REDCAR AND CLEVELAND NEWS
TEES FIRM IN BID FOR GREEN FUEL CASH
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Teesside company is part of a collaboration with British Airways that has been shortlisted to win government funding to develop green fuel for the aviation industry .
Redcar-based cleantech company Nova Pangaea Technologies launched a joint bid with the UK ’ s biggest airliner and global carbon recycling firm LanzaJet to win funding to support the early-stage development of Sustainable Aviation Fuels ( SAF ).
The Department for Transport ’ s Green Fuels , Green Skies competition is part of a plan for a Green Industrial Revolution . Several consortia are bidding for the funding but if Nova Pangaea ’ s is successful , the SAF development would be based at Wilton .
The collaboration , called Project Speedbird , supports the development of the UK SAF sector towards deploying innovative production technologies at a commercial scale that can reduce emissions from the aviation sector .
The goal is to produce 100m litres of sustainable fuel per year starting in 2025 , to meet the large SAF supply-demand gap in the UK .
The fuel produced would power 2,000 flights from London to New York operated by an A350 aircraft .
The integrated technology platform is based on Nova Pangaea ’ s REFNOVA process of converting lignocellulosic feedstocks , such as waste wood and biomass , into sustainable biocarbon , biochemicals , biopolymers and drop in for biofuels .
LanzaJet ’ s alcohol-to-jet ( ATJ ) technology will convert the ethanol to Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene ( SPK ) and Synthetic Paraffinic Diesel ( SPD ) to produce sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel .
The plant will convert wood waste to sustainable aviation fuel , recycling carbon from wood waste and helping decarbonise aviation .
Funding creates five new plant hire jobs
A Teesside plant hire firm has won funding to purchase new equipment .
Foster Plant Hire , which is based on Wilton International Centre near Redcar , provides equipment to the construction industry , councils and the Highways Agency .
It has bought two new pieces of equipment worth a total of £ 89,000 , in a project that will also create five new jobs .
The firm received funding from the Tees Valley growth hub at Tees Valley Combined Authority thanks to support from Middlesbrough-based business support consultancy , Nudl .
The grant is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund .
Action ! Work begins at Redcar ’ s Regent cinema
The construction of a brand new cinema to replace an iconic venue on Redcar seafront is well under way – with Teesside steel being used .
The old Regent cinema was demolished last year due to safety concerns about the building and a new three-screen picture house designed to seat nearly 200 people , as well as a café area with spectacular sea views , is now being built .
Building works commenced in September last year after £ 9.68m was allocated by the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority . The Regent is due for completion next spring .
MAYOR KICKSTARTS BLAST FURNACE DEMOLITION
Ben Houchen kickstarted demolition of the Redcar Blast Furnace as work began to clear every one of the site ’ s 11 major plants .
The first section to be dismantled was the part that started the furnace – the main charge conveyor .
Every structure is due to come down within a year as part of the £ 113m programme that will see more than 1,000 people on-site and around half a million tonnes of scrap recovered .
The project will free up 600 acres , paving the way for future investment on Teesworks , the UK ’ s largest Freeport .
MP backs undersea hydrogen storage plans
A £ 1.6bn plan to repurpose Britain ’ s largest gas storage facility for undersea hydrogen storage has been backed by Redcar MP Jacob Young .
Located 19 miles off the East Yorkshire coast , a proposal to convert the huge Rough reservoir to store hydrogen – just as it did with gas – is being explored .
Centrica Storage is asking the government to deliver funding for the overhaul to help provide a solution for the intermittent nature of both production and demand , while creating 350 permanent jobs and protecting hundreds more .
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