Mark Williamson leads a wide range of activities to support the development of low-carbon technologies, a vital part of the Carbon Trust’s mission to accelerate the UK’s transition to a low-carbon economy. He helps technologies navigate the journey from concept to commercial production. His teams help develop low carbon technologies by supporting research and development work; developing companies and run large-scale demonstration programmes to address barriers to progress. Mark is a Chartered Engineer and holds an MBA and a PhD in electronic engineering. He spent many years as a management consultant.

What projects are you currently working on?

“We have just announced an exciting new £5 million research and development initiative with Cambridge University and The Technology Partnership (TTP) to accelerate the development of a new generation of low-cost organic solar cells.

“The new photovoltaic technology is a very thin film of semi-conducting organic materials which can be produced using a low-cost, high-throughput manufacturing process. We hope this will lead to solar products with the potential to generate renewable electricity that is as cheap as the power currently delivered to our homes. Within a decade our aim is to deliver products which could lead to one gigawatt of installed capacity and more than 1 million tonnes per year of carbon dioxide savings.

“We’ve also recently announced funding for a series of projects as part of our £3.5 million Marine Energy Accelerator, supporting development of wave and tidal stream energy technologies. The UK has massive potential for marine energy, but the major barrier to success is its high relative costs. The aim is to drive down the costs of marine energy in three different areas. We’re supporting new device concepts with the potential for lower costs; attracting expertise from outside the sector to provide component technologies; and working to optimise the installation, operation and maintenance of the devices.”

What is your personal, proudest "green" achievement?

“I'm proud of the work we recently completed on smart metering for businesses. We've known for years that smart metering is a great technology which gives people visibility of how and when they use energy. It's an excellent tool for identifying opportunities to save energy, cut costs and reduce carbon emissions. However, the industry has been held up by a lack of incentives for energy suppliers to offer smart metering services to their customers.

“We carried out a trial of smart meters at some 580 business across the UK and came up with robust evidence demonstrating an average of 5% to 10% carbon savings. We made this information available to policymakers and, as a result, the Government is now proposing a mandatory requirement for suppliers to provide such meters in future. We hope to see legislation passed that will lead to hundreds of thousands of new smart meters rolled out to UK businesses over the coming years.

“On a personal note, I'm proud of the fact that my wife and I track the carbon emissions from our household energy and travel on a monthly basis. Since we started two years ago we've managed to cut our carbon footprint almost in half, despite the fact that we've also gained a new addition, our daughter. It didn't require anything too dramatic; the savings were mainly from upgrading our lighting and appliances, being careful about turning things off, adjusting our heating controls, using more public transport and choosing to take holidays closer to home. Obviously it's a tiny contribution to a global issue, but we've managed it without affecting our quality of life."

What are the key ingredients of a successful low carbon initiative in any sector?

"The key to successful low-carbon innovation is combining a technology that has high-potential with a team that can make it a commercial success; so it’s about people just as much as technology. As a low-carbon innovator you need a clearly defined target market and must understand who will buy your products and why. It’s also vital that promising technologies receive the right types of support at the various stages along the innovation journey. For example, in the early years many low-carbon technologies require public funding to “pump prime” the market prior to costs coming down from economies of scale. It’s vital that any such support provides potential investors with as much certainty as possible, so it must involve a long-term commitment."

What are the biggest challenges you face in your role and how do you deal with them?

"One of the biggest challenges of this role is keeping abreast of the different developments in the sector. The UK is a real hotbed of low carbon innovation and things are moving very quickly. A good example of this is our applied research grant funding programme which, over the last few years, has received over 1,300 proposals of which we have backed around 160 projects worth some £40 million. In fact it’s often a real challenge to select the companies we work with in our innovations activities. Our new organic solar directed research programme attracted over 60 expressions of interest from companies that were keen to work with us on developing products in this exciting new field."

Are current Government climate change targets realistic in your view?

"Setting clear targets to reduce emissions, both short-term and long-term, is absolutely essential if we are to prevent the worst effects of climate change. It's therefore great news that carbon reduction targets are likely to become legally binding under the new Climate Change Bill, although the latest climate science suggests that the current UK target of a 60% reduction in emissions by 2050 may not go far enough.

“Do I believe such reductions are achievable? Yes, absolutely, but we're still some way from being on track to meet them. Things are starting to move in the right direction, particularly with higher levels of private sector investment and a rise in consumer demand for ‘green’ products and services.

