The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce an unprecedented £20bn of new funding for UK carbon capture and storage at this year’s spring budget on Wednesday 15th March.
This parallels moves from the USA and Europe to add urgency to the race to net zero, with various governments encouraging companies and investors to double down on green technologies.
The Treasury has said that the £20bn funding will be allocated over the next two decades and commits to “spades in the ground” for carbon capture and low carbon projects as soon as next year.
Reacting to this news, NECCUS CEO Ronnie Quinn said:
“Reports of this new investment into CCS and low carbon energy projects are warmly welcomed by NECCUS. The sooner we can act the better our chances of meeting both the UK and Scottish targets for net zero emissions.
NECCUS and the Scottish Cluster have long advocated for urgency in addressing the ambition to have four industrial clusters in operation by 2030. Action is needed now to achieve this interim target and build on the work undertaken to date to allow us to maximise the opportunities for decarbonisation.
We look forward to studying the full details of this announcement when the budget is published on Wednesday.”
