PowerPoint-presentatie

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Bischoffsheimlaan 25 B-1000 Brussel Tel. 32
(0)2 209 09 00 Fax. [phone] E-mail
info_at_iwt.be www.iwt.be
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Innovation subsidies in Flanders Sustainability

• Paul ZEEUWTS
• President IWT-Vlaanderen

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Content

• Background
• Definition and criteria
• Proposed funding mechanism
• Expectations and impact

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Background

• Policy document of the new Flanders government
  (July 1999)
• Sustainable development recognised as a central
  and horizontal policy goal to be integrated
  within all policy areas including technological
  innovation policy.
• A higher level of IWT's funding should be
  directed towards projects contributing towards
  sustainable development

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Background (2)

• Sustainable development essentially defined as
  environmental improvements (reduction of energy
  and materials consumption, renewable energy
  sources waste minimisation)
• Strategy and approach to be developed should be
  fully compatible with the key options for
  technological innovation policy

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Background (3)

• Key options for technological innovation policy
• No longer thematic programmes (directed at
  specific technology areas and/or industrial
  sectors)
• Only horizontal programmes (bottom up and open
  to all industrial sectors and technological
  areas)
• Scope of existing funding mechanisms
• industrial RD projects (including
  EUREKA-projects)
• SME-projects (feasibility studies innovation
  projects)

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Background (4)

• support to industrial networks or clusters
  (generic sectoral research technological
  advisory services innovation stimulation
  actions)
• support to universities for strategic basic
  research (GBOU)
• support to higher education engineering schools
  for technology diffusion actions (HOBU)
• individual grants for Ph.D. students and post-doc
  researchers
• support to universities for interface services
• support to larger ad hoc initiatives (as
  decided by the Flemish government)

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Background (5)

• Assignment form Flemish Minister Dirk Van
  Mechelen to IWT
• IWT has received the assignment to develop a
  proposal for a Sustainable technological
  development (STD) funding scheme to be approved
  by the Flemish government
• Present status
• Proposal approved by IWT's Board on February 21
  2002
• Final decision to be taken by the Flemish
  government
• Presentation limited to issues of methodology

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Background (6)

• Overview of key problem areas
• Definition of projects directed at sustainable
  technological development (STD)
• Criteria to obtain additional incentives for
  STD-relevance
• Type of incentives for the various funding
  mechanisms
• Budgetary objectives
• Impact of the STD-scheme within overall
  sustainable development policy framework
• International benchmarking a suitable
  methodology tailored to the Flemish policy
  options not directly available from other sources

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Definition and criteria

• 1. Innovation objectives directed towards STD
• Broad definition of sustainable development
  (Agenda 21)
• Starting from a more narrow definition only the
  environmental or ecological dimension of
  innovation
• Key innovation objective or important ancillary
  objective(s) are directed towards key STD-areas

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Definition and criteria (2)

• reduced materials consumption
• energy savings
• reduced emissions
• waste minimisation
• increased use of renewable resources (material,
  energy)
• enhanced re-use of materials through recycling
• increased lifetime of products and processes

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Definition and criteria (3)

• 2. Ambition level of the anticipated
  STD-improvement
• Relevant indicator exploitation potential x
  technical eco-performance improvement
• Minimal threshold at least best available
  technology (BAT)
• Longer term oriented projects (strategic basic
  research e.g. 5 to 10 year time horizon)
• Factor 4 (75 reduction potential of
  environmental impact)

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Definition and criteria (4)

• Shorter term projects (normal industrial
  RD-horizon e.g. 2 to 3 years)
• Factor 1.5 (30 reduction potential)

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Definition and criteria (5)

• 3. (Optional) Quantification of externalities
• In case of
• Mixed innovation objective(s)

Profits
Profits
Profits Positive eco-externalities
Innovation (general)
STD-Innovation
Subsidies ( extra)
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Definition and criteria (6)

• A combination of both positive and negative
  impacts with the overall balance being
  inconslusive
• Unclear ambition level of STD-improvement

Profits
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Definition and criteria (7)

• How to quantify positive environmental
  externalities?
• Potential substitution of economic activities by
  the new innovation (ex within a 10 year
  exploitation horizon)
• Exploitation level X Technical eco-performance
  (Market penetration) improvement

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Definition and criteria (8)

• Improvement potential expressed in Eco-points
  (Eco-indicator methodology based upon LCA)
• 1 Eco-point 3 Euro (economic valuation of
  prevented environmental damage)
• Methodological input provided by VITO
• Condition for additional STD-funding
• Ratio between prevented environmental damage
  and subsidy

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Proposed funding mechanism

• Programmes where the projects are subsidised by
  ca. 100
• Project has to meet basic requirements
  (technological quality exploitation potential)
• Project has to be identified as STD-Prioritized
  project
• Option to devote a specified fraction of the
  available budget to STD-Prioritized projects

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Proposed funding mechanism (2)

• Industrial RD-projects
• Project has to meet basic requirements
  (technological quality exploitation potential)
• Option STD-Project considered as a Prioritized
  project
• Option subsidy bonus (in addition to normal
  funding level)
• Option to limit the advantage to a given part of
  the project
• Option to allow STD-relevant work (e.g. LCA
  analysis) to be integrated in a project (max.
  of overall budget funded at a 50 level)

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Proposed funding mechanism (3)

• Exclusion criterion?
• No funding will be provided if the economic
  exploitation of the research output would lead to
  serious potential problems in view of present or
  future environmental requirements

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Proposed funding mechanism (4)

• Trial application of the approach proposed here
  to the past portfolio of industrial IWT-projects
  (1997-2000)
• 16 of the projects can be identified as
  STD-projects (as defined here)
• 29 of these projects are directed towards
  fullfilling present or future requirements of
  environmental requirements

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Proposed funding mechanism (5)

• This sub-portfolio of STD-projects can be further
  characterised by
• Preventative technology 74
• Reduction of resource use 70
• Environmental or process monitoring 15
• End-of-pipe technologies 7
•  
• Optimilisation of product and/or process 19
• Product innovation 48
• Process innovation 52
• System innovation 11

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Proposed funding mechanism (6)

• Expected environmental impact Large Limited
• in case of technological success (gt30) (10 to
  30)
• Reduced materials consumption 19 26
• Energy savings 4 41
• Reduced emissions 37 33
• Waste minimisation 0 30
• Renewable resources 4 4
• Re-use, recycling 11 0
• Lifetime enhancement 7 4

Profits
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Expectations and impact

• The STD-innovation incentive approach can offer a
  maybe limited but definitely relevant
  contribution
• within an optimal mix of policy instruments
  including environmental legislation, other
  economic instruments (environmental taxes, etc.)
• and within an overall government policy on
  sustainability reflecting an adequate level of
  policy integration and policy coherence
• A larger percentage of the innovation support can
  be directed towards STD-prioritized projects
• The STD-approach is designed to trigger and to
  align innovation efforts with sustainability
  oriented transition processes (SIGNAL)