A third round of the clean maritime demonstration competition will help companies and scientists to make emission-free maritime a reality.
To mark this year’s World Maritime Day, the new Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan is announcing £60 million funding for the third round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC).
This third round will run from April 2023 to March 2025, backing more innovative businesses to help reduce maritime emissions.
Supercharging clean maritime
From today UK companies will be able to bid for a slice of the funding to supercharge the development of early-stage clean maritime technologies for wider use in the future.
Funding from the Department for Transport, delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, will be used to develop technology and system demonstrations for pre-commercial fuels, vessels and infrastructure technologies.
This is all part of government plans to back innovative businesses and reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Supporting decarbonisation
In 2020 UK domestic maritime vessels contributed around 5% of the UK’s domestic greenhouse gas emissions, more than trains and buses combined.
The CMDC is one of the ways the government is supporting the sector to decarbonise.
Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:
The UK has always been a proud seafaring nation and helping the maritime sector to be more environmentally-friendly will mean it continues to play a key role in the UK’s economy for generations to come.
This World Maritime Day we’re announcing funding to harness the best innovations the UK has to offer, proving that tackling climate change can go hand-in-hand with business innovation, job creation and supercharging economic growth.
Making maritime greener
Innovate UK Executive Director for Net Zero, Mike Biddle, said:
The maritime sector is of crucial importance to the UK, with more than 95% of our trade running through the major ports that connect us to the global economy.
As such an important part of the UK economy, significant change is needed to ensure that the sector adapts to new, clean technologies, reducing maritime emissions.
This latest, multi-year round of government’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition builds on the success of the first two rounds, stimulating innovation to ensure the UK is at the forefront of this transition to make maritime greener.
Round 2 winners announced
Today also saw the announcement of the winning projects from the second round of the CMDC, launched in May 2022, which saw £12 million shared between 121 companies.
Among the winners were projects exploring the development of green shipping corridors, zero emission shipping routes between 2 ports.
Round 1 project overview published
Also published this week is a project overview of the winning projects funded through the first round of the CMDC.
This overview showcases the successes and achievements of 55 innovative clean maritime projects, across 209 organisations, all helping to reduce maritime emissions.
Supporting zero emission jobs
Today’s announcement follows the allocation of £206 million to support zero emission sailing and skilled maritime jobs as part of UK SHORE, announced in March this year.
The UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) is housed in the Department for Transport, and is dedicated to creating a world free from shipping emissions.
UK SHORE is implementing a comprehensive research and development programme, including the CMDC, working in partnership with industry to help build greener vessels, from cruises to tankers and leisure boats.
Top image: Credit: Artemis Technologies