The UK is providing £21.5m in funding for an international challenge to help scale-up carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) technology.
Saudi Arabia and Mexico are also backing the initiative, which is one of seven mission innovation challenges announced at the UN climate change meeting in Paris in 2015.
The funding is to support investment in innovations that could cut the cost of CCUS technology and lead to commercial viability, the government said.
A call for CCUS innovation will take up £15m of the money, with individual grants of £5m on offer. The funding will be available until 31 March 2021.
The remaining £6.5m will go to the second call of the Accelerating Carbon Technologies Research Programme.
The programme is backed by 10 European countries and supports research and innovation in CCS.
UK Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry said: “My ambition is for the UK to become a global technology leader in carbon capture, working with international partners to reduce its costs.
“As the UK has led the debate globally on tackling climate change and pioneering clean growth, we are leading this global challenge with an initial £21.5m investment in CCUS innovation – a key part of our modern Industrial Strategy.”
Image: SXC
UK backs CCS challenge
By EBS