1. The role of Research on Environmental Technologies and Eco-Innovation
6th European Forum on Eco-Innovation Berlin, 2 April, 2009
The role of Research on Environmental Technologies and Eco-Innovation

2. ETAP, eco-innovation and environmental technologies
The Environmental Technologies Action Plan promoting eco-innovation and the market take-up of environmental technologies.
Eco-innovation: all forms of innovation reducing environmental impacts and/or optimising the use of resources.
Environmental technologies: all technologies whose use is less environmentally harmful than relevant alternatives.

3. Vision for Tomorrow All industry becomes “green”!
eco-innovation, environmental technologies across all sectors
Need fundamental transformations – not just “add ons”
Make use of ecological principles: life-cycle, diversity, symbiosis, bio-compatible…
Europe leading but others catching up…
World Market environmental industries
1 trillion euro (2005) ->
2.2 trillion (2020)
German GDP share:
4% (2005)
16% (2020)
All the previous examples…the seeds for tomorrow and the environmental challenges
All point towards a VISION for tomorrow… 3

4. Why to invest in Environmental Technologies RTD
Benefit for People
Benefit to the Planet
Benefit for the Business
Sustainability Pillars

5. Global opportunities Eco-industries contribute to growth and jobs
2.1% of EU GDP, 3.5 million jobs
In a more extended definition of eco-industries, these statistics can be more than doubled
growth over 20% for wind and solar energy
growth above average and exports for water, waste technologies
Clean Technologies attract more attention and funding
10% of Venture Capital funding in Europe (€2 billion)
€1 billion for Climate Change Financing Facility

6. Priority actions in ETAP and Research contribution
Getting from Research to Markets
Improving Market Conditions
Performance targets for key products
Financial instruments to share the risks
Review of state-aids, harmful subsidies
Green Public Procurement
Awareness-raising, targeted training
Focus R&D programmes
Technology platforms
Networks of testing centres
ETAP
Acting Globally
R&D
ETAP was instrumental in channelling resources into environmental research projects and bridging the gap between research and market. This funding is being increased in the EU’s 7th research programme. The programme is the EU’s main mechanism for funding research and up to 30% of its €32 billion budget on applied research for will go towards environmental technologies. Research areas include hydrogen and fuel cells, clean production processes, alternative energy sources, carbon storage, biofuels, energy efficiency, waste management and water technologies.
Technology Platforms
Bring together researchers, industry, financial institutions, decision makers/ Build a long-term vision on research needs and future market development/ More than 30 platforms: Hydrogen and fuel cells, Photovoltaic,Water supply and sanitation, Steel, Chemistry, Construction…
Performance targets
Agree on ambitious environmental performance targets for key products, services, processes/ Encourage their uptake by business and consumers/Based on voluntary agreement, may in the longer term become legally binding/Pilot projects in five fields: cement, textile, tyres, windows, manure treatment
Market based instruments (Review of state-aids):
Well targeted economic incentives can be useful in helping to promote the take-up of environmental technologies. They can take many different forms, for example, tradable permits and tax incentives (successfully used for promoting energy efficiency investments in households and for investing in renewable energy). The Community Framework for State Aid for Research, Development and Innovation has been adopted (2006) and describes conditions under which Member States may give state aid to research, development and innovation. The Commission adopted new version for Guidelines for Environmental State Aid on 23 January In order to ensure that such subsidies, when granted to enterprises, do not unduly distort competition in the internal market
Green Public Procurement
Public procurement accounts for 16% of GDP and 40% of total procurement. New EU rules allow green procurement ans Handbook on Green public procurement, knowledge base will be backed by National Action Plans, Awareness raising
Promoting the take-up of environmental technologies is not only about technology and markets – raising awareness about opportunities, as well as developing the know-how to implement new solutions, are also necessary ingredients to progress. Thus, ETAP promotes Awareness Raising and Training activities in conjunction with the development and take-up of environmentally friendly technologies. In the context of ETAP, key training needs are seen to be in industrial and business settings.
Difficult market access for innovative technologies
Many obstacles: technical, regulatory, financial
Testing and certification among the main obstacles
Purchasers tend to order mature technologies
Costly demonstrations needed to convince first customers, investors
Lack of credible information on real performance
Evaluation of measurement instruments by users association:
39% of instruments do not comply with announced specifications
80% are not adequately documented
Supporting Eco-technologies in developing countries and promoting responsible foreign investment

7. Verification and testing
Independent validation of performance is key to increase confidence
Networking centres for the testing and validation of technologies
4 RTD Projects in FP6 and 1 Coordination Action in FP7

8. Contribution of the 6th and 7th Framework Programmes to ETAP related actions
About 1.4 billion € under FP6 for environmental technologies after ETAP
In whole FP7, approximately 10 billion € on R&D funding for environmental technologies
About 44% of FP7's budget directly related to sustainable development
37% of topics support R&D funding for green technologies in the first three FP7 Work Programmes

9. From Eco-Innovation to Innovation: assuring that green is really green
The potential environmental impacts of an innovation should be already assessed when the research is still on-going (eco-design). This require the implementation of specific evaluation criteria based on Life Cycle Thinking.
Before an innovation is scaled-up from pilot to demonstration scale, an assessment based on Life Cycle Assessment should be carried out in order to verify if the innovation is an eco-innovation.

10. Technology Platforms
Bring together researchers, industry, financial institutions, decision makers
Build a long-term vision on research needs and future market development
More than 30 platforms: Hydrogen and fuel cells, Photovoltaic, Water supply and sanitation, Steel, Chemistry, Construction…

11. A European economic recovery plan
Adopted by the EC on 26 Nov 2008 and endorsed by the EU Council on Dec 2008
“To support innovation in manufacturing, in particular in the construction industry and the automobile sector, which have recently seen demand plummet as a result of the crisis and which also face significant challenges in the transition to the green economy…”
…three Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are proposed:
- European green cars initiative
- European energy efficient buildings initiative
- Factories of the future initiative

12. Energy efficient Buildings The Factories of the future
PPPs Total resources: *
(M€)
EU Green Car
Energy efficient Buildings
The Factories of the future
2010 65 60 80
2011 85
130
2012
115
140
160
2013
215
230
Total Public budget
500
600
Total Private budget
Grand total
1000
1200
*The EC budget comes from the FP7 Cooperation Specific Programme Themes NMP (Industrial Technologies), Energy, Environment, Information and Communication Technologies, Transport.

13. Conclusions We need to lead a new industrial revolution
We need this revolution to be “really” sustainable
We need to do it now, we need to do it together

14. Thank you for your attention
Manuela SOARES
DG Research – Directorate Environment
Director