Britain to provide 350 million pounds to help industry cut carbon emissions

A bus with a sign advertising its reduced emissions is driven through Richmond in London

LONDON (Reuters) - The British government will make 350 million pounds available to support industry efforts to cut carbon emissions and drive an economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis.

The investment package will help businesses decarbonise across the heavy indusry, construction, space and transport sectors, the government said on Tuesday.

It includes funding for supporting a switch from gas to clean hydrogen for fuel-heavy industry, projects to scale up carbon capture and storage, new building techniques in the construction industry and research into more efficient electric motors.

"This funding will reduce emissions, create green collar jobs and fuel a strong, clean economic recovery – all essential to achieving net zero emissions by 2050," UK business and energy secretary, Alok Sharma said.

The announcement comes ahead of the launch of the first meeting of the Jet Zero Council, which will bring together government, representatives from the environmental sector and the aviation and aerospace industry to tackle aviation emissions.

(Reporting by Nina Chestney. Editing by Jane Merriman)