Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has any plans to develop carbon capture and storage projects in the North East.

Carbon capture usage & storage (CCUS) has huge potential to decarbonise the economy and maximise economic opportunities for the UK. We have reaffirmed a commitment to deploy CCUS in the UK subject to its costs coming down sufficiently, investing up to a £100 million in leading edge CCUS and industrial energy innovation.

I welcome the work undertaken by the Teesside Collective on the potential for CCUS in the North East. As set out in the Clean Growth Strategy, published on 12 October 2017, Government will work with the ongoing initiatives in Teesside, Merseyside, South Wales and Grangemouth to test the potential for development of CCUS industrial decarbonisation clusters.