Government invests in businesses to reduce emissions

25 businesses across the country have received almost £52 million of government funding to reduce their carbon emissions, all as part of the UK government’s Plan for Change to accelerate net zero and become a clean energy pioneer. This comes part of the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, a government initiative that supports the development and deployment of technologies that encourage businesses with high energy consumption to transition to a low carbon future.

With industry covering around two thirds of the project, businesses of all sizes will have the opportunity to expand and innovate by recruiting more employers, helping cut energy bills, and boosting local growth nationwide.

Businesses receiving the investment include Nestlé’s coffee processing site in Staffordshire, Heinz’s baked bean factory in Wigan, and a craft beer business in Cornwall, which will support many small and medium sized business receive green technology such as heat pumps and carbon capture — projects worth £154 million cumulatively.

Heinz, having secured £2.5 million and invested almost £5 million of their own funding into the project, will be able to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels to heat water by installing heat pumps that reuse waste heat from other factory processes, cutting both energy bills and emissions. Hanson Cement in North Wales will use its £5.6 million grant to support a multi-million-pound carbon capture and storage project, which will capture 800,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually and create hundreds of jobs.

These projects aligns with the government’s Plan for Change to make Britain a clean energy superpower, which will drive economic growth and boost the UK’s mission towards net zero. The upcoming Industrial Strategy will also give investors and industry the confidence to plan for the future, with clean energy industries an important sector in reigniting the UK’s industrial heartlands and grow the economy. 

Minister for industry Sarah Jones said: “Helping businesses of all sizes to reduce their emissions is core to our Plan for Change to achieve net zero while growing the economy.

“These companies represent some of the best business innovation — using new technologies to improve how we do things, become more sustainable, and continue to make British products we love — from baked beans to beer.”