UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre (UKCCSRC)

What UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre (UKCCSRC) does

UKCCSRC is a UK-based research coordination centre for carbon capture and storage (CCS), founded in 2012 and hosted at the University of Sheffield. It operates as the nationally designated hub for UK CCS research, coordinating activity across leading UK universities — Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Imperial, Manchester, and Strathclyde — and managing access to UK CCS experimental facilities including the PACT national facility and its successor TERC. The centre serves a multi-stakeholder community comprising academic researchers, early-career researchers (ECRs), government policymakers, regulators, and industry partners working toward the UK's statutory net-zero by 2050 target.

The centre's core deliverables are: biennial research funding calls (Flexible Funding rounds of £350K in 2022 and £285K in 2024, each distributing grants to 13 projects), the biennial UKCCSRC Conference (next: 24-25 June 2026 in Sheffield), topical workshops on emerging CCS subdomains (DACCS, non-pipeline CO2 transport), a CCS MOOC with 35,000+ cumulative learners, research synthesis documents, and international collaboration coordination (CaMI Calgary, IEAGHG, European Commission, Global CCS Institute). Underlying technology comprises research coordination infrastructure, a digital MOOC platform, facility scheduling and access systems, and knowledge-archive curation. Research outputs that the centre helps coordinate include computational approaches such as Reduced Order Models for CCS process estimation.

The business model is non-commercial and grant-funded. Core institutional funding flows from EPSRC/UKRI as the primary UK government research council, supplemented by discretionary research grant disbursements and international partnership funding. Revenue concentration on a single UK government funding stream is high, though the demand-side stakeholder base is diverse. No commercial pricing model, membership fees, or industry sponsorship revenue streams of material scale are evident.

Name

UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre (UKCCSRC)

Legal name

UKCCSRC

Website

https://ukccsrc.ac.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UKCCSRC is the EPSRC/UKRI-funded national coordination centre for UK carbon capture and storage research, hosted at the University of Sheffield and serving academic researchers, early-career researchers, government, regulators, and industry working toward UK net-zero by 2050.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Carbon Capture and Storage Research Coordination

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Biomass Carbon Removal & Storage (BECCS/Biomass Burial) (EUABABAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Biomass Carbon Removal & Storage (BECCS/Bioenergy with CO₂ Capture) (EUABAFAB), GHG Monitoring Plans & Sampling Design (Field Protocols, QA/QC) (EUABACAE), Methodology Development & Standard-Setting Support (Protocols, Tools, Updates) (EUABACAN)

Keywords

• Carbon capture research
• CCS coordination network
• CCS research funding
• Early career researcher training
• Pilot-scale capture facilities

Headquarters

HQ city

Sheffield, Sheffield

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. EPSRC/UKRI Government Funding: The UKCCSRC is supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Energy Programme. This is core operational funding for coordinating the UK carbon capture and storage research community.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

UKCCSRC is the EPSRC/UKRI-funded national coordination centre for UK carbon capture and storage research. It runs a Flexible Funding grant programme (£10k–£50k awards), an Early Career Researcher training and funding programme, provides access to pilot-scale research facilities (PACT and TERC), and hosts annual conferences and research needs workshops that connect 50+ UK universities with industry, government and regulators. Outputs, data and training materials are made freely available to the CCS community.

Product overview

UKCCSRC is a research coordination consortium, not a product company. It operates as a network management platform supported by EPSRC/UKRI to coordinate and fund CCS research across UK academia. The portfolio consists of: Flexible Funding grants (£10k-£50k) for targeted CCS research projects; the ECR Programme providing training, awaydays, and funding for early career researchers; pilot-scale research facilities (PACT and TERC) offering hands-on testing capabilities for carbon capture technologies; Core Research Projects spanning BECCS, advanced power cycles, hydrogen integration, and computational modelling; annual conferences and workshops for knowledge exchange; and membership services connecting researchers with funding and collaboration opportunities. The organization does not sell software products but provides research infrastructure, funding, training, and community coordination services to the UK CCS research community.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Flexible Funding Programme
• Early Career Researcher (ECR) Programme
• Core Research Projects
• PACT Facilities (Pilot-Scale Advanced CO2-Capture Technology)
• Translational Energy Research Centre (TERC) Training Access
• UKCCSRC Annual Conference
• Research Needs Workshops
• CCS Training and Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)
• Information and Data Archive
• Membership Programme