“We have a range of activities aiming to accelerate the move to a low-carbon economy which will increase our chances of meeting Government climate change targets: our Solutions group works with business and the public sector to deliver emissions savings; our Insights group explains climate change challenges and opportunities; our Enterprises group creates new high-growth low-carbon businesses; our Investments group finances promising companies offering low-carbon products and services; and our Innovations group helps develop and deploy new low-carbon technologies."

How do you encourage the public and staff to become more environmentally conscious?

"There is already a lot of good will out there. We conducted research last year that found 85 per cent of UK workers are willing to cut energy use to help the environment and nearly two thirds of UK consumers are more likely to buy from a business they think is taking action to tackle climate change. What is critical is providing consumers with information they need to take action themselves.

“One example is the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Reduction Label, which is being trialled with a number of household names including Walkers, Boots and Innocent drinks. This label allows businesses to demonstrate the action they are taking to cut carbon and consumers to make informed decisions about the carbon content of the products and services they buy. Consumers hold enormous power and many companies are already very aware of a new carbon-conscious public.

“We need to drive home the message that climate change presents business with huge opportunities as well as risks. Energy efficiency saves money as well as carbon and the transition to a low carbon economy will create a wide range of new business opportunities."

What emerging trends or technologies do you predict?

"Over the coming years we will see an increasing realisation by government, business and consumers that the move to a low carbon economy is essential and that we need to get there in the quickest and most painless manner possible.

“As the Stern report made clear, we can invest now with minimal impact to our economy and way of life; or we can delay and risk significantly higher costs and devastating impacts from the effects of climate change. Making this transition will require tough choices by government, investment by business and changes to our consumption patterns as consumers.”

“An essential part of this transition will be a massive shift away from traditional forms of energy generation towards sustainable energy sources and products and services which allow us to use energy more effectively. Ultimately this will depend on the development of new [renewable] technologies and the widespread deployment of the proven technologies we’ve already got ."

What in your opinion is the most viable, long term, sustainable energy solution?

“It is very unlikely that any one source of sustainable energy will be capable of meeting our growing energy needs. The ultimate solution needs to involve a different, complementary technologies and changes to the structure of our economy.

“In the UK we are fortunate to have significant wind, wave and tidal resources on our doorstep and in the coming years I expect to see a huge expansion in offshore wind farms and a significant new market for marine energy generation. Our research has shown that marine energy alone could provide up to 20% of the UK’s electricity needs. I believe that a new generation of low-cost organic solar technology can play a significant role.

“When thinking about sustainable energy, people often focus too much on electricity and forget that domestic and non-domestic heating has a significant impact on emissions. There’s a great deal more we can do in terms of using renewable heating solutions. Biomass heating is a mature technology used successfully in other parts of Europe so we’re currently running a major programme to accelerate its uptake in the UK, where it could save millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in a similar role to yours?

“You need a combination of strong technical knowledge and relevant commercial experience. You also need to be able to build close working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including academics, entrepreneurs, government officials, companies (both large and small), NGOs and investors. It also helps to have a good understanding of what it takes to get an idea from the drawing board to a commercial reality.

“I would emphasize the importance of understanding the technology commercialisation process. You can create the most innovative product in the world, but if it’s not commercially viable then it will never be a success. Also, remember that there is a vast array of existing knowledge and experience out there and sometimes you can make a breakthrough just by getting the right people around the table.

“It helps to be passionate about what you do, but you also need to take a balanced view and make decisions based on facts rather than opinions. It’s great to be involved directly with technologies that will play a significant role in our low-carbon future.”

What future initiatives are you planning?

“We will soon be releasing a major publication on Micro-CHP (combined heat and power) technology, based on extensive field trials we’ve carried out over the last three years. If used in the right applications this technology can offer attractive carbon savings in both domestic and small commercial environments.

“Later this year, we hope to launch a major new accelerator initiative in the area of offshore wind power and a research programme on bio-energy. The Carbon Trust intends to remain at the centre of the innovation revolution – it’s a very exciting time, and we’re making good progress, but there are many challenges still to be overcome in our journey to a low-carbon future.”

Best Practice Tips

Please visit the Forum here and share a tip that you have for organisations to reduce their carbon emissions. Often the very simplest ideas can have the greatest effect:

• "Even if your organisation's site is a new build, there is always room for improvement, so constant monitoring is essential"
  (Dr. Johannes Waltz, Stakeholder Strategy Manager, Pfizer)
  

• "When taking on new projects, it is key to have someone with proper technical advice and to form an ongoing working relationship with them"
  (Bill Thain, Information Manager, Mackie's of Scotland)