The developer of the world’s first liquid hydrogen bunkering facility for zero-emission ships has been awarded a UK Government grant to develop a unit ready for rapid deployment to ports around the world.
The £30,000 Transport Research and Innovation Grant (TRIG) awarded by the Department for Transport in partnership with Connected Places Catapult will be used to help further develop the commercial version of the small-scale portable facility, which can help reduce emissions from one of the most polluting modes of transport, according to Steven Lua, CEO of Unitrove Innovation, part of the Unitrove Group.
Last November, the Leicestershire-based clean-tech firm unveiled the unit at COP26 in Glasgow. Steven stated that the facility was critical to fueling an international shipping industry that accounts for approximately one billion tonnes of global CO2 emissions and contributes to approximately 400,000 premature deaths and 14 million cases of childhood asthma each year due to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), sulphur oxides (SOx), and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted by ship smokestacks.
The Department of Transport launched the TRIG programme in 2014 to promote research and innovation in the sector. This year’s TRIG is the largest yet, with over 50 awards covering a variety of topics such as maritime decarbonisation and the future of freight.
According to Steven, liquid hydrogen as a commercial fuel is a relatively unexplored option – but it has great potential for many uses, including filling the gap that electric and compressed hydrogen cannot.
