Partner Article

Region bids for share of wealth

LOW carbon technology professionals will descend on Sedgefield today in an attempt to win a slice of a €50bn fund to create the homes of tomorrow.

The group – which includes the National Renewable Energy Centre, based in Blyth and the North East Chamber of Commerce - will meet to draw up the Strategy for Energy Efficient Buildings, after research showed UK homeowners are among the world’s largest energy wasters.

By using a combination of improved heating, low-power lighting, and intelligent building design, developers hope to be able to reduce the overall energy consumption of housing.

Dr Geoff Williams of Thorn Lighting, said: “Over the last ten years the UK has really built on its history as a cradle of innovation. We have experts in all kinds of areas to run these technologies.

“We now need to make the most of this expertise by creating a unified voice for green technologies.”

The Regional Strategy for Energy Efficient Buildings meeting is said to be the first step on the road to getting European funding for energy efficient projects in the region.

Framework Programme Seven is the largest EU-funded grant, with funds of over €50bn available over the next seven years for collaborative research and development projects.

Gillian Kears-Fricker, business innovation manager at the European Enterprise Network, added: “Our aim is to look at all the expertise we have available for the creation of energy efficient buildings, including heating, solid state lighting, wind power, photovoltaics, and others.

“This will then form the basis of a day of lobbying at EU headquarters in Brussels next year.”

The Government’s National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) has set a target of reducing emissions from the UK’s residential housing stock by 31% on 1990 levels by 2020.

However, figures from the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute show that housing produced around 30% of the UK’s carbon emissions in 2007, a figure that has increased from 26% in 1990.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .