DEPARTMENT FOR
INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS News Release issued by The
Government News Network on 20 September 2007
Today Innovation
Secretary John Denham announced an important step in the UK's
effort to develop technologies for reducing carbon emissions.
Mr Denham unveiled the location of the new Energy Technologies
Institute (ETI), backed by up to £550m of Government investment
announced by Gordon Brown in the 2006 Budget. The new centre,
based in Loughborough leading the Midlands Consortium, will bring
more focus, ambition and collaboration to the UK's energy,
science and engineering drive. It will have a potential budget of
over £1bn.
The ETI will bring together some of the world's biggest
companies, including BP, Caterpillar, EDF Energy, EON, Rolls-Royce
and Shell. It will be calling on businesses to come up with big
ideas and inventions that will help the UK to:
* Cut CO2 emissions to save the planet;
* Deliver more
efficient energy to keep the public warm cost effectively;
*
Guarantee this country has the energy supplies it needs now and in
the future.
Mr Denham said:
"The Institute will deliver solutions to help make the
energy in our homes and businesses safer, cheaper and more
sustainable for the future. It will do so by bringing together
skills and expertise from the public sector, businesses large and
small and the wider research community to transform our carbon
footprint as quickly as possible.
"This will help to establish the UK as one of the leaders in
global clean energy development and deployment."
Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory
Reform, John Hutton, said:
"The establishment of this new Institute at Loughborough now
gives us a truly strategic focus on research and development of
low carbon energy technologies, helping make the UK a world-leader
in this area.
"This unique public/private partnership, together with the
new BERR/Defra Environmental Transformation Fund, will make a real
impact on key energy research challenges and our ability to deploy
new technologies quickly, to accelerate progress towards a low
carbon economy and to help ensure a secure energy supply over the long-term."
Mr Denham also announced the appointment of Dr David Clarke as
the ETI's new Chief Executive.
The Government is putting up to £550 million into the programme
over the next 10 years. Joint investment from the private sector
will, it is hoped, double funding to over £1 billion.
Mr Denham said:
"I believe David is ideally equipped to take the Institute
forward and help it deliver. It means a great deal to have someone
with David's knowledge and experience to lead the organisation."
The location of the Institute will be at Loughborough University
campus and will be run by the Midlands Consortium (Universities of
Birmingham, Loughborough and Nottingham). The decision follows a
nine-month evaluation exercise with bids assessed on energy
research capability, reputation and culture, site facilities and
commitment to ETI.
Notes to Editors
1. The announcement was made at the formal signing by member
organisations of the Heads of Agreement for the new Institute.
2. The 2006 budget included announcement of intention to
establish a new energy and environment research institute, as a
50:50 public-private partnership with a budget of £100 million
p.a. for at least 10 years. A detailed prospectus was published in
September 2006 to seek broader participation and views on the
Energy Technologies Institute. It brings together public and
private sector R&D in the UK to set strategic direction and
fund its delivery. It will provide the UK with a world-class means
for delivering applied energy technology research to underpin
eventual deployment.
The Institute will operate on a "distributed" basis
with research and demonstration undertaken by centres of
excellence across the UK and overseas, as necessary. The projects
these teams deliver will accelerate the progress of industrially
applicable innovative energy technologies through the innovation
chain to enable some commercial deployment within 10 years.
3. Research organisations across the UK were invited in January
to indicate any interest in hosting the ETI Chief Executive and
support staff. The initial submissions were considered by a Host
Selection Group representing the industrial and public sector
funding partners against a set of high level criteria. A shortlist
of five bidders were invited to work-up detailed proposals., From
these five, three were invited to give final presentations to the
evaluation committee in early September, following which the
Midlands Consortium led by Loughborough was selected.. More
information is available at http://www.eti.co.uk
4. Dr David Clarke is currently Head of Technology Strategy at
Rolls-Royce plc. He has been involved in collaborative research
and development of advanced technologies for over 20 years leading
a range of research groups including Rolls-Royce's Advanced
Materials development activities and its corporate Strategic
Research Centre. With the latter group he has led
Rolls-Royce's evaluation and development of new technology
opportunities in fields as diverse as fuel cells, electrical
propulsion technologies and advanced computational diagnostics. He
is currently responsible for development and management of the
Rolls-Royce plc global research strategy. This includes the
company's multi-million pound university based research
programme at the 29 Rolls-Royce University Technology Centres in
the UK, North America, mainland Europe and Asia.
Dr Clarke is a member of EPSRC Council, chairs their Industrial
User Panel and is Visiting Professor at the University of
Strathclyde and a Member of the Science Council for the North West
Development Agency. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials
Metals and Mining and a Chartered Engineer.