The Treasury is pumping £100m into developing a little-known technology championed by Dominic Cummings that “sucks” carbon dioxide out of the air in order to combat global warming.
Boris Johnson’s most senior adviser is leading a push to help the UK achieve net zero carbon emissions through “direct air capture” (DAC). During the process, “a stack of metal ‘air scrubbers’ use a chemical solution to remove the CO2”, which is then stored underground, according to the Daily Mail.
But Cumming’s pet project “has attracted scepticism in Whitehall”, The Times reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Government sources told the newspaper that the influential Downing Street aide believes “that with early investment, Britain could become a world leader in the technology, which is only being developed by two firms”.
“Dom had become obsessed by this,” a Whitehall source said. “He’s the one who has been pushing it despite huge scepticism from officials. But he’s got his way.”
The officials are not alone in voicing doubts about the plan.
Although DAC is a “tool that could potentially help in several places where current clean energy technologies are lacking”, says Vox, “the ability to pull carbon out of the air is not a silver bullet”.
“It is not the cheapest or most effective way to fight climate change. It won’t allow us to bypass any of the hard work of reducing our emissions,” the news site adds.
Yet “some in Whitehall fear that it could distract from more conventional and proven projects to cut emissions”, such as the government’s pledge to spend £9m insulating Britain’s homes, says The Times.
And while two companies have built functioning DAC plants, the process is expensive. “At the moment, it costs nearly £500 to remove a single tonne of CO2,” the paper reports.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
-
Cloudbursts: what are the 'rain bombs' hitting India and Pakistan?The Explainer The sudden and intense weather event is almost impossible to forecast and often leads to deadly flash-flooding and landslides
-
What do heatwaves mean for Scandinavia?Under the Radar A record-breaking run of sweltering days and tropical nights is changing the way people – and animals – live in typically cool Nordic countries
-
Blue whales have gone silent and it's posing troubling questionsUnder the radar Warming oceans are the answer
-
Acid rain is back: the sequel nobody wantedUnder The Radar A 'forever chemical' in rainwater is reviving a largely forgotten environmental issue
-
Why is the world so divided over plastics?Today's Big Question UN negotiations on first global plastic treaty are at stake, as fossil fuel companies, petrostates and plastic industry work to resist a legal cap on production
-
Tuvalu is being lost to climate change. Other countries will likely follow.Under the Radar Sea level rise is putting islands underwater
-
Melting glaciers may lead to more volcanic eruptionsUnder the radar We're in for a boom
-
Europe's heatwave: the new front line of climate changeIn the Spotlight How will the continent adapt to 'bearing the brunt of climate change'?
