It was interesting to note the generally negative reaction of various environmental groups to the announcement that the UK government is to provide subsidies of £21.7bn over the next 25 years, to help fund two “carbon capture clusters” on Merseyside and Teesside.

In simple terms, carbon capture and storage (CCS) involves capturing carbon dioxide when natural gas (or other fuel) is burned, compressing it into a liquid state and transporting it to a depleted oil or gas reservoir, where it is injected deep into ground.

In their advice to government on how the UK can achieve a net-zero greenhouse gas target by 2050, the UK climate change committee (CCC) has been very clear that it won’t be achieved without CCS.

That advice also applies in NI, where the technology will be required at local power stations to capture carbon dioxide released when the likes of locally grown biomass, or biomethane from anaerobic digestion, is burned.

This carbon will then have to be transported long distances to a suitable site (there are none in NI). The costs involved will be enormous.

Given how keen the various green groups were to sign everyone up to a net-zero target, it might be expected they would be rejoicing at the government investment in CCS. Yet, there is an underlying suspicion that the technology is being used by big business to justify and prolong the continued burning of fossil fuels. Instead, many environmentalists believe funding should be solely directed at large-scale renewable energy projects.

In practice, a mix of everything is probably required, but whether our future energy needs come from biomass, anaerobic digestion or other renewables, the farmers who actually own and work the land will be crucial. Farmers are also the people who produce food and manage millions of tonnes of carbon stored in our soils.

Hopefully when it comes to actually making a funding commitment to agriculture, the new Labour government remembers these basic facts.