GE and Carbon Trust team up to back low-carbon investment

GE and Carbon Trust team up to back low-carbon investment

US giant GE and the UK government-backed Carbon Trust are teaming up to launch a Europe-wide low-carbon incubation fund.
Europe has seen a 40% decrease in its share of clean energy investment since 2007, according to a 2011 Bloomberg New Energy Finance report, and one in two businesses see the UK as a ‘challenging environment’ for innovation.
The new partnership, which is an extension of GE’s successful $200 million ecomagination challenge, aims to support start-ups in clean technology.
Initially, the partnership has set up a $5 million business incubation fund targeted at new low carbon technologies for infrastructure applications.
GE and the Carbon Trust will identify and assess early-stage companies, then incubate and invest in the most promising.
“Clean tech has the capacity to be a strong growth driver for Europe given its strong research capability and track record in this area. However, there is increasing evidence that other parts of the world are catching up and overtaking the region,” says Carbon Trust chief executive Tom Delay.
Delay adds that incubation funds such as this one are particularly important right now as banks reign in their lending.
“During a downturn, supporting these businesses becomes doubly important: research studies show that such high growth businesses account for a disproportionate amount of job growth,” he says