UK govt invests £31 mn to cut emissions & slash energy costs

The government will see the development of red diesel alternatives, such as e-fuels and green hydrogen, as well as technologies which capture and store energy that would ordinarily be wasted from a vehicle or machine so it can be used instead. The funding forms part of the Red Diesel Replacement competition, the government of UK said in a statement.

Over £5.5 million is also being invested to develop technologies that support industry to cut back use of high carbon fuels and switch to cleaner power sources, such as hydrogen, electrification or fuel from biomass and waste products. The funding will be awarded to winners of Phase 1 of the Industrial Fuel Switching competition with the cash supporting projects that will replace natural gas with hydrogen in industrial processes, and design heat pumps for use in manufacturing sites.

In addition, winners from the first stage of the Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) Innovation 2.0 competition will receive a share of over £12 million for projects aiming to advance next-generation CCUS technology to deploy at-scale by 2030. Also launched is the second call of the competition, with up to £7.3 million available for this next round. Establishing a CCUS industry in the UK will help unlock tens of thousands of jobs across the UK by 2030, while supporting the economic transformation of the industrial regions.

Energy and climate change minister Greg Hands said: “As we accelerate the UK’s energy independence by boosting clean, home-grown, affordable energy, it’s crucial that our industries reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. This investment will help them to not only cut emissions, but also save money on energy bills, on top of supporting jobs by encouraging green innovation across the UK.”

The funding builds on previous government support to help industry become greener, such as the £505 million BEIS Energy Innovation Programme, which included £100 million for industrial decarbonisation and CCUS, as well as the £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, which supports the development of technologies to help industry with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future. Alongside the government’s plans to boost the UK’s long-term energy independence, this investment will help industry in the shift to a lower-carbon economy.