The UK Government’s backing of unproven, first-of-a-kind carbon technology to reach net zero is high-risk and could have a severe impact on consumer energy bills, according to a study published by the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

According to the PAC’s report, Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage, three-quarters of the almost £22 billion the government pledged in support of carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) projects will come from levies on consumers already facing some of the highest energy bills in the world. 

The report further claims that the government has not yet looked at the likely financial impact of such projects on households, with the committee’s earlier inquiry finding that neither of the contracts for two new carbon projects include any provision for the government to share profits with consumers , or allow them to benefit from lower energy bills.

Following the publication of the report, the committee has called on the government to introduce mechanisms to make sure taxpayers and consumers benefit financially from the success of future carbon projects that they have supported.  

The committee also questioned government expectations around the performance of the UK’s carbon projects, highlighting that with no examples of such technology operating at a commercial scale in the UK, their impact remains uncertain at best.

Written evidence received by the inquiry has apparently raised concerns that CCUS technology might not capture as much carbon as the government forecasts, and experience from Norway suggests that performance on the scale expected by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is far from guaranteed.

Recent scientific evidence points to liquid natural gas, which will be used to run several CCUS projects, leaking more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than previously thought, undermining the rationale for pursuing certain schemes, with the PAC calling on the government to consider an up-to-date scientific understanding on CCUS.

“Government is gambling on carbon capture technology becoming foundational to achieving net zero,” said Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, chair of the Public Accounts Committee.

“As we are currently in the foothills of CCUS’ development into a fully functioning industry, the government must remain alive to recent scientific evidence to adapt its approach.”

The government already downgraded its ambitions for CCUS in 2024, with a target of storing 20 to 30 million tonnes per year of CO2 by 2030 now seen as no longer achievable and no revised targets yet announced. 

The PAC’s report notes that this creates a shortfall in the government’s pathway to net zero, with the now-abandoned targets leaving it unclear how the legally binding goals will be met.

“Most concerningly, last year’s downgrading of ambitions for CCUS has left a glaring shortfall in the path to net zero,” continued Sir Clifton-Brown.

“While our Committee was left unconvinced that CCUS is the silver bullet government is apparently betting on, we hope the recommendations in our report will help support the programme to become the success government and the public need it to be.”

Last year, a report from Carbon Tracker, an independent think tank, warned that the UK’s CCUS strategy was “based on optimistic techno-economic assumptions that are now outdated and unrealistic”, with an overreliance on unproven technology that risked committing taxpayer money to projects that were too ambitious.

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Since then, under the new Labour government, the UK has rapidly accelerated plans to build out tech infrastructure – particularly in the AI sector and most recently with plans for AI Growth Zones – that it hopes will encourage tech firms to establish a bigger footprint and contribute to plans for economic growth.

However, such investments will no doubt have a significant impact on the country’s race to net-zero, with data in September showing that big tech firms including Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Apple are emitting 662% more carbon than being officially disclosed, and research from Morgan Stanley finding AI is expected to produce 2.5 billion metric tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions globally by the end of the decade.