Government invests over £116 million to drive forward green innovation in the UK
Funding will boost green innovation across the UK as efforts to help businesses reduce their carbon emissions continue.
- New funding will support British businesses developing new green technologies to reduce carbon emissions and utility bills and remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere
- technology receiving funding includes using absorbents that can capture CO2 directly from the air and replacing diesel engines in boats with hydrogen power
- funding for entrepreneurs and SMEs almost trebled to £30 million in recognition of exceptionally high quality applications
Over £116 million in new government funding will boost green innovation across the UK as efforts to help businesses reduce their carbon emissions continue.
Announced today (Tuesday 7 December) the funding will see projects across the country develop new technologies that increase energy efficiency in homes and buildings, reduce carbon emissions, boost the UK’s energy security and provide cleaner ways to generate power and heat. The investment will see the projects play a key part in the UK’s green industrial revolution, putting British business at the forefront of green innovation - helping to generate green jobs and kickstart millions of pounds of private sector investment.
From today, businesses developing technologies new to the UK are able to bid for a share of £64 million in government funding supporting projects that will capture carbon emissions and remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere – through the Direct Air Capture and Greenhouse Gas Removal programme.
This government funding will support companies across the UK to put cutting-edge technology in operation, which will stimulate further investment from the private sector, and help develop UK expertise in this area.
Projects supported under the first phase of the programme include a range of innovative green technologies such as using absorbents that can capture CO2 directly from the air (Direct Air Capture) and capturing the CO2 stored in natural material such as waste wood through combustion to produce energy (Bioenergy with Carbon Capture). Through this new funding under the second phase, these projects will be developed from the design stage into demonstration projects, which could scale up to be commercial projects by 2025.
Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Hands said:
This £116 million government investment will support businesses across the nation to turn their green ideas into reality, and to develop ground-breaking projects that save energy, slash utility bills and tackle pollution.
British businesses and entrepreneurs are already leading the world with innovative solutions to tackling climate change. This is not only good for the planet, but will bring new jobs and investment across the UK.
In addition, the government is supporting energy entrepreneurs across the UK with £30 million in funding to develop a wide range of new decarbonisation and energy saving technologies. Under the latest round of funding from the government’s Energy Entrepreneurs Fund, 58 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will receive grants to develop and demonstrate new technologies across the areas of energy efficiency, power generation, heat generation and energy storage.
The government previously announced £11 million would be made available for this phase of the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund, but due to the large number of exceptional high-quality applications that were made, the government is offering an additional £19 million, bringing the total funding for this round to £30 million. This demonstrates the government’s desire to support new ideas and encourage entrepreneurial spirit, particularly from small businesses, to cement the UK as a world-leader for green innovation.
The energy efficiency projects receiving funding under this round of the EEF include:
- Smart Ventilation, Belfast: will receive £524,626 to develop Think.Air, a low energy, residential ventilation system, that will use AI to improve the performance and functionality of home heating control systems
- Bramble Energy, Crawley: will receive £994,050 to further develop their hydrogen fuel cell technology, to replace diesel engine in boats, potentially saving 50,000 tonnes of CO2 a year
- Clearwell Technology, Aberdeenshire: will receive £371,500 to develop new technology that will remove significant greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere as part of the decommissioning of old oil and gas wells
- Rotaheat, Wales: will receive £676,560 to develop low carbon heating solutions for urban environments, using wind turbines to provide heating for homes
See a full list of projects funded through the EEF, including the recipients announced today.
The government is also today announcing £22.8 million to provide SMEs with support services to accelerate their green innovations. A consortium of expert organisations, led by the Carbon Trust, will ensure the SMEs funded through the government’s Net Zero Innovation Portfolio receive the best business development advice for their innovative technology. This will enable companies to make the most of funding provided to them by the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, enabling them to commercialise at speed and scale.
In addition, technical support will be provided to critical Net Zero Innovation Portfolio projects through the Technical Third Party Support (TTPS) project, contributing to the development of new energy technologies, systems and processes, helping the government to decrease the cost of decarbonisation and stimulate private sector investment. The TTPS project will consist of five contracts to provide a breadth of technical expertise, with services provided by:
- Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP (technical coordination)
- Technopolis (social research and evaluation)
- Mott MacDonald (carbon control and storage)
- AECOM (energy consumption)
- Frazer-Nash Consultancy (energy generation and distribution)
Notes to editors
Energy Entrepreneurs Fund: The Energy Entrepreneurs Fund (EEF) is a programme funded through the BEIS £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio.
The EEF supplies innovation grants for small to medium sized enterprises and start-up companies to back the development and demonstration of disruptive technologies whilst also supporting our decarbonisation targets.
Read a full list of previous EEF projects.
Direct Air Capture and Greenhouse Gas Removal: The Direct Air Capture and Greenhouse Gas Removal programme provides funding to help develop direct air capture technologies in the UK. As part of this, the innovation competition seeks to support the development of Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR) technologies to help them achieve commercialisation. To meet net zero by 2050, direct air capture and other greenhouse gas technologies are necessary to offset emissions from hard to tackle areas, such as parts of the heavy industry, agriculture and aviation sectors.
How to apply for Phase 2 of the DAC and GGR programme. As Phase 2 builds on Phase 1 to take projects from the design and feasibility stage to the demonstration phase, Phase 2 will only be open to applications from the projects that were supported under Phase 1.