Catagen gets BEIS backing to accelerate bio-hydrogen production
Above:
The Rt. Hon. Conor Burns MP and Minister of State for Northern Ireland with CATAGEN’s Founders Dr Andrew Woods CEO and Professor Roy Douglas CTO.
Courtesy Catagen
The Belfast-based company has successfully developed a range of net zero technologies focused on cleaning and decarbonising the air, as part of its mission to deliver greener and healthier environments. Air pollution remains the biggest environmental threat to health in the UK, causing more than 30,000 deaths every year.
In the last year alone, the company has successfully patented five new technologies, including a novel production method to sustainably create Bio-Hydrogen from a biomass source. The production of hydrogen from sustainable biomass and waste represents a key hurdle in the realisation of a green hydrogen economy, with cost, technological and operational challenges to address. The proposed Catagen solution has the potential to produce renewable bio-hydrogen from waste biomass with cost and emissions efficiencies.
Dr Andrew Woods, CEO, Catagen, said: “The world urgently needs alternatives to fossil fuels, but not all sectors can be electrified. We welcome the government’s backing at this vital time as we continue to grow our team to meet the greatest challenge of our time. With our five new patents secured, we are focused on accelerating our efforts to prove and then deploy innovative new generators to create green hydrogen, bio-hydrogen and e-fuels. As well as offering an enormous economic opportunity for the region, deploying these technologies at an industrial scale will help to address the challenge posed by increasing energy costs and the rising and very real threats posed by climate change.”
Energy Minister, Greg Hands, said: “Accelerating home-grown renewables like biomass is a key part of ending our dependency on expensive and volatile fossil fuels. This £37 million of government investment will support innovation across the UK, boosting jobs whilst ensuring greater energy security for years to come.”
BEIS is funding this project through the Hydrogen BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage) Innovation Programme. Catagen is one of the fastest growing technology companies in Northern Ireland and is using its specialist emissions expertise 'to clean and decarbonise the air' by developing new products to impact Net Zero and climate change. Established in 2010, Catagen has doubled its workforce in the past year and is aiming to double again over the next year.
