Yorkshire recycling firm MYGroup to partner with Government on £5m hydrogen fuel project

Yorkshire-based waste management and recycling firm, MYGroup, has announced that it will lend its facilities and expertise to a £5 million project funded by the Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to produce clean energy for the UK transport sector.
Michael Crossland
By Michael Crossland
Published 21st Sep 2023, 16:45 BST

The project, known as H2-Boost, aims to demonstrate at scale a commercially viable and sustainable process for producing biohydrogen – a gaseous biofuel created through microbial fermentation of organic waste.

The H2-Boost project is led by the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC), a subsidiary of the University of York and comprises, alongside MYGroup, nine other partners from academia and industry.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

MYGroup will host the project at The Maltings, its food waste processing and recycling facility in South Milford, North Yorkshire, where it will provide space to build the biohydrogen production system and supply organic waste as feedstocks – effectively the ‘fuel’ for the process. Product for the feedstocks at this scale will include green and food waste, as well as soiled card and paper.

The H2-Boost project aims to help the decarbonisation of passenger and long-haulage transport, a sector that contributed to 16 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. Picture: Andrew Matthews/PA WireThe H2-Boost project aims to help the decarbonisation of passenger and long-haulage transport, a sector that contributed to 16 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. Picture: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire
The H2-Boost project aims to help the decarbonisation of passenger and long-haulage transport, a sector that contributed to 16 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. Picture: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

Steve Carrie, group director, MYGroup, said: “We’re proud to be hosting and partnering on such a high-profile project at the forefront of the Government’s efforts to deliver on its Net Zero commitment. Our work with BDC and the wider project team is set to provide a tangible, working blueprint for hydrogen fuel production at scale."

The company’s chemistry arm, which is based at The Maltings site, will also be working with the BDC to evaluate a range of secondary feedstocks such as cosmetics waste and insect breeding byproducts to assess their potential for future biohydrogen production.

Deborah Rathbone, bioscience innovation team manager at BDC, said the group was “delighted” to be leading the phase 2 funding of the project.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The H2-Boost project aims to help the decarbonisation of passenger and long-haulage transport, a sector that contributed to 16 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. BDC was awarded £5 million for the project as part of the Government’s Hydrogen bioenergy with carbon capture and storage Innovation Programme.

Related topics:GovernmentNorth Yorkshire