BP, the British energy giant, has invested in a start-up company that is developing a novel technology to produce zero-carbon hydrogen from water vapour emitted by heavy industry.

The technology, called Symbion, uses heat from existing industrial operations to reduce the electricity consumption and costs of water electrolysis, the process of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable energy.

BP Ventures, BP’s venture capital arm, was among several investors in a $12.5 million Series A financing in U.S.-based Advanced Ionics, the companies announced on Tuesday. Other investors include Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Clean Energy Ventures and Gatemore Capital Management.

Green hydrogen, which is produced from renewable energy sources, is expected to play a key role in decarbonising transport and industries. But it is produced today on a very small scale and costs up to five times more than the most common hydrogen produced from natural gas, which is highly carbon-intensive.

The investment will allow Advanced Ionics to accelerate the small-scale deployment of its water vapour-based electrolysers for heavy industry. The technology uses heat emitted from a plant’s existing operations to drive the electricity use to less than 35 kilowatt hours (kWh) per kilogram of hydrogen compared with more than 50 kWh per kilogram for a typical electrolyser, according to Advanced Ionics.

It sharply reduces the cost of electricity for the electrolysis process, which accounts for more than 70% of green hydrogen production costs, the company said.

BP plc (formerly The British Petroleum Company plc and BP Amoco plc)