TSB funds low-carbon technologies

More than £12m is being set aside by the TSB for funding technologies that will speed up the reduction of carbon-dioxide emissions from road vehicles.

The investment will be made in 16 proof-of-concept studies, which will last up to one year, and six longer-running full research and development projects.  The total value of the research will be in the region of £25m, with the remaining funding provided by the UK organisations taking part in the work.

John Laughlin, the TSB’s low-carbon-vehicles programme manager, said the TSB will fund projects in several key areas, including internal-combustion-engine technologies, energy storage and management, lightweight structures and new propulsion technologies.

‘The work will help to accelerate the reduction of carbon emissions and deliver mass-market low-carbon road vehicles within five to 15 years,’ he said.

Laughlin added that he hoped the scheme would help create significant market opportunities for UK-based companies.

Outside the automotive sector, the TSB recently awarded a total of £6.5m for 153 feasibility studies in areas such as advanced materials, biosciences, information and communications technology, nanotechnology and efforts to make Britain a more digital-based society. Approximately 180 small and medium-sized British companies are taking a share of the fund.