What we heard at Innovation Zero

The Green Economy team attended Innovation Zero in London, exhibiting alongside the Energy Innovation Agency. Here’s what we heard at the event.  

The UK is a green innovation hotspot  

The exhibitors, speakers and visitors of Innovation Zero rarely had a minute to spare at this event. A diverse range of organisations representing green technologies and innovations across carbon capture, renewable energy, environmental auditing, nature-based solutions and climate accounting attended the London Olympia ready to discuss their visions of a net zero future.  
 
One of the most positive takeaways from the event is that the UK has the green businesses, research capabilities, skills and innovation in place to decarbonise and achieve the UK’s net zero targets, but work needs to be done to reduce the costs of green technology, for both suppliers and buyers, and to improve government policy which accommodates the sector’s growth.  
 
From Green Economy’s perspective, many of our discussions with visitors and fellow exhibitors surrounded initial growth and visibility for green tech businesses. We found a number of innovative organisations ready to deploy their technologies, but hindered by a lack of knowledge outside of the sector which slows their rollout. Knowledge sharing and campaigns championing the efficiency, practicality, and benefits of green technology and services is necessary to support this bustling sector.  

Costs are a barrier to UK green tech 

The general consensus among speakers and panellists at the event was that the UK has the necessary innovation and tech in place to achieve net zero and roll-out low carbon technologies, but costs and scale-up are proving to be a barrier.  
 
“We know that green hydrogen is likely to play an important role in many industries,” said Lucy Yu, chief executive of the Centre for Net Zero, “but the cost of electrolysers is extremely high.”  
 
As long as the cost of technology directly involved in low carbon innovation remains high, organisations will be deterred from investing in such technology which will heed the UK’s net zero journey. While the relative costs of solar panels and wind power has fallen astronomically over the last few years (solar module prices fell by 45 per cent from 2015 to 2020), the more nascent technologies such as hydrogen, heat pumps and nuclear are still facing prices too high for the average business or consumer.   
 
A key cost component of green hydrogen is electricity supply and electrolysers. Alkaline electrolysis, in particular, has higher associated costs than other hydrogen technologies, such as a Proton Exchange Membrane, owing to its slower response to a fluctuating power supply. Policy to reduce the electricity and electrolysis cost associated with green hydrogen is necessary to enhance the technology’s potential.  

Policy is lagging behind  

A Tuesday afternoon panel discussion on “Decarbonising Energy” delved into the role of government in setting the necessary policy environment for innovation, investment, and growth across the clean energy sector. The verdict: UK policy is slowing the sector down.  
 
“Innovation and entrepreneurship races ahead while policy lags behind, creating huge inefficiencies [for clean tech],” said Paddy Padmanathan, vice chair of Xlinks. “It’s extremely important that the government implements the right policy. Investment and innovation follows policy.”  
 
The panellists nodded emphatically in response, adding that countries with clear, well-thought, long term policy designed to support its green innovation sectors will inevitably attract foreign investment and encourage the growth of its domestic clean energy sector. However, the UK government continues to face backlash for its policy and investment designed to support anachronistic, traditional fossil fuel energy sources. 
 
A recent report, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, highlights the UK government’s controversial energy policy strategies, granting £20bn more in support for fossil fuels compared with renewables since 2015. This type of policy hasn’t shown much decline in recent years, as fossil fuel investment increased 10.7 per cent 2020 – 2021, compared to just 0.01 per cent for renewables over the same period.   
 
Furthermore, a panel discussion on “Decarbonising UK materials and manufacturing” heralded the US’s Inflation Reduction Strategy and the EUs Green Industrial Deal as pioneering policies driving the green sector in other parts of the world, placing emphasis on “first-mover” organisations who need government support to take the bold first steps in the more embryonic green tech industries. 

Collaboration is key

An innovation showcase on using “collaboration to unlock meaningful climate action”, hosted by ClimateSeed, focussed on knowledge-sharing and the combined power of business intelligence to realise net zero ambition. The green sector is characterised by complementary technologies which can be combined to achieve a larger impact. For example, hydrogen technology pairing with wind power as its primary electricity source, heat pumps having heightened effectiveness in properly insulated buildings, and solar panels working alongside energy management systems.  
 
Interestingly, this discussion even veered into the potential of cooperation between grassroots climate organisations and activists and sustainable businesses to improve visibility and influence both social and political change.  
 
At Green Economy, a core part of our mission is to encourage collaboration within the sector, partnering suitable suppliers of green technology to offer buyers a holistic, green solution. It was encouraging to hear our message echoed at this innovation showcase.