Isramart : Working to cut carbon

Isramart news:
MORE than 40 businesses involved with the advanced engineering and materials sectors attended the second AEM Innovation Network event held at NAMTEC.

The event looked at the ways that industry can work together to encourage innovation in low carbon vehicle technologies.
Speakers at the event included Tim O'Brien from the TSB (Technology Systems Board), Colin Johnston from Materials KTN and Alan

McLelland, AEM Director from NAMTEC. The main theme was to focus on how to access the £19m of Government funding that is available for suppliers into the automotive industry, as part of producing vehicles with lower carbon emissions.
Alan McLelland from NAMTEC explains: "There are many businesses in this region that are involved with the supply chain to the automotive industry and it is therefore vital that they can collaborate, in order to take advantage of the opportunities that this presents. The next generation of vehicles need to consume less energy to manufacture and also less emissions to run. With the Government looking to award funding in the next few months for development projects in this area, the event was designed to give this region's manufacturers the opportunity to collaborate and put forward proposals to help develop vehicle technologies that will play a vital role in the future of the motor industry."
The seminar outlined how there are currently 33 million vehicles on UK roads, which is six million more than in 1998. This constant increase in the number of motor vehicles is leading to a huge rise carbon emissions, despite vehicle technology itself becoming much improved.
With the Government looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, there is a very definite need to improve the level of Carbon Dioxide emissions from vehicles.
The event was attended by a number of manufacturers involved in the automotive sector, as well as research organizations, such as the University of Salford.
Yorkshire Forward has contributed £5million along with £4million ERDF funding to establish four Innovation Networks including the AEM Innovation Network, the Product Formulation Network and the Health Innovation Network.
The AEM Innovation Network provides an opportunity for manufacturing businesses to benefit from research and development and to secure funding for this from organisations such as Business Link, the Technology Strategy Board and the European Regional Development Fund.
The next innovation event will be held during April and will be a workshop focused on the Modern Built Environment.