Government pledges £22bn for carbon capture and storage technology in net zero drive
The government has pledged nearly £22bn to fund projects that capture greenhouse gases from polluting plants and store them underground, as it races to reach strict climate targets.
The plans are designed to generate private investment and jobs in Merseyside and Teesside, two industry-heavy areas that will be home to the new “carbon capture clusters”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the move was “reigniting our industrial heartlands by investing in the industry of the future”, though there are questions about how best to use this expensive technology.
Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) has been developed to combat climate change.
It captures the planet-warming carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels or from heavy industry, and puts it to use or stores it underground.
How CCUS can work, by capturing the carbon dioxide emissions from something like a gas plant or cement factory, transporting them through existing gas pipes, and storing them in a depleted oil or gas field under the sea
It is expensive and difficult, but the UK’s climate advisers, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), and United Nations scientists say it is essential to get the world to net zero, which the UK is targeting for 2050.
Net zero means cutting emissions as much as possible and offsetting or capturing the stubborn remaining ones.
Today the government has committed up to £21.7bn over 25 years, to be given in subsidies to sites in the Teesside and Merseyside “clusters” – from 2028.
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It will be split between three projects, which are capturing carbon dioxide released either from making hydrogen, generating gas power or burning waste to create energy from 2028.
The gas – up to 8.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions – will be locked away in empty gas fields in the Liverpool Bay and the North Sea.
The government hopes it will attract £8bn in private investment, create 4,000 direct jobs and support a further 50,000.
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Can carbon capture help fight climate change?
The cash will pay for fewer projects than hoped – the last government suggested a £20bn pot of money for similar projects – but the new administration says those plans weren’t properly costed, and the funding hadn’t been allocated.
The funding is to come from a mixture of Treasury money and energy bills, but the government has been coy about the split so far.
Questions on this might cause a headache for Labour, which has been complaining about an inherited £22bn budget black hole.
Sir Keir said the announcement will “give industry the certainty it needs” and “help deliver jobs, kickstart growth, and repair this country once and for all”.
Will it help jobs and business?
It hopes to fund the first large scale hydrogen production plant in the UK, and help the oil and gas sector and its transferable skills move over to green industries.
It has been welcomed by industry and the unions, coming just a week after job losses from the closures of Port Talbot Steelworks and Ratcliffe coal power station.
GMB general secretary Gary Smith said the news “shows what levelling up can really mean: good, well paid jobs reinvigorating communities”.
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Does carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) work?
CCUS has made slow progress: promised for decades but barely scaled, with just 45 commercial sites globally.
However, it began to pick up in the last few years, with 700 plants now in some stage of development around the world.
The world’s first CCUS plant has stored CO2 under Norway’s waters since 1996, though elsewhere a few concerns linger about whether some projects leak gas.
James Richardson, acting chief executive of the CCC, said: “We can’t hit the country’s targets without CCUS, so this commitment to it is very reassuring”.
How should CCUS be used?
Some believe expensive CCUS should be preserved for areas like cement or lime-production, that are very hard to clean up in any other way, rather than for sectors for which there are greener alternatives.
Greenpeace UK’s Doug Parr warned of a “risk of locking ourselves into second-rate solutions”.
The government hopes this funding for the three sites that are ready to go will lay the foundations for further CCUS projects.
The United States exchange Nasdaq has asked regulators for permission to list a 21Shares exchange-traded fund (ETF) holding the popular memcoin Dogecoin, regulatory filings show.
The move follows 21Shares’ April 10 filing of its initial proposal to launch its Dogecoin ETF, shortly after similar applications from rivals Bitwise and Grayscale. The asset manager has also sought regulators’ permission to list ETFs holding other cryptocurrencies, including Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), and Polkadot (DOT).
Nasdaq must gain approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before it can list and trade the fund. The request amounts to a regulatory review process that could determine whether Dogecoin becomes accessible to a broader range of investors through an ETF structure.
Related: 21Shares files for spot Dogecoin ETF in the US
Onslaught of altcoin ETFs
Fund issuers requested to list dozens of altcoin ETFs after US President Donald Trump instructed the SEC to take a friendlier stance toward cryptocurrencies after his second term began in January.
As of April 21, more than 70 crypto ETFs were awaiting the SEC’s review. The list includes alternative layer-1 (L1) native tokens, such as SOL and Sui (SUI), as well as memecoins such as Bonk (BONK) and Official Trump (TRUMP).
While exchanges such as Nasdaq seek to list more crypto ETFs, they are also pushing for firmer US regulatory oversight of digital assets. In an April 25 comment letter, Nasdaq urged the SEC to hold digital assets to the same regulatory standards as securities if they constitute “stocks by any other name.”
