The UK has the carbon capture technology – now it needs delivery models that work

It marks a decisive shift. The question is no longer whether carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) technology is viable, but how fast it can be deployed. And there’s a related question that’s close to my heart: whether the UK can keep pace with international competitors.

From my vantage point at Carbon Clean, it’s been a year of acceleration with industry. We opened our Global Innovation Centre in Mumbai, successfully tested our CycloneCC C1 technology at Broadbent & Sons in Huddersfield, and deepened our alliance with Samsung E&A following a joint project with Aramco. I’m proud of these milestones, which have put industrial carbon capture on the ground, delivering operational results.

But those milestones are a reminder that the ecosystem around our industry is still evolving. Success depends as much on coordination, manufacturing capability, supportive policy and delivery models as it does on technology.

A sector built on collaboration

With the shift towards delivery, the nature of carbon capture is changing. It started as a technology; it is becoming an interconnected system. That system spans emitters, technology providers, EPC partners, transport and storage operators, investors and policymakers. Scopes overlap. Timelines interlock. Risks are shared. No single company or sector can deliver this alone.

When collaboration works, projects move quickly. When it doesn’t, they stall – or go elsewhere.

For the UK, effective collaboration is existential for our global leadership in carbon capture. 2026 is a critical year. Technological vision, commitment and a focus on customer delivery have got us to this point. Winning in the next phase requires a policy environment engineered for delivery.

Recent steps, including DESNZ’s announcement of a new selection process for emitter projects in the East Coast Cluster, signal movement in the right direction, but not at the pace and scale required. Since 2023, 27 UK CCUS projects have been cancelled or paused, with delays now averaging around two years. Capital seeks certainty and developers want clearer policy direction.

What’s needed instead is a framework that prioritises cost, speed and coordination, enabling more projects, across more sectors, to proceed together. Without it, investment will be redirected away from the UK, and a generational opportunity will evaporate.

Co-ordinate to accelerate

At Carbon Clean, we have developed a mechanism to drive speed and scale across the ecosystem. We call it the ‘emissions aggregator’ delivery model or Carbon Capture as a Service (CCaaS). It enables multiple emitters to participate under a single, coordinated framework. Carbon Clean supplies the capture technology, leads delivery alongside EPC partners, provides capital to emitters, and manages the interface with the transport and storage operator. Emitters pay an agreed price per tonne of CO₂ captured, guaranteeing contracted volumes over the project term.

This approach highlights a secondary opportunity that should not be overlooked: increasing access to small and mid-sized industrial emitters. Standardised, modular technologies combined with collaborative delivery models that aggregate demand, spread risk and create a viable route to market for a much broader base of industry.

By lowering barriers to entry, increasing competition, and diversifying volumes for transport and storage providers, this model improves value for money for the taxpayer while giving government greater confidence in the timely delivery of CO₂. In a system as interconnected as CCUS, this kind of coordination is essential to move projects from planning to operation.

Data centres and the next wave of demand

One sector where this collaborative, modular approach is particularly relevant is data centres.

AI-driven growth is reshaping global energy demand, and concerns are already emerging in the UK that emissions from data centres could offset gains made elsewhere, including through electrification. Many new facilities are built as modular campus clusters, requiring flexible, reliable, low-carbon power to match variable loads.

Around a third of hyperscalers and data centre operators are now considering gas powered paired with CCUS as part of their energy mix. Compared with firm renewables plus direct air capture, gas power plus point source carbon capture offers a more practical and scalable solution, particularly when paired with modular infrastructure.

Here too, collaboration is essential. Pairing behind-the-meter generation with on-site carbon capture allows operators, technology providers and policymakers to work together to deliver reliable, low-carbon power at scale, while ensuring data centres contribute meaningfully to the UK’s net-zero goals.

Four levers to realise potential

There are clear steps I’d like to see the government take to ensure secure investment opportunities going forward:

1. Accelerate Carbon Capture as a Service (CCaaS) based business models for carbon capture deployment. Fast-tracking tailored long-term business models are essential. These must be bankable, flexible, open to all project developers, cost-competitive and include developed and manufactured in the UK specifications.
2. Provide targeted funding and policy support to build low carbon manufacturing capacity and resilient supply chains for carbon capture equipment and components.
3. Establish decarbonisation requirements for data centres to unlock the opportunity to scale CCS and ensure data centres contribute to UK’s overall net zero goals.
4. Develop policy to support non-pipeline transport infrastructure as a priority. NPT at scale is a necessity for many industrial sites not located near existing clusters. 

A narrow window to lead

As carbon capture becomes an ecosystem in 2026, I want Carbon Clean to play our part in driving UK growth by enabling industrial decarbonisation at gigatonne scale.

All core elements of CycloneCC are manufactured in the North of England, supporting local supply chains and regional economic growth. There are projected UK export contributions of £83 million over the next five years as global demand for modular carbon capture accelerates. We have a UK project ready to progress to Final Investment Decision, but like many others across the sector, its progression is dependent on greater clarity around the route to market.

The technology exists. The demand is clear. The manufacturing base is in place.

What’s needed now is policy that recognises the complexity and enables delivery models that reduce risk rather than adding to it.

The UK still has a window to lead in CCUS deployment, manufacturing and export. But that window will not stay open indefinitely.

I’m looking to 2026 as the year delivery catches up with ambition.

This article was first published in Energy Voice on 29 December 2025.