There are two major defining characteristics of our Directed Research approach: (i) targeting of innovation gaps; and ii) the use of funding mechanisms that can provide a return on investment for the Carbon Trust.
i) Over six years of providing support for R&D in low carbon technology, the Carbon Trust has developed an extensive body of knowledge, deep in-house expertise and a broad external network. This platform has provided sufficient understanding and credibility to justify a decision to become more proactive in specifying areas of research that we should support. Specifically, we have begun a process designed to identify the key “innovation gaps” that give rise to the technical barriers to the development of specific low carbon technologies. A key output of this process was the Research Landscape Study, published in 2005. For example, in photovoltaics, we identified that a gap existed in the understanding and coordination needed to take the latest generation of inorganic and polymer based photovoltaic materials from microscope slide samples in the laboratory to concepts that could be mass produced at low cost and high quality.
ii) Since directed research is designed to dramatically accelerate the commercial development of promising new low carbon technologies, we have decided to structure our involvement as a form of investment, with an expectation of significant return. This is for two reasons: primarily, we believe that this form of support is essential in order to give the projects an appropriate commercial focus; and we also believe that it represents the most efficient use of public money. Earnings from the exploitation of results of directed research projects will be re-invested in the Carbon Trust’s activities, allowing us to maximise the impact of our funding.
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