Europe’s first large-scale low carbon hydrogen production plant and the use of alternative fuels for glass production are among a suite of projects to share a £90 million government funding package.
The funding package is part of a £500 million innovation fund set up by government to harness and roll out cutting-edge technology to fight climate change.
The Hynet project, a major infrastructure project that aims to completely transform the gas grid in the North West by replacing part of the natural gas supply with locally-produced hydrogen, has received £7.48 million to develop a hydrogen production plant on the banks of the Mersey.
Hydrogen - which produces just heat and water when burned - is a low carbon alternative to fossil fuels which could play an important role in powering industrial processes and transport in future.
Hynet also received an additional £5.27 million to investigate the feasibility of switching key industrial processes from natural gas to clean hydrogen. Glass manufacturer NSG Pilkington and consumer products giant Unilever will be testing new boiler technology as part of the project.
Elsewhere in Merseyside, £7.12 million has been received by Glass Futures, a collaborative project bringing researchers and the glass industry together to develop new ways of reducing the environmental footprint of glass manufacturing. The funding will be used to develop electric, hydrogen, bio-fuel and hybrid-fuel melting technologies to replace the use of fossil fuels.
Other fuel switching projects to receive funding include a trial to use alternative fuels at two cement manufacturing sites, potentially paving the way for houses and roads to be made with low emission concrete by 2030. The British Lime Association is also trialling a project to use hydrogen as an alternative to natural gas for high calcium lime manufacturing.
Announcing the funding on 18 February, energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng said: “Cleaning up emissions from industry and housing is a big challenge but today’s £90 million investment will set us on the right path as we develop clean technologies like hydrogen.
“This is an important part of our world-leading efforts in eliminating our contribution to climate change by 2050 while also growing our economy, creating up to 2 million green collar jobs across the country by 2030.”