The Hydrogen Innovation Initiative (HII) has announced Glass Futures as its latest partner, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise in the foundations industry to the programme.
Backed by Innovate UK, the Hydrogen Innovation Initiative is a consortium of industry, government, and academia creating an investible, globally competitive hydrogen technology and services sector in the UK. The partnership with Glass Futures will strengthen the range of expertise that HII brings to the hydrogen economy.
“We are delighted to welcome Glass Futures as our newest strategic partner,” said Dr Katy Milne, Programme Director for the Hydrogen Innovation Iniatitive. “Having served on our Industrial Advisory Board, they have been a key part of HII since its inception. Their focus on decarbonising energy-intensive industries aligns perfectly with our vision of UK technology powering the global hydrogen economy – transforming UK industry into a net zero powerhouse.”
Over the last four years, Glass Futures, working collaboratively with its members and partners, has undertaken significant research into innovative solutions for decarbonising energy intensive industries.
“For us, this is an opportunity to collaborate closely with the other esteemed partners in this group, sharing learning, research and innovation across industries,” said Rob Ireson, Innovation and Partnerships Manager at Glass Futures. “The work HII has done to help build robust and resilient hydrogen technology supply chains is incredibly relevant to our work in reducing carbon from the glass and foundations industries.”
“Most ceramic kilns are fired using fossil fuels, collectively emitting 1.2 metric tonnes of CO2 per year, 60 percent of which comes from the combustion of natural gas to heat kilns. As such hydrogen has the potential to reduce UK emissions by up to 780 kilotonnes of CO2 per year. The glass and ceramic industries share common challenges when it comes to transitioning furnaces and kilns from natural gas to low-carbon hydrogen fuels. It makes sense for our two sectors to collaborate and pool resources and knowledge to develop solutions to these challenges.”