7. Energy technology research, development and demonstration
Key data
(2017 provisional figures)
Government energy RD&D spending: GBP 536 million
Share of GDP: 0.26% per 1,000 GDP units (IEA median*: 0.30%, IEA average*: 0.35%)
RD&D per capita: GBP 6.8
Exchange rates: GBP 1 = USD 1.28 = EUR 1.14
* Median and average of 19 IEA member countries for which 2017 data are available by the time of publishing.
Overview
The United Kingdom has a strong energy research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) framework with a major focus on clean energy growth and innovation, based on the United Kingdom’s Industrial Strategy (UK Government, 2017a), the Clean Growth Strategy (UK Government, 2017b).
Under the umbrella of the new Energy Innovation Board (EIB), RD&D policies, programmes, and funding are well coordinated across the government and its agencies.
New missions are under consideration for the Clean Growth Grand Challenge of the Industrial Strategy which prioritise areas in which the United Kingdom faces the most acute decarbonisation challenges, such as reducing industrial emissions in particular industrial clusters.
For instance, the government released in November 2018 the new carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS) Action Plan (UK Government, 2018), which sets out the steps the government and industry should take in partnership to enable the development of the first CCUS facility in the UK, commissioning from the mid-2020s, to achieve the government’s ambition of having the option to deploy CCUS at scale during the 2030s, subject to costs coming down sufficiently.
A new International Research and Innovation Strategy and specific International Energy Strategy are currently being developed to update priorities and funding programmes.
In line with Mission Innovation, in the Autumn Statement 2015 (UK Government, 2015) the government set out its goal to double relevant clean energy RD&D funding to reach GBP 400 million per year in 2020-21.
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7. ENERGY TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION
Energy research and development strategy and priorities
The UK energy technology research and innovation policy is oriented towards the development of clean growth industries of the future as an integral part of the UK Industrial Strategy, the UK Clean Growth Strategy, and the UK Aid Strategy.
In the context of the Industrial Strategy, the government has set Grand Challenges of Clean Growth and the Future of Mobility (as well as Artificial Intelligence and Ageing Society). The Grand Challenge of Clean Growth focuses on maximising the advantages for UK industry from the global shift to clean growth – through leading the world in the development, manufacture, and use of future low-carbon technologies, systems, and services that cost less than high-carbon alternatives, in particular:
Develop smart systems for cheap and clean energy across power, heating, and transport.
Transform construction techniques to improve efficiency dramatically.
Make the United Kingdom’s energy-intensive industries competitive in the clean economy.
Put the United Kingdom at the forefront of the global move to high-efficiency agriculture.
Make the United Kingdom the setter of global standards for finance that supports clean growth.
The Clean Growth Strategy is underpinned by the Energy Innovation Programme. The government has ambitious goals on decarbonisation and has increased the investment in its clean energy technologies in line with the Industrial Strategy of 2017. The government plans to invest more than British pounds (GBP) 2.5 billion in RD&D for clean growth technology between 2015 and 2021 (Table 7.1).
Institutions
The central government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) leads on energy innovation policy priorities. BEIS has a central role in the coordination of energy-related innovation across the government and agencies.
BEIS is also responsible for the sponsorship of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which was created out of the merger of Innovate UK and the Research Councils in April 2018. The UKRI is a public body sponsored by BEIS and it has its own internal governance framework with the purpose to facilitate research and innovation activity across the United Kingdom. UKRI typically focuses on excellent science and academic collaboration, whereas BEIS Energy Innovation focuses on industrial collaborations.
BEIS and the Department for Transport (DFT) have established a package of funding targeted at the roll-out of low-emission vehicles in the joint Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) also funds lowcarbon innovation in agriculture and waste.
As the national regulatory authority, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) incentivises innovation under the new RIIO (revenue = incentives + innovation + outputs)
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