The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero has awarded the funding through the Industrial Fuel Switching Phase 2 Competition, as part of the £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), which supports innovation in the development of pre-commercial fuel switch technologies to help industry switch from high to lower carbon fuels.
Funding will allow phase two of the Hydrogen for the Ceramics Sector project to be taken forward. The two-year project involves the first demonstrations of 100 per cent hydrogen-firing technologies for the two main types of kilns (batch and continuous) used predominantly across the 150 manufacturing sites of the BCC’s 90 member companies.
Phase two will be supported by 15 ceramic manufacturing companies, spanning all subsectors of the UK ceramics industry (bricks, roof tiles, drainage pipes, floor/wall tiles, sanitaryware, tableware, refractories, and technical ceramics). Following on from the work they carried out for BCC in phase one, further support will be provided by the not-for-profit research and technology organisation, Glass Futures.
BCC deputy chief executive Andrew McDermott said: “Phase one answered a lot of questions about the feasibility of hydrogen as a fuel for the ceramics sector and the next phase will build upon these outputs.
“It will evaluate a far greater range of ceramic products, gaseous blends and firing atmospheres in a bespoke pilot kiln, as well as conducting demonstrations on production kilns, to build understanding in using hydrogen within an industrial environment.
“As for achieving Net Zero by 2050, the UK ceramic industry’s pathway to meet that target remains uncertain, with many of the technologies that will enable deep decarbonisation, such as hydrogen, electrification, carbon capture and bioenergy, either commercially unviable or simply unavailable.
Original Article from Insider Limited.
