There is welcome news from central government that they will fund research at Swansea University to develop building materials which generate power. The £36m grant will go to Swansea's SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre, an academic and industrial consortium led by Swansea University, with strategic partners Akzo Nobel, NSG Pilkington, Tata Steel and Cardiff University. Chancellor of the Exchequer Hammond's press release states:
The technology, using heat and light to make electricity, could replace conventional walls, roofs and windows. The power could be used in homes, workplaces, schools and hospitals, with the energy stored and released by "smart energy systems". Mr Hammond said the aim was to cut energy bills and carbon emissions.
This comes on top of the £3m awarded earlier in the year to Swansea's SaMI with the aim of bringing the metals industry, especially steel, into the 21st century. This funding will enable SaMI to help the UK industry to transform into a low carbon, resource efficient sector utilising societal waste, such as plastics, which are currently non-recyclable. The money comes from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, much of whose funds come from the Welsh Government and therefore out of the annual allocation for Wales from Westminster. It is good that the power-generating buildings research grant will come direct from the Exchequer and therefore does not impact the Welsh Government budget. However, there is another cloud on the horizon in that the EU also contributes to higher education projects in Wales and the current programme terminates in 2020.
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