Not too long ago, a competition was started, which stated that the winning companies would receive funding for their projects. In order to be eligible to enter the Local Industrial Decarbonisation Plan competition, the companies had to propose projects which would aid the drive towards achieving a low-carbon or a net zero future.

The result was announced recently and it was revealed that the Government have chosen twelve winners. These twelve winners are all now eligible to receive a share of a maximum of £6 million, which will help them develop their plans and project for a low carbon or net zero future.

Some of the chosen companies included: The Solent Cluster, the Shoreham Port Industrial Cluster, Industrial Decarbonisation for Northern Ireland (ID-NI) and Decarbonising the Midlands Aerospace Cluster (DMAC).

The Solent Cluster plans to work with industry to ensure the project has access to low-carbon hydrogen production and carbon capture and storage opportunities.

Shoreham Port Industrial Cluster is a project made up of 175 businesses which are spread across a 110-acre site. This project will focus on developing different ways to reduce emissions and improve the local air quality. The businesses also plan to achieve part of their goal by collaborating with local councils.

Industrial Decarbonisation for Northern Ireland (ID-NI) will work on creating and developing plans to aid local businesses with their aim of increasing their productivity, whilst simultaneously starting to and continuing to cut their emissions. One way they will approach this challenge is through fully utilising the opportunities which a low carbon future will offer.

Decarbonising the Midlands Aerospace Cluster (DMAC) plan to work with key players within the project region’s aerospace supply chain. Part of this plan will involve identifying manufacturing processes which are contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, whilst also looking at and researching into potential solutions.

All of these winners are companies and projects which would not be considered large industries and this was the point of the funding plan. All of the companies and projects fall outside of the UK’s major industrial areas and there is also a large variety of companies within this array of projects. This was the design for this funding arrangement as it has been shown that companies that are based in dispersed locations, away from the main industrial areas, are responsible for 55% of the country's industrial emissions.

To take the projects a step further, plans for further funding of £185 million have been released, with the intention for this funding to be put towards helping the companies be even better for the environment. This improvement will come in the form of providing the necessary help for companies to transform their operations so that they are able to function on cleaner, better and more secure energy.