London's brightest and best students are being invited by the Mayor to compete for a £20,000 prize designed to stimulate fresh new ideas to make the capital the greenest city in the world.
The inaugural Mayor's Low Carbon Prize, sponsored by one of the UK's leading home builders, The Berkeley Group, has been developed to develop new innovations to reduce carbon emissions from buildings. The competition with a prize pot worth £20,000 is open to all undergraduates and postgraduates at Further and Higher Education Institutions in London. Finalists will be put through their paces in a 'Dragon's Den' style by a high profile panel of business and environmental experts. Students across 19 Universities and 50 colleges are being targeted and people can find out more online, or by tweeting to #mayorLCprize. There is a month left to apply with a deadline for applications of Sunday 19 February.
The winner or winners will be rewarded with a cash prize to help develop the practical application of their ideas and expert mentoring from an industry leader, while the Mayor has pledged his support for the most promising submission. The winner will also in turn, have the chance to mentor pupils from the Mayor's Academies.
The Mayor hopes the winning entries could in the future be used to help drive investment specifically in building retrofitting activity, which is expected to generate tens of thousands of jobs and generate billions of investment into the economy. London's buildings account for nearly 80 per cent of carbon emissions and making them energy efficient, for example by retrofitting older buildings with energy efficiency devices, accounts for 41 per cent of the overall investment the city requires to achieve the Mayor's ambition for a 60 per cent carbon cut by 2025. Eighty per cent of London's buildings will still be standing in 2050, and retrofitting and supplying them with cleaner forms of energy are the central focus of the Mayor's strategy. This prize is set to nurture new enterprises and skills to deliver the Mayor's goals.
The Mayor's environment director, Kulveer Ranger, speaking at a 'Sustainability in Practice' lecture at the London School of Economics (LSE), said: "The Mayor wants to spur on London's bright young minds to come up with brilliant ideas that will help improve Londoners' lives and cut down on energy waste. We are looking for the next generation's equivalent of double glazing, smart meters or roof insulation and there is a £20,000 incentive at stake as well as the prestige of becoming our very first winner.
"The best submissions could have the potential to deliver thousands of pounds in energy efficiency savings for Londoners and businesses, as well as slashing carbon emissions from our buildings. There is still a month to go for innovative students to finesse and finalise their submissions and we have been encouraged by the interest to date."
The prize has been made possible thanks to sponsorship from The Berkeley Group, while the LSE is helping to deliver the scheme by processing applications and promoting the award to London's students. The Mayor's environment programmes aim to create green jobs in a low carbon economy as well as improve quality of life by putting "the village" back into the city, by making it cleaner and greener.
Tony Pidgley, Chairman of The Berkeley Group said: "Reducing carbon emissions from new homes and buildings is an important challenge for the home building industry and I hope that Berkeley's support of the Mayor's Low Carbon Prize will inspire London's students to come up with new low carbon ideas and technologies that we can include in our homes in years to come."
Dr Victoria Hands, Head of Environmental Sustainability at the LSE and Chair of the London Universities Environment Group (LUEG), said: "The London Universities Environment Group (LUEG) is delighted to support the Mayor's Low Carbon Prize. Students across London's Higher and Further Education Institutions are crucial to ensuring London's low carbon economy and this prize is a great incentive for them to showcase their innovation and talent and potentially win support to take these bright ideas to market."
Danielle Grufferty, Vice President Society and Citizenship, NUS: "London's students can benefit from financial support and invaluable business mentoring for their entrepreneurial ideas through the Mayor's Low Carbon Prize. The NUS welcomes such support of student innovation."
The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony at City Hall in March 2012. Students must apply online at: www2.lse.ac.uk/intranet/LSEServices/estatesDivision/sustainableLSE/policyObjectives/communityInvolvement/LUEG/home.aspx and will need to provide proof of student status at a London HE or FE institution.
Notes to editors:
Emissions from London’s building, its workplaces and homes, account for nearly 80 per cent of London’s carbon emissions. That equates to 35 million tonnes of carbon every year. That figure needs to reduce to 13 million tonnes by 2025, if London is to meet its target of cutting 60 per cent of carbon by 2025. 70 per cent of London’s existing buildings will still in place by 2050, so retrofitting existing building stock to make these savings is vital.
For more information on the Mayor’s environment programmes, visit: www.london.gov.uk