Sir Keir Starmer unveils £2bn carbon capture deal creating 2,000 jobs – UK Times

Sir Keir Starmer has announced a £2bn agreement to fund carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the UK, which he said would create 2,000 jobs across north Wales and the North West.

Speaking at an energy summit in London, the prime minister said the British government and Italian energy group Eni had reached an agreement which will see the company invest billions in facilities that take harmful carbon from the atmosphere and bury it deep underground in order to reduce the impact of emissions.

Announcing the deal, which will see investment in the Liverpool Bay Carbon Capture and Storage Project, the prime minister said: “Our plan for change is working – we said we’d deliver jobs and growth through carbon capture technology, and now we have. Shovels ready for the ground, supporting over 2,000 new jobs and supporting thousands more, transforming the lives of hard-working people.”

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The agreement comes after Sir Keir and energy secretary Ed Miliband in October promised to put £21.7bn towards developing a “world leading carbon capture industry”.

The latest funding announcement will be used to create a new “clean infrastructure network” to decarbonise industries including hydrogen and cement production, the government said.

The agreement involves the construction of 35 km of new pipelines to connect industrial plants to the Liverpool Bay CCS network and will create as many as 2,000 highly skilled jobs in construction.

Throwing out a challenge to those who have criticised the push to clean energy or suggested the development of renewables and tackling climate change could wait, the prime minister asked: “Do they think bill payers can wait, do they think economic growth can wait? Do they think the way to win the green jobs race is by going slow?”

“That would serve no one,” he said.

Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi said: “The strategic agreement with the UK government paves the way for the industrial-scale development of carbon capture and storage (CCS), a sector in which the United Kingdom reaffirms its leadership thanks to the promotion of a regulatory framework that aims to strengthen the development of CCS and make it fully competitive in the market.”

CCS refers to a variety of processes which capture and store carbon dioxide emissions, generally from industrial processes. The carbon dioxide can then be transported, including via repurposed gas pipelines, and stored in places such as rock formations in depleted oil and gas reservoirs.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves claimed the agreement will deliver “game-changing technology” and “revitalise our nation’s industrial heartlands”.

Mr Miliband added: “We are making the UK energy secure and backing our engineers, electricians and welders so we can protect families and businesses and drive jobs through our plan for change.”

At the announcement Sir Keir also promised to invest in clean energy, saying it was the way “to take back control of our energy system, ensure energy security, and bring down bills in the long term”.

Britain’s energy will be a “source not of vulnerability but of strength”, the prime minister said, adding: “We will protect our critical infrastructure, energy networks and supply chain, and do whatever it takes to protect the security of our people, because this is the crucial point: energy security is national security.”