Abstract
The West Midlands is uniquely positioned to lead the UK in taking advantage of the economic opportunities arising from the global transition to a clean energy system. The region’s strengths include: strong and coherent political leadership committed to sustainability; the diversity of economic needs and scale of demand required to build competitive markets to support radical innovation; a world-class concentration of both academic and commercial expertise in the low-carbon energy sector; a massive programme of public and private investment in infrastructure planned for the next decade, and above all, the determination to secure long-term economic benefit
from clean energy innovation. This report makes the case for the creation of a small number of Energy Innovation Zones (EIZs) across the region, acting as pathfinders for an approach that might subsequently be adopted across the country as a whole. EIZs enable barriers – such as powerful
institutional silos separating transport, digital, planning and energy – to be overcome within designated geographies. They create a risk-managed and commercial-scale context for the
development of new local clean energy markets. They also provide a practical mechanism to help attract investment and muster local political support. At a national level, they can help ensure
innovation is built into the government’s strategic sector deals and other largescale public investment projects.
from clean energy innovation. This report makes the case for the creation of a small number of Energy Innovation Zones (EIZs) across the region, acting as pathfinders for an approach that might subsequently be adopted across the country as a whole. EIZs enable barriers – such as powerful
institutional silos separating transport, digital, planning and energy – to be overcome within designated geographies. They create a risk-managed and commercial-scale context for the
development of new local clean energy markets. They also provide a practical mechanism to help attract investment and muster local political support. At a national level, they can help ensure
innovation is built into the government’s strategic sector deals and other largescale public investment projects.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher | University of Birmingham |
| Number of pages | 92 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 0-7044-2957-8 978-0-7044-2957-4 |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |