The Technology Strategy Board, which was established by the Government in 2007, promotes and supports the research, development and exploitation of technology and innovation for the benefit of business.

David Bott is the Board's Director of Innovation Programmes. David was head of Courtaulds' Strategic Research Group and then Research Director at ICI Acrylics, before becoming a Director in ICI's Group Technology Office. He also has sat on the UK Government's Technology Foresight Panel for Materials, was President of the Industry and Technology Forum of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2002-2004) and Co-Chairman of the Strategy and Implementation Board of the Crystal Faraday Partnership on Green Chemistry (2001-2007).

What is the role of the Technology Strategy Board?

"Our role is to stimulate technology-enabled innovation in the areas which offer the greatest scope for boosting UK growth and productivity.

"We aim to promote, support and invest in technology research, development and commercialisation by spreading knowledge and by bringing people together to solve problems or to make new advances.

"In addition we advise Government on how best to remove barriers to innovation and accelerate the exploitation of new technologies. And we work in areas where there is a clear potential business benefit, helping today's emerging technologies become the growth sectors of tomorrow.

"Our vision is for the UK to be a global leader in innovation and a magnet for innovative businesses, where technology is applied rapidly, effectively and sustainably to create wealth and enhance quality of life."

How does this role connect with the push towards a low carbon economy?

"We support companies with the opportunity and ideas to address the challenges of both existing and new markets. Increasingly, these challenges have a financial, environmental and a social dimension. All three aspects need to be satisfied to ensure long term sustainability of the product or service - and hence the company."

Tell us please about your investment in new materials technology

"We held a competition in Materials for Energy last November - jointly with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) - and have now invested over £10million in sixteen innovative research and development projects into materials technologies that will help meet the country's energy challenges.

"The investments will support the research and development of materials technologies that offer solutions to problems within the sector. The focus of the projects will be on the development of technologies and materials for energy generation, transmission & distribution, storage and conservation.

"The projects, which have a total value in excess of £20million, include research and development in areas such as energy efficient bio-based natural fibre insulation; new materials and methods for energy-efficient tidal turbines and sustainable power cable materials technologies with improved whole life performance.

"We have also just launched a competition in Sustainable Materials and Products, where we have allocated up to £10million to fund highly innovative collaborative research and development in the area of Sustainable Materials and Products. Funding is available for industry-driven projects focused on materials technologies that will enable the UK to rapidly meet urgent and difficult environmental and social challenges and to create wealth, via the development and implementation of new or improved materials, processes and products.

"The focus will be on the development of technologies, across the materials sector value chain, for she substitution/reduction of materials which are scarce, difficult to source, expensive or deleterious to health and the environment; the development of less polluting, wasteful and energy intensive processes, including for recycling and the design of products with extended life or which are easier to repair, reuse or recycle."

What about developments in low carbon vehicles?

"Our Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform held a competition late last year - jointly with the Department for Transport - to support the implementation of new low carbon vehicles and systems that could be on Britain's roads within five to seven years. The investment of £23million in sixteen innovative new projects will assist companies to take forward research, development and demonstration projects in the UK. Including investments by the companies involved, the total value of the development projects will be £52million.

"Then in October we announced four related competitions, all under the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform. These were The Electrification of Road Transport (up to £10million); Technologies to Decarbonise Road Vehicles (approx £7million); University-led research into lower-carbon vehicle technology (£3million, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) and an Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstration Competition.

"This latter competition will see 100 innovative passenger cars on the road in several locations around the UK and, through real-world situations, will show the benefits to be gained by using new and emerging low carbon vehicle technology.

"The Technology Strategy Board will also work closely with the Energy Technologies Institute, which will hold a stakeholder workshop in December to develop a second wave of low carbon vehicle demonstration activity. This builds on the Technology Strategy Board's early pilots and will focus on understanding the requirements of the charging infrastructure. "

And the building sector?

"Under the Low Impact Buildings Innovation Platform, the Technology Strategy Board is running a competition to support the development of components and materials for low impact buildings (reduced energy and water usage, and reduced waste production) that meet consumer needs.

