The EPA is offering substantial seed funding to companies developing environmentally beneficial technologies, writes Karlin Lillington
Plastic bags and landfill are being transformed from littering and environmental problems into a €3 million seed funding programmefor technology companies.
Using tax money that has come from plastic bag and landfill charges, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering up to €3 million in seed funding to companies developing environmentally beneficial technologies and processes as part of the EPA's implementation of the European Commission's Environmental Technologies Action Plan (Etap).
The initiative looks at environmental issues from a business perspective, says Gerard O'Leary, programme manager in the Office of Environmental Assessment at the EPA.
He stresses the EPA isn't going into the venture capital business: "We see it as a way of helping to mobilise private investment in the area. We're hoping that industry will now respond with proposals."
Nonetheless, he notes that many of the companies or research groups working in the general areas targeted by the call for proposals tend to be small and, in many cases, are connected to universities.
Technology lobby groups and industrial organisations have repeatedly identified a need for seed funding, and also for mechanisms to get university research commercialised, suggesting the new fund will be well received.
The Irish Software Association says the funding scheme is exactly what small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) as well as university-based small tech firms need - hard to find seed funding of under €100,000, amounts the banks have been reluctant to lend and which venture capital firms consider too small.
"This will be extremely welcome because there's a big gap in terms of funding for SMEs," says ISA director Michele Quinn. "We think this project will be very successful and we'd hope the scope for continuing such funding will broaden out more in future."
O'Leary said he isn't aware of a similar seed fund approach being taken by any other EU country.
Individual grants will vary from €6,500 to €100,000 across four focus areas. The €3 million total will be available over a two- to three-year stretch with annual calls for proposals, O'Leary says. The current call closes on September 14th.
The Etap agenda was endorsed by the European Commission in the spring of 2004, and countries can implement it in ways they see fit. O'Leary says the EPA took this approach because it already knew several technology companies were working in some key areas that would not only benefit Ireland, but if commercialised could create a strong niche sector that could also sell its products and processes abroad.
The global market for environmental goods and services is huge - valued at €500 billion annually, according to EU figures. This is comparable to the aerospace and pharmaceutical industries, and is continuing to grow at five per cent annually according to the commission report on the implementation of Etap.
The EPA has decided to channel proposals into four key areas. The first is its ongoing Cleaner Greener initiative, which gives funding to companies,public bodies and institutions working to reduce energy consumption and lower their environmental impact. Companies across any business sector may apply, he says.
The second area is labelled "advanced technologies for environmental protection" and this particularly targets waste water treatment technologies."These are areas where we think it would be useful to do research and development. In this sector, we're talking about SMEs. We're looking at trying to fund linkages between SMEs and universities," O'Leary says. "This also taps into where Europe wants to go with a knowledge economy."
Areas such as odour control are also being promoted, as are technologies for reducing and preventing greenhouse gases and emissions.
The third section is funding for technologies for analytical monitoring and forecasting. Examples of what the EPA has in mind for this category are technologies for remote monitoring of small wastewater treatment plants, or tracking systems to keep a virtual eye on the unauthorised movements of waste.
The final category is unusual in that it is supportive of what the EPA calls "desk-based research" and could include projects more business technique-focused than science-based. Funding here is for studies and support mechanisms that can aid the uptake of environmental technologies.
"We're asking, if someone were to develop a technology tomorrow, what are the barriers to bringing it to market?" says O'Leary. The EPA is also interested in funding demonstration projects to test and, hopefully, prove the viability of a given technology. "This would help people who have developed a technology, to take it to full-scale development. For example, if a team within a university has brought a technology to patent stage, but it's just sitting there, we want to bring it out to full-scale development."
O'Leary says they are hoping to get a good range of proposals, from small to large, by the September 14th deadline. He says there will be time to further flesh out proposals in coming months, but it is important to get the ideas in for the deadline: "If we get a good, well-grounded proposal we'd certainly work with the various bodies to get it organised."
The overall goal of the Etap project is to make sure that not just the Irish environment benefits from the EU's interest in environmental technologies, but that Ireland's companies - especially, young start-ups - benefit too.
"It's a win-win for the economy," says O'Leary. "You're tackling environmental issues, but also promoting the economy."
EPA: www.epa.ie
