The US has announced $36 million (£26.8m) of funding for projects to advance carbon capture technologies.

The US Energy Secretary, Rick Perry, said the bulk of the money will be used to grow carbon capture technologies to engineering scale using existing host site infrastructure – these projects will receive total funding of up to $30 million (£22.3m).

The remaining $6 million (£4.5m) will be spent on the initial engineering, testing and design for a commercial-scale, post-combustion carbon capture system.

These projects will develop membrane-based technologies to be installed on an existing coal-fuelled generating unit.

Secretary Perry said: “Carbon capture technologies are one of the most effective ways we can continue to leverage the sustainability of our nation’s fossil fuel resources while advancing environmental stewardship.”