"We hope to see proposals which tend to overcome the technical barriers and develop new processes for incorporating components and materials into buildings; those which adapt components to improve their buildability, making them compatible with the way buildings are constructed and the conversion of products already existing in different sectors to address the challenge of lowering the impact of buildings."

Can you give some examples of particular investment successes

"There are currently over 800 ongoing research and development projects being funded by the Technology Strategy Board. This work is continuing, so the new products and services will emerge over the next few years.

"One example of a new technology under development would be a project managed by BioRegional MiniMills Limited who are developing small-scale technology for treating black liquor, the effluent produced during paper making. Agricultural residues such as straw can be made into paper locally, making use of waste and relieving pressure on the world's forests.

Another example would be Butafuel TM, a sustainable transport fuel based on Butanol, which is being developed by Green Biologics Limited. Here, micro-organisms are used to convert waste plant material into the next generation biofuel through high temperature fermentation and enzyme processes which are faster, more efficient and cheaper than conventional processes."

What are the key components of the Board's Strategic Plan?

"Our plan is to invest in three key areas - innovation led by challenges, innovation inspired by technology and the innovation climate, by which we mean investing in knowledge exchange and networks.

"The most interesting aspect of our new strategy is probably our focus on challenge-led innovation, where we treat the societal and economic challenges we face - such as those caused by climate change, our ageing population and security needs - as opportunities to provide innovative solutions. Our work in areas such as low carbon vehicles and low impact buildings are examples of this approach. We aim to invest about half of our entire budget supporting challenge-led innovation.

"However, technology-inspired will continue to be extremely important. We need to maintain expertise in the leading-edge technologies that underpin the UK's business growth, and to invest in the next generation of technologies."

What is the Board's budget and how is this funded?

"We have a budget of just over £700million for the three years to 2011. The Research Councils are aligning a further £120million alongside our activities and the Regional Development Agencies a further £180million. So we will be investing over £1billion over the next three years.

"This money is invested in research and development by UK companies to match their own investments, so we would expect over £2billion to be used to develop new products and services over the next 3 years as a result of our activities."

How will the current economic climate affect innovative R&D?

"It is inevitable that people will consider the current circumstances when they make decisions about investments. They may think about keeping their money and not using it, but spending on future products and services, if well targeted, is the best investment you can make at the moment.

"The current economic situation will not last forever, and when we come out of it, people will be looking for new things, and those who have them will gain market share and increase their profitability."

What is your proudest low carbon achievement?

"Probably the National Low Carbon Vehicle Event that we held a few weeks ago at Millbrook. We co-organised it with Cenex. [Centre of Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies]

"There were almost 800 people there, those who were working on aspects of low carbon transport and those who wanted to buy it. There were about 50 cars, vans and lorries there which people could drive or ride in. Just to see how far this sector has come in the last few years, and realise that we were part of the reason they were all in that place."

What are you working on right now?

"We are looking at how we apply low carbon thinking in other areas. With transport and buildings it is easy to see where energy is not used efficiently, but how many of us realise that it takes energy to make pure water, or energy to make the fertiliser that helps crops to grow?"

What advice do you have for individuals charged with reducing their firms' carbon emissions?

"Measure what you currently use, watch what others do to reduce their carbon footprint and steal their ideas!!"

The Technology Strategy Board is at http://www.innovateuk.org

Counting The Cost Of Flight

Until recently, buying a return air fare didn’t involve wondering if the airline would go bust in the meantime. But the collapse of Zoom, Futura and XL and the likelihood that other airlines will follow make this a new factor in air travel plans.

These high profile casualties are just one symptom of the tough times faced by the industry as a whole. In July 2008 just 10% of airlines expected to see profits rise in the coming year, while 70% were braced for a drop, a marked contrast to just a year ago when none predicted this.

“The steep rise in fuel prices is the principle driver of this slump in business confidence…Market growth outside the US is more than offset by the unprecedented rise in fuel prices, which rose above $180 a barrel in early July, which is 102% higher than a year ago,” says the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

At the same time, the aviation industry faces unprecedented scrutiny of its action on carbon emissions. These were excluded from the Kyoto Protocol and their reduction has been overseen by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Brussels flexes muscles

For many observers, not enough progress has been made, and this summer the EU responded by passing legislation that requires all airlines arriving or departing within its borders to participate in an emissions trading scheme, a move that is likely to be challenged by the industry through the World Trade Organisation.

