CORNWALL
BUSINESS NEWS
LEP OUTLINES GREEN POTENTIAL As the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow last month dominated many people’s thoughts, Cornwall has been busy showing the key role it has to play in the drive to net zero. A new prospectus and summary film from the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), ‘How Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is leading the green industrial revolution’, sets out how decarbonising the economy is both an environmental imperative and huge opportunity for the region.
LEP chair, Mark Duddridge, said: “For Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, the scale of opportunity in the race to net zero cannot be overstated. Our location and geology give us an abundance of resources to power the green industrial revolution, underpinned by generations of innovation and enterprise. In fact, there are few areas where so many green investment opportunities come together in one place. 6 | BUSINESS CORNWALL
SPONSORED BY
focus-technology.co.uk
“This new prospectus highlights those opportunities to Government and industry as investable propositions that can deliver a low carbon future and create thousands of jobs in our economy.” The prospectus focuses on Cornwall’s worldclass deposits of technology metals like lithium, tin and copper, which are essential components in many of today’s rapidly growing clean energy technologies but are currently imported to the UK. Floating offshore wind energy is another area with huge potential for Cornwall, with the Celtic Sea identified as one of only two areas in the UK for large-scale floating wind deployment. More than half of the critical measurements on climate change rely on satellite data, and Cornwall will give the UK its own satellite launch capability from Spaceport Cornwall next year (2022). Combined with Goonhilly’s Earth Station’s ability to track and control aircraft and analyse data, Cornwall is central to the UK Government’s National Space Strategy. And the region is pioneering other technologies, from deep geothermal energy at United Downs and the Eden Project, to the development of renewable biofuels and local energy networks. Meanwhile, the Eden Project had a special pavilion up at COP26, where it announced details of opening its first South American site. The Eden Project International team will work alongside the Colombian Ministry of the Environment and the Humboldt Institute to
establish how an Eden Project in the Meta region of Colombia might look, ensuring that it continues to embody the Eden ethos of highlighting the importance of the natural world. The process will include the early stages of site investigation and vision development, with the first phase expected to be completed by the end of the year. Eden Project International chief executive, David Harland, said: “We are excited to start this journey of discovery together to explore the creation of an Eden Project for Colombia. Colombia is a country of huge natural world riches and is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, as well as having varied cultures and a rich history.” Colombian President, Iván Duque, added: “The opportunity to bring such an influential and iconic institution as Eden Project to Colombia is testament to the work we have done to better understand and promote our outstanding biodiversity and sustainability, including pledging some of the most ambitious net zero carbon emission and net zero deforestation targets in the region.”
