Government support of £49.4 million will assist British business in reducing its dependency on fossil fuels and energy prices.
As part of the government’s strategy to aid British industry as we move to a low-carbon economy, funding will support the development of fuel switching technology, attracting private investment and generating new jobs nationwide.
Today, September 23, 2022, the government will make funds of around £50 million available to help the development of British business.
The development of fuel switching technology will help drive economic growth by reducing the reliance on fossil fuels and driving down energy costs for a variety of industries, including steel, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, and food production. £49.4 million will be given to ground-breaking projects across the nation.
Lord Callanan, minister of business and energy, said:
We are contributing close to £50 million to support British industry, ensure that it is prepared for the future, and assist in reducing its reliance on costly fossil fuels.
This will be made possible by the development of fuel switching technology, hastening the switch to cleaner fuels throughout our economy and lowering costs for companies.
Industrial fuel switching replaces high-carbon fuels with low-carbon fuels in order to decarbonize industry and help the UK achieve its goal of becoming net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2050 while also fostering prosperity, job growth, and economic growth.
Around 55% of industrial energy consumption in 2019 was derived from fossil fuels (coal, gas, and oil). According to the Industrial Decarbonization Strategy, industrial emissions must decrease by at least 90% by 2050 in order to decarbonize industry in accordance with net zero by 2035.
Investing in this technology will make it simpler and more affordable for industry to run on renewable electricity and cleaner fuels like hydrogen instead of fossil fuels. With the funding made available today through Phase 2 of the £55 million Industrial Fuel Switching competition, the UK will be able to develop new fuel switching technology, luring in private investment and creating new green jobs.
Along with accelerating renewables and expanding nuclear, aiding British industry in reducing its reliance on fossil fuels is a crucial component of the government’s plans to improve domestic energy resilience.
A share of the £49.4 million in government funding is available for fuel switching projects to apply for under Phase 2 of the Industrial Fuel Switching competition.
This comes after Phase 1 of the competition, in which £5.6 million was given to 21 projects in May 2022 for preliminary feasibility studies on the project designs.
Projects assisting the ceramics, food industry, and steel industries transition to hydrogen instead of natural gas were among the previous Phase 1 winners.
Technique to create heat pumps for the food and drug industries
research investigating the use of gasified waste and biomass in place of natural gas in glass manufacturing facilities