Jan 7 2008
The Technology Strategy Board is to stimulate improvements in low carbon energy technologies through a £10 million investment in collaborative research and development.
The Low Carbon Energy Technologies competition – part of the Technology Strategy Board's Autumn 2007 call for proposals in a number of innovation and technology areas – will support a broad portfolio of technologies and will help to accelerate their development, bringing them quickly and cost effectively to market.
The investment will fund highly innovative industry-led collaborative research and development projects in areas such as intelligent grid integration and management, carbon abatement technologies, hydrogen & fuel cells, microgeneration & photovoltaics and bioenergy.
The Technology Strategy Board’s investments will provide partial funding for winning projects that address one or more of these areas, and which involve businesses working collaboratively with other businesses and/or with research organisations and academic institutions.
The projects, which can last for 2 to 3 years, can range from small, highly focussed basic research projects, aimed at establishing technical feasibility, through to applied research and experimental development projects.
The Technology Strategy Board is working in close collaboration with the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and other public funding bodies to ensure the UK develops a coordinated research, development and demonstration portfolio of projects across the energy sector. The ETI issued details of its complementary programmes covering offshore wind and marine, tidal and wave technologies on 17 December 2007.
Explaining the background to the competition, Technology Strategy Board Chief Executive Iain Gray said “The challenge of moving towards a lower carbon economy, using a mix of technologies and energy sources, requires us to develop a portfolio of low carbon energy technologies for the electricity, heat and transport markets.”
“The Technology Strategy Board is committed to stimulating the development and deployment of technologies which, while contributing to the UK’s climate change and energy security goals, also represent major business opportunities for the UK. New markets are being created in low carbon energy technologies and this brings significant potential for wealth creation in the UK.”
Applicants must register their intention to apply for funding, and submit an outline of their proposal, by 22 February 2008 and the final closing date for applications is 27 March 2008. Further information is available at www.technologyprogramme.org.uk.