UK leads the way in carbon management tech

Carbon management technologies, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR), will be essential to delivering net zero.

The UK is taking a leadership position in this field.

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Kash Burchett, Global Head of Carbon Management, HSBC

At a time when some other regions are seeing investors pause amid external uncertainty, the UK has emerged as a blueprint for attracting foreign direct investment into carbon management.

This global leadership is in part a function of stable, impactful government support for carbon capture utilisation and storage. It also reflects decades of investment into research and development, and effective collaboration between industry and the UK’s world-class academic institutions.

Underpinning this is a thriving ecosystem of supporting services, which have made investment simpler and lowered costs – from insurance and finance to software and skilled engineering.

Top destination

Over the past two years, the UK has emerged as one of the world’s top destinations for project finance into CCS¹, focused on two world-class hubs – Hy-Net in North West England and the East Coast Cluster in North East England.

At the same time, the UK is home to a range of CDR technology developers, demonstrating with real-world projects how solutions like biochar, direct air capture, enhanced rock weathering and bio-carbon removal and storage can deliver durable carbon removals at an increasingly affordable cost.

Our role

We recognise the role that carbon management solutions can play in decarbonising the UK economy.

We’re proud to have provided project finance to carbon transport and storage infrastructure, such as the Northern Endurance Partnership (opens in new window), venture debt to homegrown carbon capture technology providers like Nuada (opens in new window), and financial solutions for innovative UK CDR firms such as Mission Zero (opens in new window).

We believe the UK now has a unique opportunity to demonstrate how carbon management technologies can deliver low-cost decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors and maintain a reliable, secure supply of energy.

Read the full article (opens in new window), written by Kash and Matthew Jolley, Director, Climate Tech and Sustainability, HSBC Innovation Bank.