More than £12m government funding has been awarded to scores of projects aimed at slashing emissions, fossil fuel use and energy costs from UK manufacturing across a host of industries, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) announced today.
The 22 projects span England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and include grants to support a variety of efforts to decarbonise heavy industrial processes ranging from car and steelmaking, to the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, paper, and food and drink, according to BEIS.
Winning bidders to the £12.4m funding pot include a project to sustainably harvest food in Carmarthenshire through a new air source heat pump system, and a novel system to capture waste heat to dry, heat, crush and grind materials for roadmaking in South Yorkshire.
Another project in the Midlands has also secured backing to develop "revolutionary" high temperature heat pumps to reduce the energy needed to heat and cool cheese, in a bid to reduce emissions in dairy farms across the region, BEIS said.
The government estimates industry is currently responsible for around 16 per cent of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions, that the sector will need to cut these emissions by two-thirds by 2035 in order for the UK to achieve its net zero target.
It said the funding would therefore play "a crucial role" in helping high-emitting industries to reduce their reliance on carbon intensive and expensive fossil fuels, thereby helping them to cut CO2, save energy and safeguard thousands of UK jobs
"Boosting the energy efficiency of industrial processes is a critical step not only in our transition to a lower-carbon economy, but also by helping businesses to cut their energy costs and protect valuable British jobs," said Energy Security and Net Zero Minister Graham Stuart. "That's why the government has stepped in once again to support energy intensive industries, with a fresh funding round to unleash the next generation of green innovators who are re-shaping the way technology can reduce carbon emissions."
The funding has been awarded through the first two phases of the government's £34.8m Industrial Energy Transformation Fund. The Scottish Government is also separately administering another £34m for such projects in Scotland.
Iain Grant, operations director, Long Clawson Dairy - one of the firms to secure funding to create a new thermal storage system using high temperature heat pumps to slash CO2 by over a third - welcomed the funding announcement today.
"The production of our Stilton cheese is an energy intensive process involving both heating and cooling activities," he explained. "With the investment in this project, it has enabled the Dairy to take a more cost-effective approach to energy consumption, alongside a clear carbon emission reduction."
