Britain Backs Plan to Store Carbon Dioxide Under the Sea

Business|Britain Backs Plan to Store Carbon Dioxide Under the Sea

The British government said Friday that it would back two large proposals to capture carbon dioxide emissions from industrial plants and bury the gas beneath the sea.

The government, which is led by the Labour Party, said it would provide 22 billion pounds (about $29 billion) for such plans over 25 years as part of its efforts to make Britain a leader in a growing technology known as carbon capture and storage.

Carbon capture is considered a useful tool to tackle climate change but is also viewed with skepticism by some environmental groups, which fear it will prolong the use of oil and natural gas. While carbon capture has been around for decades, the technology is expensive and has been slow to gain traction.

The two proposals in Friday’s announcement are in industrial zones at Teesside in Northeast England and near Liverpool in the Northwest.

The government said the plans would create 4,000 jobs and support 50,000 others. The Labour Party, which won a landslide victory in a general election in July, hopes to use clean energy to attract investment and strengthen what has been a sluggish economy. The announcement precedes an international investment summit meeting that Britain is planning to convene this month.

“Today’s announcement will give industry the certainty it needs,” Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, said in a news release. The government support will “help deliver jobs, kick-start growth and repair this country once and for all,” he added.