From 2012 airlines will be allocated their EU allowances based on passengers and freight flown compared with the period 2004-2006. The precise allocation details have yet to finalised but it is possible that at least a third of the total allowances will only be available by auction, or via the carbon markets. As with the wider ETS, the total number of credits available will be incrementally reduced in the following years.

Legal challenges aside, it may be that the trading scheme isn’t uppermost in the minds of airlines anyway. Put simply, they have far bigger headaches to deal with, fuel costs in particular. “We calculate that in the first year the ETS will be equivalent to an increase in fuel prices of about 5%. But the price of jet fuel is far more volatile than that. Although the effect of the ETS will increase over time Lord knows what fuel prices will do,” says Oliver Morris, Director of Product Development at Ascend, a consultancy that values commercial aircraft.

Papering over the cracks?

In the context of harsh commercial pressures, growing public concern, and industry uncertainty, sound policy from the UK government is essential. The foundations of its approach were laid out in ‘The Future of Air Transport’, a White Paper published in December 2003, and the Civil Aviation Act (CAA), which came into force in November 2006. The White Paper sets out a framework for developing airport capacity in the UK over the next 30 years, while the CAA gives more powers to airports to impose penalties for breaches of noise regulations, and to set local emissions charges.

However, these policies make highly questionable assumptions according to the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), the Government’s own watchdog. After a year of collecting evidence from the aviation industry, businesses, government departments, academics, NGOs and citizens’ groups, SDC concluded that this could seriously undermine public confidence in aviation policy.

In September 2008, SDC pressed its case further with the publication of ‘Contested Evidence: The case for an independent review of aviation policy’. The watchdog believes it can show that the Government has failed to take account of important developments such as the Stern Review; new evidence from climate science; the rise in oil prices and the economic downturn; the work of the Climate Change Committee; and renewed interest in high speed rail.

Respected figures needed

“When we started talking to stakeholders – both individually, and in groups, some for them for the first time – we were aiming for a position where we could start to outline some common ground between them, and possibly define some future solutions that they could all sign up to,” SDC’s chief Hugh Raven told Low Carbon Board Report.

“It came as something of a surprise that groups were so far from agreement over the basic data; something which is going to prove vital if we are to start looking at positive ways forward,” Raven said. The disputes fall into several broad categories. Figures produced for the economic value of aviation vary widely, for example. Friends of the Earth calculates that while overseas tourists contribute £11 billion to our economy, British tourists spend £26 billion abroad, resulting in an overall loss. However, travel agent Thomson, believes tourism contributes at least £25 billion to the UK economy.

Assessments of the impact of aviation on the climate also diverge strongly. The International Air Transport Association expects aviation to account for no more than 5% of global emissions by 2050. But at a UK level, the Government’s own projections indicate that it could account for up to 70% of the total carbon budget by then. There is little agreement on the benefits of improved technology either. The Advisory Council for Aeronautical Research in Europe has set targets for improving aviation technology by 2020, but a study for the German Environment Ministry concluded these will not significantly improve the performance of the German air fleet until after 2045.

Of course, it could be argued that it is a waste of time striving for agreement on such an emotive issue. “There is a view in some quarters that opposing groups will never agree and that the government must simply show leadership by pressing ahead with decisions on airport expansion. We believe that we have not yet reached that point, and that a greater degree of consensus over the evidence is far from unattainable,” Raven responds.

“We believe the government should appoint a respected, independent figure to oversee the compilation of an updated evidence base on the economic, social and environmental benefits and costs of UK aviation. It should also engage in a proper national debate with the public and stakeholders, of the type we've seen in other areas, such as pensions and healthcare. The findings should be incorporated into the Air Transport White Paper,” he concludes.

Key Questions:

• Do we encourage videoconferencing as an alternative to face to face meetings?
• Do we provide a carbon calculator for staff travel?
• Is it our policy to consider alternatives to air travel, such as train services?