Recently, it has announced a £90 million package aimed to tackle emissions from homes and heavy industry – including funding for Europe’s first large scale, low carbon hydrogen plants which could generate enough clean energy to heat over 200,000 homes.

Smart microgrids can play a critical role in the UK's future energy system, providing flexibility and resilience, and therefore utilizing them across the country could reduce housing emissions by up to 80% and save consumers money on their energy bills. Microgrids are modern, small-scale versions of the centralised electricity system. They achieve specific local goals, such as reliability, carbon emission reduction, diversification of energy sources, and cost reduction, established by the local community being served.

Renewable energy sources can be integrated in a smart microgrid and this, in turn, enables the energy production to be accurately predicted. The government says that over 250,000 people could have their homes powered by local renewable sources by 2030, which could reduce energy bills by 50%.

Along with the support for local energy projects, heavy industry will receive a further £18.5 million of funding for projects developing and trialing technologies to move industrial concrete and glass production away from fossil fuels and onto renewables.