Dogecoin utility
Dogecoin (DOGE) is a popular memecoin with a market capitalization of nearly $26 billion as of April 29, according to CoinGecko.
It is distinct from most other memecoins because DOGE is the native token of the Dogecoin network.
The proof-of-work blockchain network is designed as a faster, cheaper alternative to Bitcoin (BTC) for peer-to-peer payments.
It processed more than 40,000 transactions in the past 24 hours, according to data from Bitinfocharts.com.
In September 2024, blockchain developers QED Protocol and Nexus tipped plans to launch a layer-2 (L2) scaling solution designed to bring smart contracts to Dogecoin.
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The United Kingdom’s Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, have proposed new crypto rules aimed at “support[ing] innovation while cracking down on fraudsters.”
In an April 29 notice, the UK government announced draft rules for cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), that would bring “crypto exchanges, dealers and agents” in line with regulations, as many residents were “exposed to risky firms and scams.” It cited discussions with US government officials, including a proposed US-UK cross-border sandbox from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Hester Peirce.
“Today’s announcement sends a clear signal: Britain is open for business — but closed to fraud, abuse, and instability,” said the notice. “The government will bring forward final cryptoasset legislation at the earliest opportunity, following engagement on the draft provisions with industry.”
Related: UK trade bodies ask government to make crypto a ‘strategic priority’
Treasury and Reeves said the UK was committed to making the country a “global hub for digital asset technologies,” referencing the goals of the previous government under the Conservative Party. A 2023 consultation paper from Treasury proposed “bringing a wide range of cryptoasset activities” — including trading and issuing stablecoins — in line with UK regulations.
Praise from industry
In a statement shared with Cointelegraph, Ian Silvera, the associate director for the self-regulatory trade association CryptoUK, called the government announcement a “very much welcomed and a big victory” for crypto firms. However, he added that the industry could also benefit from regulatory clarity on liquid staking and DeFi.
“Though there has been good regulatory progress from the [Financial Conduct Authority], which published its crypto roadmap late last year, the UK government first committed to becoming a global crypto hub in 2022,” said Silvera. “Progress has been slow since then, but as the Chancellor has recognised herself the mainstreaming of the industry has continued, with now 12% of all UK adults owning some sort of crypto, up from 4% in 2021.”
The FCA plans to publish final rules on crypto sometime in 2026, setting the groundwork for the UK regulatory regime to go live. The roadmap to greater regulatory clarity in the UK could follow the European Union, which started to implement its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework in December.
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Cryptocurrency compliance firm Bitrace found that $649 billion worth of stablecoins flowed through addresses classified as high-risk in 2024, according to an April 29 report.
Bitrace defines high-risk blockchain addresses as those used by illegal entities to receive, transfer or store stablecoins.
Crypto compliance firms typically score crypto wallet addresses based on their likelihood of involvement in illicit activities. The higher the risk, the higher the likelihood of foul play, and the less likely compliant crypto businesses are to accept the assets.
Per the report, the amount accounted for roughly 5.14% of all stablecoin transaction volume in 2024. This is down 0.8% from 5.94% the previous year, but significantly higher than the 2.8% reported in 2022 and 1.63% in 2021.
Related: Americans lost $9.3B to crypto fraud in 2024 — FBI
Tron USDT tops high-risk transactions
Tron-based USDt (USDT) dominates high-risk stablecoin transactions, with Bitrace data indicating that well over 70% of the volume moved on the network. The remaining high-risk stablecoin transactions are mostly Ethereum-based USDt and a small amount of USDC (USDC).
A likely explanation for the prevalence of USDT is likely due to its larger market capitalization and adoption compared with other stablecoins. At the time of writing, CoinMarketCap shows that USDt has a market cap of over $148 billion, while USDC stands at over $62 billion.
Tron’s prevalence is not as easy to explain. Ethereum remains the more popular choice for most stablecoin users, with DefiLlama showing nearly $124.3 billion worth of stablecoins circulating on the network. Tron ranks second, with about $71 billion — almost 43% less than Ethereum.
When comparing USDT balances alone, Tron holds slightly more than Ethereum: 47.4% of USDT supply, versus Ethereum’s 45.44%.
Related: Tether stablecoin issuer and Tron launch financial crime unit
Crypto gambling continues its rise
Bitrace also reported that in 2024, online gambling platforms processed $217.8 billion worth of stablecoins — a 17.5% increase over the previous year.
Once again, USDT also dominated this type of activity. Still, USDC’s market share is rapidly rising, clocking in at 13.36% in 2024.
The data follows recent reports that crypto casinos generated more than $81 billion in revenue in 2024, even as regulators in key jurisdictions continued to block access to the platforms, according to a new report.
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