A Government-backed programme labelled “critical” to Humber decarbonisation projects has completed after four years.
UK Research and Innovation’s Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDC), backed by £210m public funding and £261m matched by industry, supported the creation of the ambitious Humber Industrial Cluster Plan – among six nationally that aim to reduce emissions and help the country achieve net zero goals.
Among the nine deployments spurred by the challenge, delivered by Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), are Northern Endurance Partnership, Humber Zero and Zero Carbon Humber. Challenge leaders say it is forecast to unlock £22bn of investment in UK projects such as those named.
Read more: Humber Freeport helps to secure £250m investment by Mitsubishi Chemical Group
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They highlighted success in having created the foundations of a carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) industry – the mainstay of the Humber plans, which also includes smaller contributions from measures such as electrification and hydrogen fuel usage.
Andy Lane, VP of hydrogen and CCUS for bp, added: “This funding has been critical in enabling the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) to move forward at pace. The East Coast Cluster was selected as one of the first low-carbon industrial clusters in the UK, three projects have moved into business model negotiations and our front-end engineering design has been completed through multiple UK-based contractors.”
Dr Bryony Livesey, Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge director, said: “The IDC has exceeded all of its original targets, and over the last four years has developed a successful blueprint for viable decarbonisation plans for heavy and energy-intensive industry. The UK’s planned investment into industrial-scale CCUS, low-carbon hydrogen production, CO2 transportation and secure underground storage has been de-risked through our programme, paving the way for the UK to become a world leader in low-carbon technologies, infrastructure, and sustainable growth.”
Prof Mercedes Maroto-Valer, director of Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) said: “The funding from the IDC has allowed us to engage with our network of academic, industry and government partners to realise the full benefits of industrial decarbonisation to unlock long-lasting economic growth and societal benefits.”
The six cluster plans developed via the IDC cover the main industrial centres of the UK – including the Humber, the North West, Tees Valley, Wales, the Black Country and Scotland. The full list of deployment projects it has borne, in addition to the Humber schemes, include Hynet Onshore & Offshore, Net Zero Teesside, Scotland’s Net Zero Infrastructure Onshore & Offshore and the South Wales Industrial Cluster.
Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber