National and regional. The UK’s new government has far-reaching sustainable energy and environmental plans which East Lancs RedCAT Network businesses are well-placed to support. Meanwhile, the Chamber Low Carbon team is also piloting a pioneering Lancashire-based NHS emission-cutting project.
Changes and new initiatives are emerging swiftly from Downing Street and Whitehall as incoming political leaders examine the books and start to convert their election promises into practical policies – and, more importantly we hope, results!
From a business sector perspective. it is vital to understand how these announcements and missions fit together … given that there are also financial headwinds, plus opposition to infrastructure proposals that include thousands of new pylons needed for a renewables revolution.
One very significant development from a Chamber Low Carbon and our fellow Chamber initiative RedCAT perspective is a decision by former government net-zero ‘tsar’, Chris Skidmore, to set up a boutique bank for companies to scale and raise ‘green-tech’ capital. More on this later.
Involved, engaged and leading
Talking at the top – as explained last month, the East Lancs Chamber of Commerce team is discussing with senior politicians and civil servants the best way to commercialise innovative green technology – and how the Northwest can make a key contribution to the UK economy.
Chamber and RedCAT CEO, Prof. Miranda Barker OBE, looks in a moment at new net-zero strands designed to form an integrated climate change response.
Deep breaths to save the planet – NHS primary care providers are small businesses that need carbon reduction plans. A major problem for GP surgeries is greenhouse gases propellant in medical inhalers which are used millions of times by patients pose a significant climate change threat.
Chamber Sustainability Director, Stephen Sykes, explains below how a pilot project with GP surgeries in Lancashire will promote that the lowest impact gases are used whenever possible.
Speaking the same language – RedCAT MD, Stuart Thompson, also takes a further look at how to prevent poor communication, different agendas, and misunderstanding about risks making taking innovative products and services to market long, slow, hard and costly.
COP29 – Miranda also notes there is still time to sign up to join the Chamber team going to COP29 in Azerbaijan if you want to meet potential customers and suppliers in a low-carbon tech world, gain insights from those closest to climate issues, or help inform the negotiations and government teams.
If you would like to join us from 14th to 16th November 2024, please contact Jamie Parker-Jervis at jp.jervis@redcatventures.co.uk
Making Britain ‘a clean energy superpower’
She adds, “We are really pleased Ed Miliband, as new Energy and Net Zero Secretary, has confirmed his support for the full range of low-carbon technologies. He is moving the Government away from distracting policy decisions and concentrating instead on UK supply chains. He also understands that the Government’s role is to invest to lever in private sector investments.
Miranda continues, “Ed has shown a refreshing focus on real opportunities for government investment to drive our low-carbon technology lead. We want to help him with that!”
Mr Miliband, has now chaired the first cross-government ‘Energy Mission Board’ convened to speed up the UK’s transition to clean homegrown energy independence ‘in an unstable world’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-mission-board-focuses-on-immediate-action-to-make-britain-a-clean-energy-superpower).
This goes hand-in-hand with ending an onshore windfarm ban, approving large solar projects, launching a Great British Energy and Crown Estate partnership, and setting up a ‘Mission Control’ to deliver the ‘Clean Energy Superpower’ mission with twin goals of clean power by 2030, and reaching net zero “to boost energy independence, protect consumers, and support jobs across the country”.
The new Onshore Wind Taskforce also met for the first time chaired by the Energy Secretary and CEO of EDF Renewables, Matthieu Hue to “drive action across industry and Government to unblock barriers to rapidly increase onshore wind capacity.”
Stark choice
Mr Miliband has appointed Chris Stark – until recently the Climate Change Committee (CCC) CEO – to head Mission Control with a team of specialists who will break down barriers and ‘turbocharge’ energy projects.
Mission Control – a one-stop-shop of experts and officials – will ‘troubleshoot, negotiate, and clear the way’ for energy projects and work with key energy companies and organisations including the regulator Ofgem, and National Energy System Operator (formerly Electricity System Operator).
Resolving issues as they arise, its aim will be to speed up the connection of new power infrastructure to the grid, and delivery of cleaner, cheaper power to homes and businesses.
Investment bank to help new markets ‘transforming the world’
“Time and time again,” says Miranda, “… our RedCAT Network of low-carbon tech firms has identified finance, funding and cash flow as the largest hurdles in getting their technology to market.
“We have already heard about GB Energy, and the need for government to co-invest with the private sector, as well as plans to morph the British Business Bank with the UK Infrastructure Bank into the National Wealth Fund (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/boost-for-new-national-wealth-fund-to-unlock-private-investment) with a focus on innovative energy. However, we must mention another very important development.
“Former Conservative government net-zero ‘tsar’, Chris Skidmore OBE – now chair of the Climate Action Coalition (https://coalition.climateaction.org/) – is also setting up a boutique bank for companies that want to scale and raise capital from £5 million upwards.”
Bottom of Form
In a July speech at the Alternative Investment Management Association, he said he is helping to establish Desmos Capital Partners ‘to invest in new markets that are “transforming the world”’.
It was clear, he said, the major issue facing companies hoping to innovate and scale up solutions to decarbonise or reduce emissions is access to private capital.
