The Hydrogen Innovation Initiative has revealed research and technology organisation Glass Futures as its latest partner.

Backed by Innovate UK, the Hydrogen Innovation Initiative (HII) 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.

Dr Katy Milne, Programme Director for HII, welcomed Glass Futures. She said: “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.”

Glass Futures connects the global glass industry with academia to demonstrate technologies that will decarbonise glass and foundation industries.

Rob Ireson, Innovation and Partnerships Manager at Glass Futures, said: “For us, this is an opportunity to collaborate closely with the other partners in this group, sharing learning, research and innovation across industries.

“The work HII has done to help build robust and resilient hydrogen technology supply chains is relevant to our work in reducing carbon from the glass and foundations industries.”

“Most ceramic kilns are fired using fossil fuels, collectively emitting 1.2Mt of CO2 per year, 60% 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 kt 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 to develop solutions to these challenges.”