Tees Valley set for lift-off as need for green energy grows

Feb 19 2008 by Karen McLauchlan, Evening Gazette

ENVIRONMENTAL concerns such as climate change are changing the face of business across every sector.

Rarely a day goes by without the UK government or Brussels issuing yet another grave warning about the urgent need to reduce our energy consumption or dispose of our waste correctly. But aside from the raft of red tape and regulation, it’s not all doom and gloom.

The worldwide focus on climate change is sparking economic investment of billions of pounds and providing commercial opportunities for firms inspired to grow green businesses.

The Government’s Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change argued spending just 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) on tackling climate change could save billions (5-20% of GDP by the end of the century), create 100,000 new jobs, and enable the UK to secure a large slice of the global environmental market.

The potential impact for the Tees Valley is impossible to ignore. The area is becoming a hub for entrepreneurial activity driven by the pressing need for green energy, biofuels, environmentally-friendly methods for waste disposal and greener, cleaner manufacturing processes.

It is estimated £4bn will be invested in renewables projects in the Tees Valley in the next four to five years, creating thousands of jobs.

And leading the drive to promote the Tees Valley as a world-class centre for renewable energy and waste management technologies is Renew Tees Valley, which was established to help local businesses take advantage of emerging technologies, diversify into new markets and attract inward investment.

Paul Jackson, commerce manager for Renew Tees Valley, believes the area is ready for lift-off.

“There is a sound economic argument for adapting the energy agenda to our own needs”, he said. “In particular, solar power and combined heat and power (CHP) units will become increasingly important in years to come but we need to take advantage of opportunities now. It’s no good waiting until legislation is forced upon us before we act.”

CHP units, which generate both electricity and heat, could replace standard boilers in the home and commercial buildings. Mr Jackson believes they may eventually be used to provide heat and electricity to clusters of residential buildings or offices.

Joe Docherty, chief executive of Tees Valley Regeneration, also believes the area is “well placed” to take advantage of opportunities.

“The Tees Valley has an excellent infrastructure and research and engineering capabilities”, he says. “It has already witnessed the emergence of bio-ethanol and bio-diesel plants and the hydrogen economy is generating further investment. We believe Middlehaven in Middlesbrough is the largest carbon zero bio development in Western Europe.”

Plans for the Middlehaven site, which will feed homes with hot water from a biomass boiler and electricity from renewable energy, have already been approved.

Despite the Tees Valley’s obvious capabilities in making “green” projects work, more companies are being urged to get on board.

To a certain extent, legislation is forcing them to act.

The implications of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive have been well documented, but other laws that are perhaps less well-known will soon come into force.

For example, from October 30 all businesses will be affected by the requirement of the EC Landfill Directive for non-hazardous and inert commercial and industrial waste to be pre-treated before it is deposited in landfill.

Chris Hayward, Renew Tees Valley’s technical manager for recycling and waste management, warns businesses could find themselves paying significantly more to dispose of their waste unless they take steps to treat it on their premises.

He says: “Businesses of all types and sizes are affected by this measure. Those that don’t take steps to treat their waste at source will place the onus on the waste management company that collects it and can expect to be charged more.”

Help is at hand for firms who are unsure of how they will be affected. Government agency Envirowise offers UK businesses free advice on practical ways to increase profits, minimise waste and reduce environmental impact, and organises site visits to help businesses with their waste management plans.

Guy Bashford, Envirowise’s regional manager for the North-east, said: “We are advising companies not just on good waste management practices but on how to prevent the production of unnecessary waste in the first place. Gradually, companies in the region are realising resource efficiency is not just an environmental initiative; it’s also an important business process that could potentially save them a lot of money.”

But there are many other sectors providing similarly lucrative opportunities.

Companies are being urged to research in more detail the different ways of producing biofuel, which is considered to provide a viable alternative to fossil fuels that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In the Tees Valley, two biofuel plants are already operational - D1 Oils in Middlesbrough and Biofuels Corporation at Seal Sands - and more projects have already been announced.

Some studies, however, believe the process of extracting biofuels could be made far more efficient.

One problem is that huge amounts of bio-mass are often needed to produce a relatively small amount of biofuel. Biomass is any sort of vegetation - trees, grasses, plant parts such as leaves, stems and twigs - from which electricity, heat, liquid fuels, gaseous fuels, and a variety of useful chemicals (including those currently manufactured from fossil fuels) are produced.

Stan Higgins, chief executive of the North East Process Industry Cluster, says: “It’s early days but the real solution lies in second innovation technology that enables us, for example, to extract sugars (needed to make bio-ethanol) from the whole plant stalk as well as the grain.”

But Mr Higgins is convinced Tees Valley has the resources to tackle the problem and compete on a world scale.

“Wilton is host to Europe’s biggest bio-ethanol plant and that wouldn’t have happened if the Tees Valley didn’t have the requisite infrastructure. There are many examples of local companies in the process industry supply chain that are making an outstanding contribution to the drive for renewable energy.”

The UK government is one of the more proactive member states on renewable energy. It has already set a world-leading timetable for all new homes to be zero carbon from 2016 and plans for new commercial buildings to follow suit are becoming increasingly likely.

The drive to become leaner, cleaner and greener has already begun.

The Tees Valley has already started preparations and in December Wynyard Park Ltd, the developer of Wynyard Park business park off the A19, unveiled ambitious plans to build a 2,000-home eco-village.