Corporate capture catches carbon
08 May 2025
Suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and bury it deep underground. That's the idea behind a £2 billion (€2.35 billion) project just announced in the UK, which aims to remove around 2.5% of the country's current emissions.
The technique is known as carbon capture. It works by separating carbon dioxide – the main gas driving global heating – from other gases released as fossil fuels burn. It then compresses the carbon into a liquid, which is stored in rocks either on land or at sea.
As part of this new plan, Britain will pay Italian energy company Eni to build a pipeline funnelling carbon away from cement factories and waste plants to underground storage.
The UK isn't alone. The EU is placing big bets on carbon capture too, with hopes to remove 450 million tonnes per year by 2050. To put that into perspective: the technology removed an estimated 1.3 million tonnes globally in 2023. Scientific bodies say carbon capture is necessary to achieve net zero, given that absolute emission reduction is unlikely in sectors such as agriculture and steel production. Fossil fuel companies agree.
But the technology has its sceptics. Carbon capture has yet to proven functional at a large scale, especially regarding safe, long-term storage. Scientists also warn of an over-reliance on this technology to solve the climate crisis. The priority, they say, should be on reducing emissions, through an uptake of renewables and energy efficiency.
 | Danny Callaghan Cheap? Not at all. Effective? Not really. Backed by very wealthy, influential players? Big yes. Carbon capture's fan club includes the likes of Shell, BP, and Eni, which have ramped up their lobbying efforts across Europe. The technology seems to offer a convenient excuse to keep burning fossil fuels, prolonging business as usual under the guise of climate action. |
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