The Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator (IEEA) programme will focus on developing energy-saving technologies and best practices that can be rolled out across a wide number of firms. It has been designed to assess energy use across an industry and identify areas for savings, develop low-carbon technologies and methodologies, and finally distribute the resulting products and best practices across the industry.
The £15m programme is aimed at those moderately carbon-intensive manufacturing sectors operating outside the European emissions trading scheme and is expected to fund a wide range of energy-saving projects. Manufacturers will be offered up to £250,000 in funding to help develop new energy-saving technologies and practices.
Tesco and more companies join energy-saving programme
The formal launch of the initiative follows a successful trial project that saw manufacturers of plastic bottles, animal feed and asphalt identify average energy and savings of 28 per cent. The companies involved in the trial, including Britvic, Highland Spring and Tarmac, will now undertake further research into new heating methods for melting plastic used to make bottles and the development of new cold mix asphalt that promises to cut carbon emissions by 37,500 tonnes a year.
Under the four-year programme the programme will offer up to £250,000 in match funding to manufacturing firms operating in about 25 different sectors, having already secured support from trade bodies such as the Food and Drink Federation and Dairy UK as well as retail giant Tesco.
Russell Lerman, co-Managing Director at Envido said "More than a quarter of the UK's carbon emissions come from industry and we have to find new opportunities to reduce them. By rethinking the way manufacturers operate we will not only reduce emissions but will also increase demand for innovation, generate jobs and cut costs."
