September 10, 2019

expert reaction to government announcement of more than £500m investment in green technologies

The UK Government has announced a more than £500m investment in green technologies.

Prof Myles Allen, Professor of Geosystem Science at the University of Oxford, said:

“At an international conference on Achieving Net Zero happening this week in Oxford, we’ve heard speaker after speaker emphasise the size of the challenge, but also the massive opportunities for the U.K. to seize the climate initiative. It’s great to see the government stepping up, but this is just the beginning: looking forward to hearing from U.K. finance and industry.”

Prof David Reay, Professor of Carbon Management, University of Edinburgh, said:

“Money for R&D for direct air capture of CO2 is only as good as the money you also spend on the system to then store any captured carbon. We need industrial-scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) to start coming online within the next 5 years and that means the level of investment from government that makes this announcement look like a footnote.”

Declared interests

Prof David Reay: No conflicts of interest

Prof Myles Allen: No conflicts of interest