At Imperial College London, Bill Gates and Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, assembled to kick off a new program that is expected to give a major boost to the UK's cleantech sector.
The UK's Cleantech for UK consists of a conglomeration of financiers and venture-builders with a collective £4 billion in funds, aiming to help convert UK's scientific studies into flourishing cleantech companies.
Undaunted, the cleantech accelerator from Imperial College London, has taken part in the launch of an effort to link the UK's policy makers to those involved with the production, development, funding, and magnification of cleantech firms.
On Wednesday 15 February, Rishi Sunak - the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - attended Imperial College London with Bill Gates, the founder of Breakthrough Energy, alongside Hugh Brady and Mary Ryan, who are respectively the President and Vice Provost of Research and Enterprise at the college. The occasion was to launch Cleantech for UK.
Rishi Sunak MP, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, declared that investing in renewable energy sources and clean technology is a great way to ensure energy safety, generate higher-paying occupations, and stimulate economic growth.
The recent unveiling of Cleantech for UK inspires confidence in British businesses that they are being supported to create green solutions to global problems.
UK innovation is highlighted by our capacity to create novel approaches to promote economic, social, and environmental progress.
A cluster of people are visible in front of a placard advertising fresh energy advancement.
According to Bill Gates, the United Kingdom has all of the necessary components to become a key entity in the international effort to create a zero-emissions future. He recognizes the world-class research abilities and progressive investors in the UK, and is pleased to observe the collaboration between businesses, innovators, and policymakers to promote the UK's climate leadership.
Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London, expressed that attaining net-zero necessitates a drastic transformation in our economy, industry, and civic systems. He boasted that the top-notch university is equipped with the proficiency, assets, and impact to hasten the world towards this target. He expressed their delight to have Bill Gates and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak come to Imperial College London to initiate Cleantech for UK and looks ahead to working alongside their collaborators to propagate this kind of modernism throughout the UK.
Mary Ryan, Vice Provost (Research and Enterprise) of the University, underscored the need to tackle the triple planetary crises of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. She highlighted the need to develop and employ new technologies to create a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable future. She further noted that this initiative will form an alliance between essential partners to provide the systems-thinking, solutions-focus, and resources necessary to unleash the potential of the UK's innovators. According to Ryan, Imperial is the ideal institution to launch this revolution.
Recently, Imperial College London and The Royal Institution (Ri) have come together to introduce the 'Undaunted' project. This initiative, managed by the Grantham Institute - Climate Change and Environment of Imperial, is created with the ambition of encouraging innovation and progress in the business, industry, and policy sectors, in order to achieve a zero-carbon and climate-resilient future.
Alyssa Gilbert, Director of Undaunted and Director of Innovation at the Grantham Institute, commented: "The Cleantech for UK initiative is reflective of Undaunted's mission to bring people and perspectives together to confront climate change. It is vital to take into account the entire UK cleantech sector - from uniting enterprise with higher education, backing small businesses, and investing in policymaking and communication. There are tremendous climate innovation concepts that can aid us in our mission to fight the climate crisis, and we must work in unison to guarantee these ideas can be successful."
Displaying the newest ideas
At the Cleantech for UK introduction, three of the UK's top cleantech start-ups were presented.
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An Imperial College London-based enterprise, Econic, is designing catalysts that serve the purpose of taking advantage of CO2 harvested to produce budget-friendly eco-friendly plastics. The firm was established by Prof. Charlotte Williams and Dr. Michael Kember from Imperial College London and became a member of Imperial's Climate accelerator program in 2012.
H2GO Power, located in the innovation setting of Imperial College London's White City, is working on groundbreaking smart technologies to revolutionize the way hydrogen is stored and managed. The business was co-established by Dr Enass Abo-Hamed, formerly a Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellow at Imperial, and was aided by Imperial's Climate-KIC accelerator programme in 2017.
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Innovative solutions to agricultural issues are being developed by Crop Intellect. Their main technology, R-Leaf, is designed to turn air pollution into a fertilizer for crops, increasing crop production while decreasing emissions of greenhouse gases. Working with Dr Andreas Kafizas from Imperial College London's Department of Chemistry, the firm is striving to make this a reality.
Coalition of Clean Technology
The alliance of those who strive to make use of the earth's resources in the most efficient and sustainable way possible.
The coalition's founders consist of: Undaunted (Imperial College London's cleantech accelerator), the Clean Growth Fund (cleantech venture capital investor), Kiko Ventures (cleantech venture capital investor), Breakthrough Energy Ventures (cleantech venture capital investor), Just Climate (climate-led investor), and Legal & General Capital (alternative asset platform). Cleantech for UK will be driving the coalition's efforts.
The UK's Cleantech industry is run by Cleantech Group and is backed by Breakthrough Energy, an organisation initiated by Bill Gates intended to promote the shift towards clean energy sources. This program finances, creates, commercializes, and implements the technology necessary for a carbon-neutral economy.