Funding competition launched to support industrial decarbonisation in the Midlands
Today, the Midlands Net Zero Hub is launching a grant-funding competition to support the decarbonisation of industrial or commercial zones. Up to £30,000 of funding is available for local authorities and their stakeholders to develop plans to decarbonise local industrial zones.
As part of our mission to assist local authorities in the region to deliver on their Net Zero commitments, the Midlands Net Zero Hub is building on national programmes to create more local, place-based industrial decarbonisation plans.
The aims of this competition are to:
- Support the development of decarbonisation plans for local industrial and commercial zones across the Midlands.
- Increase organisational collaboration and strengthen decarbonisation planning skills, capacity, and capability in local industrial and commercial zones.
- Gather evidence to inform decarbonisation of other local industrial and commercial zones.
The Hub will use the information gathered through the competition to understand how the decarbonisation of dispersed industrial and commercial sites can be achieved in a way that is both effective and fair. The funding will assist local authorities and their partners to formulate approaches that will overcome some of the barriers that are limiting progress.
Decarbonising industry is a vital component of reaching net zero. UK industry incorporates a wide variety of subsectors which account for approximately 16% of national greenhouse gas emissions. Industries are not evenly distributed across the country but are often concentrated places or zones.
To date, Government focus has been on decarbonising large industrial clusters. However, approximately half of industrial emissions come from dispersed sites. Proximity of industrial or commercial sites provides the opportunity to share infrastructure, but ensuring these developments are integrated into regional cross-sector decarbonisation plans requires extensive local and technical knowledge.
Jack Hayhoe, Head of Net Zero Programmes at Midlands Net Zero Hub, said: “We want to encourage local authorities and their partners to come together to identify, form, and support local industrial and commercial zones. The competition funding will be used to develop a detailed and realistic plan for the decarbonisation of their identified zone and to help overcome potential barriers. This is expected to include the identification of a pipeline of projects that could be taken forward by the zone for deployment. Our ultimate aim is to help local authorities to make their net zero projects happen, and this competition will galvanise progress in this area.”
