-
Energy and Clean Growth Minister to visit start-up in
Swindon to set out vision for future UK hydrogen
economy
-
clean and green innovation is at the heart of the
modern Industrial Strategy,
with over £2.5 billion of government investment from 2015 to
2021
Today (11 May) Energy and Clean Growth Minister delivered a £20 million boost
to businesses embracing the potential for a future UK hydrogen
economy. The announcement was made during a visit to Swindon’s
innovative Hydrogen Hub and Recycling Technologies.
Hydrogen fuel is a safe and low-carbon alternative for energy in
buildings, industry, and transport - but is currently very costly
to produce and transport. Today’s funding aims to change this.
It is the latest clean technology to receive a government boost -
all part of the Clean Growth
Strategy - which is already powering wind turbines up
and down the country - and has the potential to revolutionise the
automotive industry through clean green fuel.
Speaking at the Swindon Hydrogen Hub, Energy and Clean Growth
Minister, , will say:
Clean, green and safe, hydrogen has an exciting role to play
powering the UK but needs to be cheaper and more widely
available to live up to its potential. Today’s £20 million
funding boost, part of our modern Industrial Strategy, will
help to address these challenges so that we can sustain the
exciting momentum building in our low carbon hydrogen economy,
creating high-value jobs up and down the country.
Clean Growth is at the heart of our modern Industrial Strategy
and creates huge opportunities for the UK, securing our place
as global leaders in this field.
The minister will meet with Hydrogen Hub members to discuss the
UK’s strength in hydrogen and fuel cell technology development,
and the potential for the UK to be at the forefront of a new
hydrogen economy, helping us to meet our climate change targets.
The £20 million Hydrogen Supply
programme will look to significantly reduce the high
cost of producing large volumes of low carbon hydrogen, so that
the technology can become a competitive, clean energy supply of
the future.
During her visit to Swindon, the minister will also
meet CEO of Recycling
Technologies, Adrian Griffiths, to see how government support
through the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund has enabled this dynamic
start-up to develop a system to recycle mixed plastics waste back
into a valuable hydrocarbon.
Recycling Technologies are helping in the fight against marine
plastic by providing a chemical recycling solution that allows a
wide range of plastics to be recycled, which are not practicably
recyclable with existing processes. The Minister will also host
an energy roundtable with key stakeholders from the region to
find out more about the role of low carbon energy technologies in
Swindon and Wiltshire’s local economy.
Notes to Editors
- The programme aims to accelerate the development of a lower
cost low carbon bulk hydrogen supply (with a focus on UK
production). This will be achieved through 2 phases:
(a) developing several hydrogen process engineering designs,
alongside a supply / production plan, which details the
development steps needed for each process
(b) a development phase which will demonstrate key components
or further develop the design of the new hydrogen production
process.
-
More information about
this and other energy innovation programmes.
-
The Industrial
Strategy sets out a long-term plan to boost the
productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK.
It sets out how we are building a Britain fit for the future
– how we will help businesses create better higher-paying
jobs in every part of the UK with investment in skills,
industries and infrastructure.
- The support of BEIS has
enabled Recycling Technologies to transform its novel technology,
from original concept developed in Warwick University to a system
that is commercially viable. BEIS has
supported the company from its laboratory test rig to near-full
scale demonstrator beta plant and has enabled the company to
resource investigations into the suitability of Plaxx® for
application in different markets and to refine the beta plant for
commercial operations.
