How Humber now leads ‘net zero’ revolution – Andrew Reynolds

Whilst we have no doubt benefited from this, we need to move towards a future with green jobs and investment at its core.

To meet the Government’s net zero target by 2050, jobs and industries will need to fundamentally change all around the country.

Indeed, decisions taken this year could fundamentally shape the future of the economy for decades. Here in Yorkshire, we should see this as an opportunity to lead the way in the creation of a greener economy.

Two recent Government decisions will be crucial in delivering this change.

Firstly, the confirmation that the Humber will host one of the first new freeports.

Through tax incentives and favourable custom arrangements, the freeport will further embed the Humber as the busiest port complex in the UK, encompassing Hull, Goole, Grimsby and Immingham ports.

Secondly, the selection of the Humber as one of the hosts of new “carbon capture clusters”, in which innovative technologies will be used to reduce carbon emissions from traditional “dirty” industries. This will bring exciting new green investment and technologies to the region. Combine these two and you have the tools to propel Yorkshire into the net zero age.

Achieving this will be a huge challenge. As The Yorkshire Post highlighted recently, Yorkshire and the Humber currently emit 7.5 per cent of all UK emissions. We emit more than the entire country of Croatia.

Indeed, the Yorkshire Climate Action plan calls for a 68 per cent reduction in emissions by 2025 on 2000 levels.

However, this is a challenge that we can rise to. By utilising the world-leading skills in refining, chemicals, engineering and offshore wind that we already have in Yorkshire, we can lead a green economic revolution that will not only reduce our impact on the environment but allow our energy-intensive industries to continue to thrive in a net zero world, protecting current jobs and creating new ones.

The Humber itself emits 12.4 million tonnes of CO2 a year, more than any other industrial area in the UK.

This is equivalent to every Humber resident emitting 13.9 tonnes a year, twice the national average.

But the Humber is already becoming a hub for new green technologies that will tackle this.

Exciting new projects include the H2H Saltend project that will create the world’s largest hydrogen production plant with carbon capture; Drax is converting its power station to become the world’s first carbon-negative power station; and Altalto Immingham will convert black bag waste into clean jet fuel.

These exciting new technologies can also be exported around the world by using the Humber Freeport to fly the flag for Yorkshire.

Other regions and countries need not look further than Yorkshire for their net zero needs.

At the Yorkshire Energy Park (YEP), we are developing the UK’s first freeport-based energy and technology business park.

The YEP benefits greatly by being on the banks of the Humber, within the Humber freeport and the “carbon capture cluster”, and within reach of the UK’s “energy estuary”.

We will use these benefits to build a park that not only boasts on-site energy generation, battery storage and state-of-the-art digital infrastructure but also an on-site educational campus in conjunction with the University of Lincoln.

This is a truly a unique set of factors that will help to build on Yorkshire’s momentum as leading the way in creating new green technologies.

There is a real opportunity to transform Yorkshire into the central flag bearer for net zero in the UK. But Government needs to put its full weight behind us, by ensuring the Humber Freeport and the “carbon capture cluster” are a success.

With that support we can steal the march on the global race to meet the growing demand for net zero technologies, products and services.

Yorkshire has always been a pioneer, and this is yet another race that we can win.

Andrew Reynolds is project director of the Yorkshire Energy Park.

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