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CCS competition winners announced

The Department of Energy and Climate Change has announced the winners of a £20m competition which aims to reduce the cost of carbon capture storage (CCS) technology.

13 CCS projects have been awarded money from the £125m research and development fund to further develop ideas for the safe removal and storage of carbon emissions from coal and gas-fired power stations.

Energy secretary Ed Davey said: “These announcements help maintain the UK’s place leading the world in CCS and delivering an affordable and secure low carbon mix.

“CCS is a huge opportunity for our world class research industry. Through the projects we have selected, pioneering companies and universities will be able to create new jobs and expand their markets.”

The 13 successful projects and the amount awarded are as follows:

-Econic Technologies (£103,000) – an SME working with Imperial College to develop CO2 based plastics
-CCm Research (£79,000) – an SME working with the Royal Agricultural College to develop CO2 based fertiliser
-Carbon Sequestration (£79,000) – an SME working with Sheffield University, Perlemax and Viridor to create high-value chemicals from CO2 using algae
-ITM Power (£100,000) – an energy storage company working with Scotia Gas Networks, SSE, Logan Energy and Kiwa GASTEC to turn CO2 into synthetic methane using hydrogen
-Interconnector UK (£85,000) – working with Heriot-Watt University to development more accurate CO2 meters
-Costain (£156,000) – working with Edinburgh University to develop a new, cheaper absorber design for carbon capture
-Costain (£192,000) – working with Edinburgh University and University of Leeds to develop improved oxyfuel capture technology
-Cambridge University (£735,000) – working with Shell, Manchester University and the British Geological Survey to develop CO2 storage using Shell’s drilling site in Utah
-Future Environmental Technologies (£2m) – a Bristol based SME working to build a pilot facility in Newport
-Premier Oil (£647,000) – working with Durham University, University of Sheffield, Bath University, Newcastle University, Cleveland Potash and STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory to develop a CO2 monitoring technology  
-NET Power (4.98m) – a US company taking forward low carbon power generation technology
-Millenium Generation (£5.8m) – working with Calix, HEL East and Imperial College to build a 3MWe pilot plant near Doncaster
-Carbon Clean Solutions (£3.35) – an SME working with Imperial College and the UK CCS Research Centre to develop new solvents for use in CCS systems