Reeves pours millions into Peak District carbon capture scheme
The Chancellor has announced plans to invest £28.6m in the Peak Cluster project, which will eventually see emissions from cement and lime factories in the area stored deep below the Irish Sea.
Ministers said the scheme, which is the world's largest cement decarbonisation project, would prevent more than 3m tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere every year while ensuring a secure domestic supply of cement and lime products, which are critical to the UK's construction and manufacturing industries.
Cement and lime are two of the most difficult industrial sectors to decarbonise because of the high levels of carbon dioxide produced during the manufacturing process, which cannot be replaced by alternative green fuels.
It marks the National Wealth Fund's first investment in carbon capture since Ms Reeves identified the process as a strategic priority earlier this year. The Government has pledged to spend up to £22bn on carbon capture and storage projects over the next 25 years.
Carbon capture – where CO2 emissions are captured at source before being transported and stored underground – is viewed as a key way of preventing emissions from power stations and energy-intensive industries from being released into the atmosphere.
However, the Government's focus on carbon capture is controversial given the technology remains experimental. In a report earlier this year, MPs branded carbon capture 'unproven' and accused Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, of taking a high-risk 'gamble'.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the technology had never been tested, was likely to prove very expensive and may not work.
It also warned of a 'significant' impact on consumer bills. The £22bn pledge equates to £800 per UK household, though this cost would be spread over a number of years.
Nevertheless, Mr Miliband has put carbon capture at the heart of his plan to decarbonise Britain's power system by 2030. Ministers hope it will help to strip up to 30m tonnes of CO2 from the country's emissions by the end of the decade and more than 100m tonnes by 2050.
Alongside doubts over the effectiveness of carbon capture, the Government has also faced criticism from campaign groups such as Greenpeace, who argue that the process simply prolongs the life of fossil fuel industries and say the money should be spent on green energy projects such as offshore wind instead.
Ministers said the Peak Cluster project will create around 1,500 new jobs across Derbyshire, Staffordshire and the North West and support a further 2,000 existing roles.
The taxpayer funding comes alongside £31m from private backers including Japan's Sumitomo Corporation and local partners such as Tarmac and Breedon.
Mr Miliband said: 'This landmark investment will catalyse our carbon capture sector to deliver thousands of highly skilled jobs and growth across our industrial heartlands, as part of our Plan for Change.
'Workers in the North Sea and Britain's manufacturing heartlands will drive forward the country's industrial renewal, positioning them at the forefront of the UK's clean energy transition.'
The National Wealth Fund will invest at least £5.8bn in net zero projects including carbon capture, hydrogen, gigafactories and electric vehicle supply chains by the end of the decade.
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