West of England Combined Authority has announced that it is leading a consortium trying to decarbonise industries around Bristol’s port.
The consortium, made up of eleven stakeholders, has unlocked £750,000 to achieve this goal, with key members of the group including the University of the West of England, Port of Bristol, and Hydrogen South West. With this key investment now unlocked, a step-by-step action plan will be drawn up, to ensure that industries based in Portbury, Avonmouth, and Severnside are supported towards decarbonisation.
This support will establish where energy efficiency gains can be made, as well as where cleaner and greener fuels can be used. According to the Combined Authority, this is likely to mean an increase in the use of green technologies such as heat pumps.
Commenting on the work being done, Mayor of the West of England Dan Norris said:
“The West of England is home to some tricky-to-decarbonise industries. Business leaders tell me they want to step up and do the right thing to reduce their carbon footprint.
"But to do that, they need a solid plan, backed by ambitious, achievable policies to make that transition to a greener way of working as simple as possible.
“The climate crisis is the number one challenge of our time - that’s why I’ve made it a priority. Government ministers are backtracking on net zero, but I’m determined to redouble our efforts here in the West to do the right thing.
"This latest funding boost builds on our recent funding successes - not least the £2.5 million in cash we won to establish a new ‘hydrogen supercluster’ in the region, plus other big wins. We are fast becoming a key centre for climate innovation."
Image credit: iStock
