The Department of Transport has selected seven projects focussed on decarbonising the UK’s roads to share £30 million in funding.

Announced by Richard Holden, Roads Minister, the winning projects will be implemented this year – working together to develop different areas as a unit.

The themes chosen by these companies include lighting for local roads, materials used in building roads and the use of fuels in cars on certain motorways.

Local councils will all be involved to trial the technologies and work alongside the projects to see what will benefit their area specifically.

The seven projects were chosen by independent leaders from the highways and transportation sector – after pitching their ideas in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style.

The programme has been developed by the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) and is the second round of funding for innovative projects.

Mr Holden said: “We are supporting this vital agenda to help level-up through £30 million funding for ground-breaking projects and boosting regional connections to support growth.

“The government is determined to create good, well paid jobs – via innovation and investment across the UK – as we accelerate the road to net zero.”

ADEPT President Mark Kemp said: “Tackling the carbon impact of our highways’ infrastructure is critical to our path to net zero but hard to address, so I am pleased that bidding was so competitive.

“Each project will bring local authority led innovation and a collaborative approach to create a long-lasting transformation of business as usual. I am looking forward to the opportunity to learn from our successful bidders and taking that into my own organisation.”