Networking and idea sharing were high on the agenda when, on 17 March, Risø DTU held a preview of a new "cluster organization" being launched - the Copenhagen Cleantech Cluster (CCC). (Risø is the National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy at the Technical University of Denmark - DTU.)
The new initiative will offer a wide range of services, including an overview of and access to business and investment opportunities, test and demonstration locations and projects, cleantech sector networks, seminars and events in Copenhagen and throughout Denmark. It will serve as a kind of one-stop-shop for Danish cleantech.
As the driving force behind CCC, Risø DTU aims to connect green research at DTU with business and financial interests which, the organizers believe, can help develop Denmark become a "cleantech powerhouse."
The launch, according to press statements, was attended by 110 representatives from the business community, researchers and promoters of trade and industry from Denmark and abroad. The one common denominator was that participants shared an interest in Cleantech as a development area and were interested in the role that Copenhagen Cleantech Cluster could play in future developments.
They were given the opportunity to visit selected laboratories where researchers presented business-oriented projects - including actual test set-ups and prototypes - related to wind power, polymer solar cells, bioenergy and other modern materials. The participants also had the chance to see the researchers' actual test set-ups and prototypes.
"Denmark currently holds a leading position in several areas within environmental and energy technology," explained Lars Martiny, head of division at Risø DTU, in his introductory presentation. "We have well-developed business areas, such as the wind turbine industry. What is needed now is further development of the general business climate for cleantech in order to keep the momentum going, because the rest of the world is also beginning to invest heavily in the sector."
Martiny said that investments are needed to generate commercially viable research and this is area that they intend to concentrate on going forward.
"If our ambition is to reduce carbon emissions by 2050, we need to be able to demonstrate the technologies that will make it possible by 2020, at the latest," added Helle Bunkenborg, manager of Risø' DTU's Innovation Activities. "And we can't just come up with good ideas; we need to have holistic, sustainable and viable solutions, with technology that has business potential. In order to succeed, we need to be able to carry out a wide range of innovation projects involving researchers and businesses within the next couple of years. This is the background for Risø DTU's efforts to match research and business, and this is also our point of departure in CCC."
The official Copenhagen Cleantech Cluster kick-off will be help April 14th. It will involve all current participants - more than 500 businesses, organizations and knowledge institutions operating in the cleantech sector in Copenhagen and across Denmark. These include Copenhagen Capacity, the Danish capital region's official investment agency and the University of Copenhagen.
Read more about Copenhagen Cleantech Cluster: http://www.cphcleantech.com/