Desmos will look at “creative funding structures and alternative sources of capital” such as private family funds and investors, rather than just approaching venture capital funds, he explained.
He added, “… they cannot wait for yet another (Environmental Social and Governance) framework through which to be judged: they need support today.” The new firm, with “… highly experienced banking experts from across the world”, will have offices in London, Paris and later Dubai and Toronto.
Investment road map needed
Mr Skidmore has also asked for an investment road map “… that sets out in detail what projects and infrastructure can be delivered, what is the timescale for this, and what is the balance of public and private investment needed to unlock them.” “We need to provide investors and private capital markets with the confidence that the UK is open for net-zero business,” he concluded.
Badly off-course warning
Unfortunately, in its annual progress report to Parliament, the CCC has signalled that the UK must “urgently ‘course correct’ to cut emissions from buildings, transport and farms”.
It praises the UK for halving national emissions since 1990, but warns that only a third of the cuts needed to reach legally-binding 2030s targets have credible policy backing, with weak plans in sectors other than electricity generation (https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/progress-in-reducing-emissions-2024-report-to-parliament/).
Replacing coal use in power generation with renewables, nuclear and gas – and offshoring manufacturing emissions – has been the easy bit. The new challenge is making cuts in sectors that involve more households and workers, including transport, heating, buildings and agriculture.
Helping NHS ‘small businesses’ to cut carbon
GP surgeries, dentists, pharmacists, ophthalmologists, care workers, and many medical contractors are small independent businesses. As such, they fall within the Chamber Low Carbon’s (CLC) remit and ability to use the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus) to help enterprises reduce their carbon footprints and as part of their net zero journey.
Allison Sathiyanathan, Net Zero Project Manager for ICB (Integrated Care Board) Lancashire and South Cumbria, became aware of this online. In April, she asked the CLC team to create carbon reduction plans that are required both by ‘NHS Targets’ (https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/PRN00021-23-24-priorities-and-operational-planning-guidance-v1.1.pdf) and CQC, the independent regulator of health and social care in England (https://www.cqc.org.uk/).
The team is now working on a pilot project with 27 Lancashire GP primary care practice managers – a number expected to grow. NHSE notes that 13% of the NHS carbon footprint within primary care is due to inhalers, or 3% of the total NHS carbon footprint, and this is now a project priority.
As Stephen Sykes explains, more than 100 different propellants are currently used which the NHS categorises as red (highest), amber (medium), and green (lowest) impact. A key aim is to calculate the CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions for each of the participating surgeries related to the prescribing of inhalers. GPs will then be encouraged to review their prescribing practices by looking at low-carbon options wherever they think this appropriate. Safe inhaler disposal is also a priority.
Although the UK net zero compliance date is 2050, the NHS deadline for emissions within its control is 2040, followed by 2045 for all suppliers. An important part of the project will be a summary report written by Stephen to inform the Integrated Care Board. There will also be a focus on adaptation and resilience.
RedCAT – Technical Readiness Levels (TRLs) …
A major barrier when taking ‘brilliant’ innovations to market is different perceptions of opportunities and risks, explains Stuart.
Enthusiastic innovators invariably think products and services with ‘glaringly obvious benefits’ sell themselves, he says. But investors need evidence that new ideas solve problems customers are willing to pay for reasonably quickly.
More specifically, engineers tend to ask, ‘how an innovation works’, managers, ‘will it make my life easier’, and directors ‘how will this add value to my company’? Answering such questions – and many others – is important when commercialising innovations for new markets.
TRLs – Two other questions would-be investors almost always ask are how ready are new technologies for market in terms of time, cost, and risk, plus what is the future propensity of consumers to buy them? Using the TRL framework, and overlaying time cost and risk against it, can be very useful here.
Originally developed in the 1970s by NASA for space exploration technologies, TRLs were adopted by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2000, the European Commission in 2010, and the International Organisation for Standards (ISO) in 2013 as ISO 16290:2013.
TRLs assess the maturity level of technologies during research, development and deployment on a 1 to 9 scale where 9 is the most mature. Moving from early TRLs to late TRLs is where the risk is.
In the EU, the nine in summary are (https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/career-development/researchers/manual-scientific-entrepreneurship/major-steps/trl): –
1 – Basic principles observed – scientific observations made and reported (basic properties)
2 – Technology concept formulated – envisioned applications speculative at this stage (often limited to analytical studies)
3 – Experimental proof of concept – effective R&D initiated (e.g. studies and laboratory measurements to validate analytical predictions)
4 – Technology validated in lab – technology validated via designed investigation (e.g. analysis of technology parameter operating range) – evidence of performance requirements may be available
5 – Technology validation in relevant environment – reliability of technology increases significantly. May involve a system/model in a simulated environment
6 – Technical demonstration in relevant environment – prototype system verified
7 – System model or prototype demonstration in operational environment – a major step increase in technological maturity. Examples could include a prototype model/system being verified in an operational environment
8 – System complete and qualified – could use knowledge from TRL 7 to manufacture an actual system/model. This TRL usually represents the end of development
9 – Actual system proven in operational environment – system/model proven and ready for full commercial deployment
While this may sound complex, the underlying principles are sound and relatively straightforward.
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13 September 2024
