'Amazing technology': Yorkshire carbon capture firm previously backed by Drax seeks new investor after Veolia trial in Sheffield

A Yorkshire carbon capture company previously backed by Drax and bp has conducted a successful trial of its technology at a Sheffield household waste site as it seeks new investors.

C-Capture has been working for years on commercialising a patented system of capturing carbon dioxide from industrial flue gases in a way it describes as safe, low cost and environmentally conscious.

Waste giant Veolia and Sheffield City Council have now announced the successful trial of C-Capture’s technology at the Sheffield Energy Recovery Facility, with up to one tonne of carbon dioxide per day from the Sheffield facility’s flue gas being captured.

A Veolia spokesperson said the trial was “a UK first” and “represents an important step in assessing the role that carbon capture technologies can play in decarbonising hard-to-abate emissions”.

Last year, most of C-Capture’s staff were made redundant after investors including Drax, bp Ventures, Northern Gritstone and IP Group opted not to provide further investment as the company sought to reach the next stage of creating a commercial demonstration plant capable of capturing between 100 and 200 tonnes per day, with an ultimate aim of a full-scale plant able to capture 10,000 tonnes per day.

A rescue round was subsequently conducted, resulting in chair Warren East – a former chief executive of Rolls-Royce and semiconductor company ARM – becoming the majority owner of the business while stepping back from day-to-day operations.

Commercial director Greg Searle, who previously worked for bp and first joined C-Capture in 2022, told The Yorkshire Post that the Veolia trial demonstrates the technology is “fundamentally strong”. He hopes it will bolster the company’s ongoing efforts to find a new industrial investor.

"We are a very small technology-focused company with a great story to tell,” he said. "Drax and bp stepped back because of corporate strategy change, not because of the technology. We’ve got this amazing technology and what we need is an industrial investor, someone who really gets carbon capture.

"I led new technology in bp. I had a career telling people ‘no’ because things wouldn’t work and I was seeing this going, ‘It is cleaner, safer and lower-cost and the market is massive’.

"The headline is we can save £30 per tonne on carbon capture costs. When you consider the cost is less than £100, £30 is massive. That all comes from the reduction in steam use, you use so much less energy in the separation, that’s where the money is saved.

"Our view is a company should swoop in because we’re valued at a fraction of the money it cost to get us here. We’re devalued and ready to go. We’re looking for £2.5m. We were valued at £30m and went down to next to nothing. We’re now looking at a £7m to £10m valuation.

"We’ve proven it works, we’ve proven commercial conditions, now we need to run for 8,000 hours. This money gives us the runway to do a detailed design so we can step into a bigger project.”

Concerns have been raised about Government plans to invest billions into carbon capture schemes, with MPs on the Public Accounts Committee warning that the financial commitment for “unproven” technology is high risk.

But Mr Searle said the repeated heatwaves of recent months demonstrate the need for carbon capture to mitigate the impact of climate change.

"There are people that for a long time have said, ‘I don’t believe the science, global warming isn’t happening’. I struggle to see how anyone could live through the changes that are happening now and keep denying it. We need every tool in the toolbox to fix this – one of the bigger tools is carbon capture. This technology makes that cheaper, cleaner and safer.

"If there are any emitters in Yorkshire that would like a carbon capture plant, we are actively looking for host sites for a scale-up project.”

Veolia has said of the C-Capture trial: “While the initial results are promising, this pilot also reflects the current stage of carbon capture technologies. Their large-scale deployment will depend on the availability of supporting infrastructure, appropriate regulatory frameworks, viable business models and continued public investment.”

Donald Macphail, Chief Operating Officer - Treatment for Veolia UK, said: “Carbon capture is one of the tools available to help decarbonise residual emissions where they cannot yet be avoided. However, achieving net zero also requires continued progress in waste prevention, recycling and circular economy solutions to reduce emissions at source. Technologies such as this are designed to complement - not replace - those priorities."