Hydrogen booster

26 May 2021

The Government has announced a £166.5m cash injection for green technology development in areas such as hydrogen fuel and carbon capture. 

The investment is included as part of the prime minister’s 10 Point Plan for a green revolution, reported here on the blog when it was originally revealed six months ago.

Funds will be awarded to organisations throughout the UK to develop technologies like hydrogen, greenhouse gas removal and carbon capture.

The government says this will help the UK meet its climate commitments, including reaching net zero emissions by 2050 and of reducing UK emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels, said to be the world’s most ambitious climate target.

£60m will support the development of low carbon hydrogen in the UK and to identify more efficient solutions for making clean hydrogen from water using electricity. This aims to facilitate using low carbon hydrogen in key industries such as transport.

The funding announcement comes days after JCB was reported to have adapted a diesel engine to run on hydrogen, and urged greater infrastructure investment to enable wider use of the gas as a power source. 

● Ofgem, the UK's energy regulator, has approved plans to invest £300m in low carbon projects including support for 3,550 charging points for electric vehicles. The organisation said the funds would allow energy networks to build robust electricity infrastructure for installing charging points across UK motorways. Currently, finding a convenient place to recharge can be challenging, an issue discussed earlier on the blog.

Photo: Photographic Services, Shell International Ltd/Miquel Gonzalez