The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was created in October 2008 to centralise energy policy and climate change, as decisions in one field cannot be made without having impacts in the other. The founding of DECC brought together Energy Policy, which previously fell under the remit of The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and climate change mitigation, which had been the responsibility of Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The three key objectives of DECC are to; ensure a secure energy supply that is efficient and affordable, bring about the transition to a low carbon Britain and achieve an international agreement on climate change at Copenhagen this coming September.

The delivery of a low carbon energy supply is more complex than a switch to renewable energy supplies. In order to achieve a reliable and cost effective supply the move to renewable sources needs to be gradual. Intermittency in energy supply would cause detrimental impacts on other areas of UK functionality. The department plan to combat this by using a ‘varied and increasingly low-carbon mix of energy’ to meet the challenges of security, climate change and affordability.

Government support for low carbon technology rose from £35m in 2001 to £87m in 2006. The government recognises the UK as a leader in the development of new low carbon technologies and is developing a series of support mechanisms to nurture this. We speak with DECC’s assistant Director of Energy Innovation, Graeme Childe, about what DECC is doing to promote innovative thinking with regards to the low carbon economy in Great Britain.

What is DECC’s role in energy generation innovation?

Innovation is about finding new and better ways of identifying, developing and reducing the costs of new and improved technologies. Innovation will help us access secure, sustainable and affordable energy in the long-term and support the UK’s response to climate change. We work in partnership with a number of organisations including the Carbon Trust and use instruments such as the Environmental Transformation Fund to support technology innovation to address the challenge of climate change.

What organisations do you work with?

I work with a wide range of organisations with an interest in developing low carbon technologies including: trade and professional bodies, pressure groups, other Government departments, funding organisations such as the Technology Strategy Board, research community, both small and large companies as well as the investor community. We also work and support a number of networks which bring together players from across the sector.

Does your job role include networking directly with entrepreneurs?

Yes – it is very interesting to visit companies and discuss technology developments with entrepreneurs that are in the process of developing exciting innovative technologies. It is great to talk to the people who have ideas and hear from them what we can be doing better or more of to accelerate technology development.

What forms of support can developers of new technologies expect from DECC?

We run the Environmental Transformation Fund (ETF), aimed at accelerating the development of low carbon energy and energy efficiency technologies in the UK. ETF works to bridge the gap between research and development and market deployment for low carbon technologies. It’s specifically aimed at supporting emerging technologies through the later stages of innovation - demonstration and early deployment. We also look to support developers understand and overcome other barriers they have to making their ideas commercial products and the range of help and funding available.

Although the creation of DECC brought together the two main areas of energy and climate change within government, there are still areas where the department must refer to, or work with, other bodies. Can you describe the organisation of this?

DECC provides funding for the Carbon Trust while DIUS funds the TSB and Research Councils. DIUS also provides 50% of the ETI's public funds with the rest coming from private sector partners. The RDA’s receive funding from BERR. These departments and bodies have mechanisms for managing interaction between one another, including collaborative agreements and representation on one another’s boards.

The Research Councils, TSB and RDAs all have wide remits that go beyond low carbon technology development. For example, Research Councils play a huge role in medical research while RDAs are heavily focussed on promoting and generating economic growth in the regions. The organisations also fund different stages of technology development. For example, Research Councils fund fundamental research carried out by academics and the TSB are involved in later stage research and demonstration carried out by consortiums/partnerships.

What role do you see new technologies playing in DECC's long term goal of reducing green house gas emissions?

If we are to decarbonise our society and have sustained economic growth it is essential to have a range of new low carbon technologies that will work effectively in the UK.

How great an impact would you anticipate success in developing low carbon technologies having on the UK economy?

New technologies can take a long time to develop. For example, energy generation technologies can often take in excess of 10 years to develop and require significant support to get to a stage when they are ready to deploy on a commercial scale. There are a number of barriers also to overcome - planning, regulation, financial, technical are just a few.

The rewards of developing new technologies for the UK is potentially huge - Denmark and Germany have mature wind manufacturing bases which employ thousands of people and offer a solid export market. New technologies will also provide us with secure, sustainable and affordable energy. The market for low carbon technologies is expected to grow significantly.