The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), the organisation tasked with developing the technologies and engineering approaches that will help the UK meet its 2050 carbon reduction targets, today published a review of the projects it has funded in 2009.
In total, the ETI has provided in excess of £53m funding for 15 projects in offshore wind, marine, transport, carbon capture and storage, energy storage and distribution and distributed energy. These include:
• An £11m Plug-in Vehicle Economics and Infrastructure project, including the world's most extensive evaluation of consumer's attitudes to plug-in vehicles enabling effective investment.
• An £8m project to accurately estimate the energy yield of major wave and tidal stream arrays.
• A £5.1m project to detect causes of faults and component failures in offshore wind turbines.
• A £3.8m project looking at developing the UK's first national database of geological storage capacity for CO2.
The ETI also developed its Energy System Model to help identify those technologies capable of having the greatest impact through to 2050 under a range of different demand scenarios. The model will highlight the associated costs and risks of meeting those energy targets.
A full list of the ETI projects announced in 2009 can be found at http://www.energytechnologies.co.uk/Home/Aboutus/Achievements.aspx
A further £70m of contracts are in development for launch in the first part of 2010.
Under the Climate Change Act, Britain is obliged to cut its emissions by 80% from its 1990 levels by 2050.
The ETI brings together the complementary capabilities of global industrial groups – BP, Caterpillar, EDF Energy, E.ON, Rolls Royce and Shell – with the UK government. Operating at a national strategic level it is delivering large scale complex engineering solutions for the UK energy system helping to meet 2050 challenges.
Over 10 years the ETI aims to invest up to £1bn in engineering, technology and science in support of the UK's low carbon economy drive to identify and deliver projects that will help the UK to cut CO2 emissions, deliver affordable energy to consumers and increase the security of energy supplies.
ETI chief executive Dr David Clarke said: "2009 has seen the first tranche of ETI-funded projects. There is an urgent need to accelerate the development and deployment of low-carbon technologies to meet the UK's energy targets and support industrial and domestic consumers.
"Our job is to deliver the large scale complex engineering solutions that will accelerate the commercial deployment of energy technologies and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"The carbon reduction targets for both 2020 and 2050 require an integrated change in all sectors and affordability is critical.
"We need to ensure there is large-scale development and deployment through major industries, innovation from smaller enterprises and academia as well as sustained support for long-term incentives, skills development and regulatory frameworks.
"With a further raft of projects in development, 2010 will be an even busier year for the ETI as we announce investment in more projects that will help overcome major barriers to the deployment of low-carbon energy."
The ETI aims to address all aspects of the UK energy system – power, heat, transport and the associated infrastructure. Its key programme areas are currently offshore wind, marine, distributed energy, buildings, energy storage and distribution, CCS and transport.