The UK must commercialise more of its green technology at home if it’s going to make the most of a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
PP Control & Automation’s Tony Hague made the rallying call ahead of National Manufacturing Day on 26 September and is urging manufacturers to prioritise green innovations onshore as the world moves toward ‘net zero’ targets.
Mr Hague believes that the country has an unrivalled academic base and a clean frontrunner position when it comes to wind power and electrification. It now needs to focus on commercialising the technology in the UK, helping to create up to 60,000 new jobs while reducing supply chain reliance and ensuring we retain critical IP that could be lost overseas.
He said: “We are home to world-class research institutions, a thriving start-up ecosystem, and have the foundations to become a hub for green innovation. However, without domestic manufacturing, we risk losing the strategic advantage of being a global leader.
“Onshore manufacturing of green technologies is an economic imperative, but it also aligns with broader environmental goals. To meet our 2050 ‘net zero’ targets, the UK will need to drastically reduce emissions across all sectors and shortening our supply chains can play a key role in this.”
Closer collaborationThe industry leader believes one of the best ways to take advantage is through closer collaboration and by leveraging each other’s capabilities. A possible blueprint could be
PP Plus, a carefully curated collective with over 20 organisations across UK manufacturing, academia, and professional services.
It is acting as a single source for green tech start-ups to bridge the commercial valley of death and scale faster by taking innovators from concept development and prototyping to protecting their IP, contract manufacturing and driving sales through PR and marketing.
Mr Hague added: “Our most recent endeavour is CESPA (Clean Energy Systems Partner Alliance), a pioneering collaboration between six industry leading companies. The partnership is harnessing innovation in clean energy systems through an alliance of complimentary design and engineering capabilities, and hardware and software solutions, to drive efficiency and environmental stewardship.
He concluded: “It is early days, but there has already been a lot of interest and we’re expecting the first projects to get underway shortly. In short, by manufacturing green technologies domestically, the UK can create jobs, strengthen its economy, secure resilient supply chains, and meet its climate goals.”