Sir David Davis welcomes £188 million investment to slash carbon emissions in Yorkshire and the Humber
Sir David Davis welcomes the news that Yorkshire and the Humber is to benefit from a £188 million investment as part of an ambitious blueprint to deliver the world’s first low-carbon industrial sector and to cut emissions from public buildings like schools and hospitals.
Of the £188 million, £154.3 million will go towards 42 projects to upgrade public buildings with energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation measures to make them greener.
£21 million will go to the Zero Carbon Humber Partnership. This aims to turn the Humber region into a net-zero cluster by 2040 by delivering H2H Saltend, one of the world’s first at-scale low carbon hydrogen production plants on the north bank of the Humber.
A further £12 million will go to Humber Zero, which plans to decarbonise the industrial complex at Immingham, North East Lincolnshire, by creating a carbon capture and hydrogen hub.
The funding comes as part of a package of national measures announced today by the Business and Energy Secretary creating and supporting approximately 80,000 UK jobs over the next 30 years. The national pot comprises £171 million which has been allocated to nine green tech projects across the UK to cut emissions from industry, and £932 million to decarbonise heat and improve the energy efficiency of public buildings across the country, including schools and hospitals.
As part of the path to net-zero by 2050, today’s measures will help cut emissions by two-thirds in just 15 years. It also comes alongside a new Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, which sets out the Government’s vision for a competitive industrial sector as we transition to a low carbon future.
Sir David Davis said:
“I have long supported investment in zero-carbon energy, so I warmly welcome this excellent news for the local region.
The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is an ambitious strategy, setting out how we can build a competitive, greener future for the manufacturing and construction sector across the UK and here in Yorkshire.
This green strategy will support industries to decarbonise and encourage growth of new, low carbon industries by both protecting and creating local skilled jobs. Government support in Yorkshire and the Humber will boost further investment to the area, making it more desirable for new industries to invest in a Zero-Carbon hub.
Carbon capture and storage has the potential to be an important part of meeting our energy and climate targets and the Humber region is ideally positioned to be a leader in this area of research.
Today’s announcement will give businesses long-term certainty to invest in home-grown decarbonisation technology in our region – rather than outsourcing industrial activity to high-emission countries around the world.”
Equinor Executive Vice President, Irene Rummelhoff, said:
“With carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and bioenergy, the Humber can lead the way in showing what is possible to drive clean industrial growth, as the UK works towards net zero. There will be huge benefits to the regional economy in transforming the Humber into the UK’s largest net-zero cluster, and great potential to unlock new low carbon opportunities for the UK.”
Director of Estates for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Duncan Taylor, said:
“It’s been a difficult year for the NHS, but even during the pandemic, we’re keen to do what we can to prevent climate change and start to reduce our carbon emissions. The funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme will really help by allowing the Trust to deliver this multi-million-pound decarbonisation project and support jobs in the area.”