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UK could be “natural owner” of wave power market, says Carbon Trust

The UK could generate up to £70 billion and create around 250,000 jobs if it takes a bold approach to the commercialisation of offshore wind and wave power, according to new research from the Carbon Trust.

The analysis, launched yesterday as part of the Trust’s ‘Clean Tech Revolution’ campaign, says the offshore wind and wave power alone can also help the country achieve at least 15% of the carbon savings required to meet 2050 reductions targets.

But a new strategy will be required if the UK is going to transform itself into a global hub for low carbon technology, says Carbon Trust chief executive Tom Delay.

This strategy needs to focus on smart investment in priority technology areas that will have the maximum impact on cutting emissions and producing an economic benefit to the country.

If the country invested £600 million in research and development in offshore wind, removed regulatory barriers and introduced new incentive mechanisms, the UK could have 45% of the market by 2020, securing £65 billion for the economy and creating 220,000 jobs by 2050.

The UK could also lead the way in wave power, becoming its “natural owner”, says the Carbon Trust. While the sector is smaller, with the potential to generate revenues of £2 billion a year by 2050 and creating up to 16,000 jobs, the UK has a head start because it has already developed a quarter of the world’s wave technologies.

“These technologies are not green ‘nice to haves’ but are critical to the economic recovery of the UK,” says Delay. “We must prioritise and comprehensively back the technologies that offer the best chance of securing long term carbon savings, jobs and revenue for Britain.”

The Government says it is determined to position the UK at the centre of the green revolution and that the £405 million investment in the sector announced in the last budget signals its intentions.

But the amount falls short of what the Carbon Trust says is needed.

“In the past we have let opportunities to capitalise on our scientific leadership slip through our fingers,” says Martin Rees, president of the Royal Society. “The US and others are investing heavily in low carbon technologies; we must not fall behind and waste the scientific expertise that we have in the UK.”

The wind industry has welcomed the report.

“This report is a benchmark step in terms of joined up thinking for RD & D in the UK ‘clean tech revolution’, something the offshore wind, wave and tidal industries have been pressing on for some time,” says Maria McCaffery, chief executive of the British Wind Energy Association.

For further information:
www.carbontrust.org
royalsociety.org/
www.bwea.com

03 July 2009

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