The government has this week made £49.4 million of funding available which will be used to support the development of fuel switching technology.
Ministers say that “pioneering projects” will be provided with the funding, to drive innovations that will reduce industrial reliance on fossil fuels and cut costs.
A plethora of industries are set to benefit from the development of these technologies, particularly in manufacturing. The government has earmarked steel, ceramics, pharmaceuticals and food producers as priority areas that will be helped by these advancements.
Business and energy minister, Lord Callanan (pictured), commented: “We’re investing nearly £50 million to back British industry, making sure they’re fit for the future and helping end their dependency on expensive fossil fuels.
“Developing fuel switching technology will make this possible, accelerating the transition to cleaner fuels across our economy, and driving down costs for businesses.”
The idea of industrial fuel switching is to help businesses make the move from using fossil fuels to utilising low carbon sources. This falls in line with the government’s wider Net-Zero agenda, as well as helping reduce energy costs for businesses at a time when prices are sky-rocketing.
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy [BEIS] quotes figures suggesting that fossil fuels made up roughly 55 per cent of all industrial energy consumption in 2019. This is indicative of how extensive industry will be required to decarbonise.
The government’s Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy adds that by 2035, carbon emissions from industry need to be reduced by two-thirds, and then by a minimum of 90 per cent by 2050 in order to hit the UK’s Net-Zero target.
The funding announced this week is accessible through the second phase of the government’s Industrial Fuel Switching competition, which will entice private investment into the UK to help develop fuel switching technologies.
The competition’s first phase saw £5.6 million allocated to 21 projects in May 2022, enabling recipients to conduct feasibility studies into their early project designs. Some of the beneficiaries included early project concepts to help the ceramics, food production and steel industries transition to hydrogen power; a project plan to provide heat pumps for food and pharmaceutical companies; and ambitions to move glass making businesses toward using biomass fuels and gasified waste as opposed to natural gas.
Now, Phase 2 allows projects to apply for a share of the £49.4 million made available by the government from this week.
Helping industry transition to cleaner fuels forms part of the government’s wider ambition to bolster domestic energy security, a mission which will also consist of building more nuclear reactors and extending the UK’s renewable energy portfolio.