Quantifiable outcome

• Flexible Funding 2024: 13 projects funded from 50 applications, totaling approximately £285K allocated to CCS research
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Translational Energy Research Centre (TERC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTERC is a partner institution providing pilot-scale facilities for ECR training and research. UKCCSRC funds ECR training at TERC facilities.
• University of SheffieldcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost institution for UKCCSRC headquarters. Provides administrative infrastructure and houses the Translational Energy Research Centre.
• Cambridge UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner institution in the UKCCSRC research network.
• Cardiff UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner institution contributing to core research projects including advanced gas turbine cycle research.
• University of EdinburghcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner institution contributing to hydrogen integration and CCS research projects.
• Imperial College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner institution contributing to CCS systems research and public perceptions work.
• University of ManchestercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner institution contributing to molecular modeling and CCS research.
• University of StrathclydecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner institution in the UKCCSRC research network.
• Pilot-Scale Advanced Capture Technology (PACT) FacilitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational pilot facilities formerly used for ECR training, now superseded by TERC. PACT facilities include 250kW oxyfuel/air combustion plants, micro gas turbines, solvent-based carbon capture plant, and biomass grate combustion boiler.
• European CommissionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunded projects including NEARCO2, ECO2, and ACCSEPT on public perceptions of CCS.
• Global CCS InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunded public perception research alongside UKCCSRC members.
• IEAGHGminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas R&D programme. UKCCSRC researchers participate in IEAGHG Summer School and monitoring networks.
• CaMI (Containment and Monitoring Institute), University of CalgaryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerECR collaboration fund supports UK researchers deploying seismic monitoring equipment at CaMI's Field Research Station in Alberta, Canada.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Global CCS Institute: The Global CCS Institute is an international membership organisation focused on accelerating CCS deployment through advocacy, knowledge sharing, and research coordination. UKCCSRC has directly co-funded public perception research with them, indicating close functional overlap.
• TNO: TNO is the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, with an active CCS research programme covering capture technologies, storage, and the Dutch Rotterdam CCS project. It functions as a comparable applied research coordination hub within European CCS networks.
• IEAGHG: IEAGHG is the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme, an international CCS research coordination body that UKCCSRC explicitly partners with. Both operate as research hubs funding and coordinating CCS R&D across academic and industrial stakeholders, with overlapping mandates on storage monitoring, capture technologies, and policy.
• SINTEF: SINTEF is Norway's largest independent applied research organisation with significant CCS research activity, including the famous Sleipner storage monitoring work. It compares directly to UKCCSRC's coordinated approach across capture, transport, storage, and BECCS.
• CO2CRC: CO2CRC is Australia's leading CCS research cooperative, coordinating carbon capture and storage research across Australian universities and industry. It mirrors UKCCSRC's national-coordination model with similar flexible funding calls, ECR programmes, and pilot-scale facility partnerships.
• International CCS Knowledge Centre: The International CCS Knowledge Centre, based in Canada, operates as a CCS knowledge-sharing and research coordination entity focused on accelerating commercial CCS deployment. It shares UKCCSRC's emphasis on MRV, best available techniques, and bridging academic research with industry.

Broad incumbents

• National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL): NETL is the US Department of Energy's primary CCS R&D laboratory, operating as a much larger federal research entity with broad energy technology mandates. It is comparable to UKCCSRC's national-coordination role but at significantly greater scale and with direct US federal budget backing.
• IEA: The International Energy Agency provides global energy policy analysis including CCS technology tracking and net-zero scenario modelling. UKCCSRC's international stakeholder engagement and policy evidence work overlaps with IEA's CCS-related reports and databases.

Others

• Bellona Foundation: Bellona is a Norwegian environmental NGO with deep engagement in European CCS advocacy and policy work. While not a research coordination body, it is thematically comparable in advancing CCS deployment and engaging with industry and policymakers.
• MIT Energy Initiative: MIT Energy Initiative conducts multidisciplinary energy research including CCS, and offers the kind of academic-industry-policy convening function UKCCSRC performs in the UK. Comparable as an academic research coordination entity, though embedded within a single university rather than a multi-institutional network.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xbsky.app/profile/ukccsrc.bsky.social
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/uk-carbon-capture-and-storage-research-centre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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