From Guest Blogger Nick: Funds Awarded to Green Innovators

Britain is still a country of scientific and technical innovation, despite the losses of some research and manufacturing capacity to other countries.  Several influential commentators, such as futurologist Jeremy Rifkin, and the previous government’s Chief Scientist, Sir David King, have been projecting the UK as the place for a “New Industrial Revolution.”  Combining British research capabilities, with the natural advantages of having high levels of wave and wind energy available and considerable engineering skills could make the UK the leader in all sorts of innovative environmental technologies.

Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has just awarded £16 million to 30 firms in the first phase of its £35 million Energy Entrepreneurs Fund (EEF). The scheme has been set up to develop low carbon technologies, power generation and energy storage.

Amongst the SMEs granted finance to develop their prototypes include Concurrent Thinking, which has developed software that could significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the ICT sector, Kensa, a British manufacturer that has developed a ground source heat pump called “The Shoebox” that is small enough to fit in a kitchen cabinet, and Passiv Systems, a developer of home energy automation systems that promise savings on energy bills in the range of 20 to 40 per cent.  Energy savings also equate to lower carbon pushed into the atmosphere – now that the carbon in the air has passed the critical 400 ppm (parts per million) line as was announced last week, it is really imperative to reduce these emissions, or face a bleak future.

Other projects that received funding included marine energy, water saving improvements, wind energy and other ingenious projects that need funding to move forward with their innovations.  Companies have also been awarded finance for new energy storage projects.  As more renewables become attached to the grid, the need to store electricity will become critical.  This is an area that have not been given sufficient attention in the past, and it is helpful that the government is prepared to fund research and development in this sector.

Will the visions of Rifkin, King, and others succeed in re-invigorating Britain’s industries?  It is hard to tell, but the ideas are there.  Unfortunately the commitments of policy makers, from the EU, to the UK and devolved administrations have been variable.  In times of economic struggle the UK should make a commitment to getting its green economy moving, as this offers perhaps the best option for resurgence – commitment to a sunrise industrial base, not a declining old-tech one.  The funding awarded to these innovators should be a starting point for further industrial progress in green technologies.