UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled a £350m ($445m) package of funding to cut carbon emissions from heavy industry and the construction, aviation and transport sectors.

The money will help support the development of hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology and drive the use of innovative new materials in industry to cut the output of greenhouse gasses, the government said.

The package includes:

£139m to cut emissions in heavy industry by supporting the transition from natural gas to clean hydrogen power, and scaling up CCS technology;

£149m to drive the use of innovative materials in heavy industry — 13 initial projects will include proposals to reuse waste ash in the glass and ceramics industry, and the development of recyclable steel;

£26m to support new building techniques to reduce costs and carbon emissions.

'Huge opportunity'

Johnson said: “We’ve made great strides towards our net zero target over the last year, but it’s more important than ever that we keep up the pace of change to fuel a green, sustainable recovery as we rebuild from the pandemic.

“The UK now has a huge opportunity to cement its place at the vanguard of green innovation, setting an example worldwide while growing the economy and creating new jobs.”

The UK was the first G7 country to commit to becoming a net-zero greenhouse gas emission economy by 2050.

The investment comes ahead of the first meeting later on Wednesday of the Jet Zero Council, which will bring together government representatives and officials from the environmental sector and the aviation and aerospace industry to tackle aircraft emissions.

Business & energy secretary Alok Sharma said: “Climate change is among the greatest challenges of our age. To tackle it we need to unleash innovation in businesses across the country.

“This funding will reduce emissions, create green collar jobs and fuel a strong, clean economic recovery — all essential to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.”

This article first appeared in Recharge's sister publication Upstream

Transition

Hydrogen on menu as UK unveils $445m green economy funding package