The UK Government has announced a support scheme worth £5 million to support development of new technologies to generate hydrogen from biomass and waste. The scheme is intended to generate green jobs and attract private investment.
The so-called "bioenergy with carbon capture and storage" (BECCS) technology can capture the carbon from organic materials and then sequester it away using carbon capture technologies. In phase 1, companies can bid for up to £250,000 to develop plans and demonstrate the feasibility of their proposed innovations. Promising Phase 1 projects may then be able to obtain further funding in a second phase.
There are three main technology areas of particular interest, namely feedstock pre-processing, gasification components, and novel biohydrogen technologies. In order to meet the UK's climate goals, we will need a whole suite of technologies and I believe that this scheme has the potential to be a useful stepping stone in that process. Even so, it would be good to see higher levels of funding provided as £5 million is still quite a small number in the grand scheme of things and there is a huge challenge to be overcome.
There is a deadline of noon on 4 March 2022 to access the Phase 1 application form, and the application needs to be filed by noon on 11 March 2022, so time is short.
From today, applicants from small businesses and large companies, to research institutions and universities, will be able to bid for a share of £5 million new government funding under Phase 1 of the Hydrogen BECCS Innovation Programme.
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