UK government announces funding for four waste-to-energy plants

In the UK, household waste, unused straw from farmland and old wood will be amongst the unusual components used by 4 world-leading UK-based plants to produce green fuels with support from government funding announced Monday.

Between 2018 and 2032 low carbon fuels are expected to save nearly 85 million metric tons of CO2 – equivalent to taking nearly 18 million cars off the road. This equates to around a third of transport’s projected contribution to UK carbon savings during the 2020s. 

Two of the projects announced today are being funded under the government’s £20 million Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition (F4C).

KEW Projects and Rika Biogas have been awarded a share of £6.5 million to build plants which aim to provide fuel for heavy goods vehicles. The project at KEW will also begin research which could pave the way for low carbon aviation fuel. 

A further two projects, which are being funded under the £25 million Advanced Biofuels Demonstration Competition (ABDC), are also driving towards their final stages of development. This includes Nova Pangaea Technologies, who will focus on the production of bio-ethanol from wood waste that can be blended with existing petrol used in road transport.