Unitrove receives UK Goverment grant to further develop the world’s first liquid hydrogen bunkering facility for fuelling zero-emission ships
The creator of the world’s first liquid hydrogen bunkering facility for fuelling zero-emission ships has won a UK Government grant to develop a unit ready for rapid deployment to ports around the world, according to the company's release.
Steven Lua, CEO of Unitrove Innovation, part of the Unitrove Group, said the £30,000 Transport Research and Innovation Grant (TRIG), awarded by the Department for Transport in partnership with Connected Places Catapult, would be used to help further develop its commercial version of the small-scale portable facility, which can help reduce emissions of one of the most polluting forms of transport.
The Leicestershire-based clean-tech company unveiled the unit at COP26 in Glasgow last November.
Steven said the facility was vital to fuel an international shipping industry that accounts for around one billion tonnes of global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and contributes to around 400,000 premature deaths and 14 million cases of childhood asthma every year due to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), sulphur oxides (SOₓ), and nitrogen oxides (NOₓ) that arise from ship smokestacks.
The TRIG programme was launched by the Department for Transport in 2014 to foster research and innovation in the sector. This year’s TRIG is the largest ever, with over 50 awards spanning different areas including maritime decarbonisation and the future of freight.
Steven said liquid hydrogen as a commercial fuel was relatively unexplored as an option – but that it had great potential for many uses, including plugging the gap that electric and compressed hydrogen cannot fill.
