UK: £35M for three low-carbon technology projects

The British government has awarded a total of 35M pounds to three projects involving players such as Nissan and Aston Martin. They are developing low carbon technology with funding through the UK’s Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) with industry matching the investment.

The projects will feed into the Road to Zero strategy of the British government aiming to decarbonise transport. Therefore, all three projects selected deal with zero emission or low-carbon propulsion technology.

Take Aston Martin for example. Together with hofer powertrain they are developing a new generation of e-axle transmissions, e-motor and inverter modules, which will be manufactured in the UK. The project is expected to build the UK’s e-mobility skills as well.

Then there are Nissan and Ceres working on fuel cells together. Ceres will lead a project to develop a compact, high power density, solid oxide fuel cell specifically designed to extend the range of electric light commercial vehicles. Ceres Power and The Welding Institute (TWI) have been awarded a total of £8 million from the UK government for this project. The so-called SteelCell can generate power from conventional fuels such as natural gas and from sustainable fuels such as biogas, ethanol or hydrogen. Made from mass-market and widely available materials, the solution is cost-effective, robust and scalable, Ceres claims.

Other project consortiums are made up of companies including Artemis Intelligent Power and Danfross and Robbie Fluid. According to the APC, the projects have the potential to save about 3 million tonnes CO2.

greencarcongress.com, greencarcongress.com (Ceres & Nissan)