Innovative technologies that are being developed to reduce carbon emissions from industry are to receive government funding in the UK to help deliver the Clean Growth Strategy. Eight innovations will be supported in this second phase of the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator (IEEA).
Photo: Borko Manigoda / Pixabay
These innovations include a more efficient cooling technology for data centres – an area which is set to account for an increasing proportion of global carbon emissions - and a novel magnetically-geared motor for increased efficiency in waste processing.
The IEEA is funded through the UK government and managed by the Carbon Trust, with support from Jacobs Engineering. The programme assists partnerships between developers of innovative energy efficient technologies and industrial companies willing to test technologies on-site.
Industrial emissions are responsible for around one fifth of total UK carbon emissions and are difficult to reduce due to the intensity of energy required by industrial processes. The Committee on Climate Change has highlighted the government’s ambition to enable businesses and industry to make a 20% improvement in energy efficiency by 2030 as critical to achieving the UK’s net zero target by 2050.
The programme supports projects from all UK industry sectors that can demonstrate either a novel technology (targeting Technology Readiness Levels 5-8), or the use of an established technology in a novel way.
By demonstrating these technologies under operational conditions, the IEEA seeks to increase the likelihood of their wider adoption across the UK’s industrial sector, bolstering competitiveness, whilst reducing carbon emissions. Many of the technologies are also expected to have applications across industries worldwide, stimulating the export market for UK technology developers.
The £4.6-million (€5.54-million) of public grant funding awarded in phase two of the IEEA has already secured nearly £4.4-million (€5.3-million) in private sector match funding.
Over 60 projects were assessed and the successful phase two projects were selected based on energy saving potential and scalability. While projects are being demonstrated in specific sectors, many have wider industry applications.
The eight projects are:
- Ultrasonic technology to reduce the energy required for plastics manufacturing led by Matrix Moulding Systems with industrial demonstration partner Barkley Plastics.
- Low thermal mass technology for polymer manufacturing led by Surface Generation with industrial partner Tiflex.
- A novel magnetically-geared motor for increased efficiency in waste processing led by Magnomatics with industrial partners DonXtra (Donasonic), ELLGIA and ATB Group UK (Laurence-Scott).
- A highly efficient cooling technology for data centres led by University of Hull with industrial partners AIRCO and NPS Humber.
- An industrial waste water filtration system to allow recycling of heated wastewater in the industrial laundry sector by G2O Water Technologies with industrial partners Hydrasyst and Johnsons Textile Services.
- Low temperature animal by-product processing technology led by Agritec with industrial partner Edge Close Green Energy.
- An integrated advanced process control technology for the pulp, paper and board sector led by The Paper Industry Technical Association (PITA) and CF Procsim with industrial partners Smurfit Kappa Townsend Hook, AutomationX, and Perceptive Engineering.
- Low energy fertiliser production from wastewater led by CCm Technologies with industrial partner Severn Trent Water.
Demonstration sites for these eight technologies are located across the UK, supporting industry in regional centres and industrial clusters in the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East and North West of England.
Tom Delay CBE, chief executive, at the Carbon Trust, commented: “We are excited to announce the second phase of IEEA projects which span a wide variety of innovations and sectors. These projects will help reduce the energy that is currently being lost in industrial processes due to inefficiency in equipment, mechanical limitations and heat loss. The IEEA has the potential to deliver significant carbon emissions reductions across the UK and support the long-term competitiveness of UK industry.”
Phase one of the IEEA awarded seven projects a share of £2.7 million, announced in January 2019.
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