary method in tackling global warming and helping industry to decarbonize.
