Lord Mandelson promotes low emissions on campus

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson visited Warwick University on Thursday 11th of February.

Lord Mandelson announced that the Midlands has been designated a new Low Carbon Economic Area (LCEA) and is to receive £19 million of government funding for research into and development of low carbon vehicles.

Lord Mandelson was given a tour of the low carbon automotive projects at the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) International Manufacturing Centre, and then of the International Digital Laboratory.

“I want to see the Midlands help the UK to lead the global automotive industry in the transition from conventional to low carbon vehicle technologies” he commented, “The LCEA will send a clear signal to the global market about the Midlands’ strengths in advanced automotive engineering. The move towards a low carbon economy presents huge opportunities. This new funding will help secure the Midlands’ 10,000 existing car industry jobs, by helping transform them into the green car jobs of the future.”

Lord Mandelson also congratulated the WMG and the University of Warwick on their recent award of a Queens Anniversary Prize for education, and on winning 60 graduate internships in a joint Federation of Small Businesses/HEFCE initiative.

Commenting on the government imitative, Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya KB CBE, Director of the WMG, said, “The car industry is facing huge challenges over the next decade. From emissions, the environment to safety engineering, a new generation of hi-tech but low carbon cars will be required. Today’s announcement is a crucial and most welcome government investment in low carbon automotive engineering which will help companies meet these global needs and provide them with new opportunities to grow as the world emerges from recession.”