New Statesman - Green Tech Revolution

Introduction

The required shift to a low-carbon and resource efficient economy over the coming decades will not be cheap, but the opportunities for economic growth and job creation are vast. In 2010, investment in low-carbon technology amounted to over £150bn worldwide. But in global terms there is evidence that the UK is being left behind.
So how can the government help drive low carbon investment? In a recent Demos report, The Entrepreneurial State, we found that, contrary to conventional wisdom, government funding has played a major role in all the technological revolutions since the Second World War. This is particularly the case for green-tech where new, transformative technologies are required to meet the vast environmental challenges that we face. The £200m investment by BIS earlier this year in Offshore Renewable Energy technology innovation centres shows that the government are making investments to help facilitate innovation in green technology and exploit our potential in the off-shore market. The Green Investment Bank too will be a crucial tool in the coming years to help channel investment into the low carbon economy.

Fringe Events Coverage

Liberal Democrat Conference Fringe: watch video here

The event at the Liberal Democrat party conference event was chaired by Jon Bernstein, Deputy Editor of the New Statesman. He was joined on the panel by Lorely Burt MP, former Shadow Minister for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and 2008 winner of the most business-friendly MP. Also on the panel was Kate Craig-Wood, a green ICT entrepreneur as Managing Director of Memset but also Chair of Intellect UK's climate change group; John MacArthur, Vice President of CO2 Policy at Shell who previously set up an entrepreneurial family business in the oil and gas industry; and Dean Curran of HiMag Solution Ltd, a worldwide leader in planar transformer technology and winner of the Shell Springboard programme in 2010.
Labour Conference Fringe: watch video here

At Labour party conference, the event was chaired by Jon Bernstein, Deputy Editor of the New Statesman. Jon was joined on the panel by: Meg Hillier MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change; Luciana Berger MP, Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change; Ed Gillespie, a Director at Sandbag and Director and co-founder of Futerra, a leading communications agency focussing solely on corporate responsibility; and Arne de Kock, Senior Commercial Manager at Shell. The Shell Springboard Finalist joining the panel was John Lewis, an experienced SME start-up consultant and Managing Director of 2D Heat Limited.
Conservative Conference Fringe: watch video here

The panel at the Conservative party conference featured Greg Barker MP, Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change and was chaired by Jon Bernstein, Deputy Editor of the New Statesman. Greg and Jon were joined by the UK’s Low Carbon Business ambassador Professor Julia King and John MacArthur, Vice President of CO2 Policy. Completing the panel was Stephen Voller, Chief Executive of Cella Energy Ltd and former Shell Springboard winner, who holds a wealth of experience in hydrogen fuel cell technologies.

Small and medium sized businesses are arguably best placed to develop such radical technologies and it is essential that the conditions are created, through strong policy frameworks, in which such innovation in green technology can thrive. Back in 2007, Demos profiled a group of ‘disrupters’, a small but growing cohort of innovators who were turning their business acumen, creativity and entrepreneurial nous towards the low carbon agenda. One of the organisations profiled, Dynamic Demand, promotes a technology that can help solve the problems of connecting renewable energy to the national grid through smart appliances which smooth spikes in electricity demand by switching themselves off at peak times. Another of the disruptors, Baywind, is now famous as the UK’s first community-owned wind farm and has paved the way for a plethora of similar community-owned renewable energy initiatives.
The Springboard programme is one example of where private sector companies are helping and encourage such disruptive green enterprise. Previous winners of the programme have included a battery management system for hybrid and electric vehicles, a waste reduction technology that both converts landfill waste into building materials and captures the associated carbon emissions. But is this really a role where the private sector should be taking a lead? Is the state providing enough support for low carbon entrepreneurship, or is it shirking its responsibility to facilitate innovation in this crucial sector of the economy? It is these questions and more that we hope to begin to answer through this series of discussions.
Demos, Shell Springboard and New Statesmen are delighted to host a series of events across the three major party conferences this year. These events, entitled Opportunity Knocks, will see panellists debate the importance of bringing small and medium-sized enterprises into a ‘green tech revolution’.

Given that 95% of companies in the UK are small enterprises, it is imperative to engage these businesses in the emerging green economy and foster green entrepreneurialism. This event series will focus on what the government can do to help and encourage small green enterprises, and to what extent big businesses have a responsibility to nurture green SMEs.
Why does Shell run Springboard?
By running Shell Springboards we aim to help early stage companies get a step closer to investment. Many awards are used to prove a concept, ramp-up marketing or build a prototype, but the kudos they get from winning the award form such esteemed judging panels (Lord Oxburgh, Ben Goldsmith etc) makes them more attractive to potential investors.

We are also supporting innovation amongst enterprising businesses in the UK, two qualities core to our business.

How to enter Shell Springboard.
Shell Springboard is a no-strings seed fund that provides a financial boost to UK-based small businesses that have potentially commercial and innovative ideas for products and services that contribute to combating climate change.

These ideas or products must:

lead to greenhouse gas reductions;
be commercially viable;
be innovative.

Launched in 2005, Shell Springboard provides £320,000 a year in awards of £20k, £30k and £40k to selected small businesses. Shell takes no rights or shares in the businesses helped by this programme and judges are not employees of Shell.
Enter online now! www.shellspringboard.org
Applications will be accepted online until 5pm on Friday, 4th November 2011.