Memorandum submitted by the National Physical
Laboratory
A CENTRE FOR CARBON METROLOGY
SUMMARY
In response to the challenge of climate change
and the opportunity for the UK of the "low-carbon economy",
NPL proposes the establishment of a "Centre for Carbon Metrology",
to continue to demonstrate the UK's leadership in this area, to
contribute to making the UK the best place the world to locate
or build a low carbon business and the obvious centre for the
global carbon market. The Centre would seek to work with government,
business and academia to develop the scientific and technical
tools and standards necessary to ensure that the public sector,
business and individuals can have confidence in the data on which
decisions are based and the market relies, and that these are
internationally recognised It would also create knowledge and
skills in an area of critical importance for the UK. The Centre
would focus its efforts in three areas:
1. Assessing and validating low-carbon technologies.
2. Establishing a robust measurement and
standards infrastructure for carbon pricing/trading.
3. Providing confidence in environmental
data.
As part of the proposal there is the opportunity
for a flagship project to demonstrate a UK lead in this area and
showcase UK space technology. All of the work of the proposed
centre will benefit from NPL's world-class multi-disciplinary
capability, and demonstrated expertise in formulating and delivering
programmes which give a very high economic impact and rate of
return on investment.
INTRODUCTION
Responding to the threat of global climate change
is clearly a national and international priority and requires
a range of coordinated activities. These include establishing
an explicit price for carbon, accelerating the development and
deployment of low-carbon technologies, changing individual behaviour
and adaptation to the unavoidable effects of climate change. In
each case it is vital that activities are rooted in sound science
and that government and business have confidence in the quantitative
data on which their decisions are to be based. In addition, the
drive for development and implementation of low carbon technology
offers real opportunities for the UK economy. The stated ambition
of BIS is that the UK be a world leader in manufacturing solutions
for a low carbon economy, with at least a million jobs in the
green economy by 2030.
In response to this NPL proposes the establishment
of a "Centre for Carbon Metrology" to develop the scientific
and technical tools necessary to ensure confidence in environmental
data and carbon market prices, and the credibility and quality
assurance of low carbon technologies. The Centre will also create
knowledge and skills, which would be transferred to government
and business for greater economic and social impact. The centre
will focus its work in three areas:
SUPPORTING, ASSESSING
AND VALIDATING
LOW-CARBON
TECHNOLOGY
The UK government has clearly stated that it
sees the shift to a "low-carbon economy" as a "huge
economic opportunity" for the UK and has placed a low carbon
industrial strategy at the heart of its manufacturing strategy
launched in 2008. The 2009 budget confirmed the government's commitment
in this area. The aim is for the UK to be the best place in the
world to locate or build a low carbon business. This will need
investment in technology, technology-pull through public procurement
and the establishment of a suitable economic and technical infrastructure.
We propose a programme of work, built on our existing
capability, to provide comprehensive support for low-carbon technology.
This would harness and make available our multidisciplinary capability
to enable UK industry to stay at the forefront of this emerging
sector through:
— R&D to provide novel measurement
science and technology critical for development of low-carbon
technology;
— providing solutions to measurement issues
that could otherwise hamper development;
— carrying out calibration of components
or systems; and
— enabling independent assessment or demonstration
of performance.
Such activities are critical for ensuring that
the best technology is demonstrated, accepted and adopted quickly.
Measurement issues, specifications and standards can easily present
barriers to market if there is not scientifically sound advice
and support available at all stages of development from initial
research through to manufacture. The capability described above
would provide confidence for public and private sector procurement
and enable innovators and ultimately vendors to overcome such
barriers to market.
This programme would need to be integrated with
the work of other public sector players in this field such as
TSB, Carbon Trust, BSI, and BIS, in order to ensure focus on areas
of importance for the UK economy. It would also benefit from NPL's
extensive network of industrial contacts. Access to existing and
developing capability could be managed effectively using tools
for industrial engagement already in operation in a small scale
in the "Measurement for Innovators" programme, which
has demonstrated real and measureable scientific, technical and
economic impact. Short-term ROI for projects in the existing programme
have been independently assessed to deliver short-term returns
of 1:10-1:30 and beyond.
ESTABLISHING A
MEASUREMENT INFRASTRUCTURE
FOR CARBON
PRICING/TRADING
Establishing a consistent "carbon price"
was identified by the Stern review as key to any international
effort to mitigate climate change and is viewed by the UK government
as the single most important policy instrument for this purpose.
Global activity of this nature has always required the development
of internationally accepted standards and regulations based on
robust, scientifically sound, consistent and internationally accepted
frameworks for measurement. The world is, at present, a long way
from having such a framework for GHG emissions.
As more sectors and countries seek to price
carbon, the risks surrounding poorly quantified emission data
grow. Poor data regarding emissions are distortionary and presents
serious financial risks to industry, to investors, and to governments.
The initial round of EU Emissions Trading Scheme Allocations demonstrated
the pernicious effects of this sort of risk. The impact on business
of the lack of an integrated and consistent framework has been
recognised by the CBI in their recent call for a common business
approach for GHG emissions reporting. Richard Lambert, director-general
of the CBI, warned that a clear and more consistent carbon reporting
standard for all businesses is essential if UK businesses are
going to successfully reduce emissions. "Transparent
measurement and reporting of corporate emissions data is likely
to become an important factor in driving corporate change and
creating corporate advantage, so it's vital we get it right."
The development of a systematic, high quality
measurement system and the associated technical standards and
regulatory framework would reduce the scope for market volatility
and reduce investment risk. Ultimately, such an open, transparent
and cost-effective carbon metrology system is essential to well-functioning
carbon policy instruments and the operation of an international
carbon market.
We therefore propose a programme, working with
academia (eg the Smith School in Oxford), standards organisations
(eg BSI), business and government, to develop the measurement
science, technology, standards, best practice and protocols to
provide a firm basis for carbon trading/pricing. The programme
will identify and prioritise those sectors in which reduction
of uncertainty in carbon emissions is most pressing, and will
be coupled to on-going monitoring/auditing programmes and standards
development. Work would cover:
— Technical services, support and advice
for business to facilitate consistent, compliant and cost-effective
reporting.
— R&D to provide underpinning science
and measurement technology to ensure GHG measurement and reporting
is fit for purpose and based on sound scientific and technical
footing.
— Independent technical advice and policy
support to government.
— International representation and coordination
for technical standards on GHG measurement and reporting.
Establishing a UK lead in this area would not
only benefit UK industry and cement the UK's reputation as a leader
in the fight against climate change, but would also lend support
to the UK's ambition to remain the centre of the global carbon
market.
PROVIDING CONFIDENCE
IN ENVIRONMENTAL
DATA
A key driver shaping UK environmental science
strategy (eg NERC's Next Generation Science for Planet Earth)
is the requirement to generate scientific data of sufficient quality
to provide the unequivocal evidence needed to allow policy makers
to embark with confidence on potentially high cost infrastructural
and socially challenging projects (eg for climate change adaptation)
on timescales commensurate with perceived risk and impact.
One of the biggest challenges facing the research
community when striving to provide this information stems from
the difficulty of measuring key parameters in the natural environment
with uncertainties often close to those achievable within the
best equipped laboratories. This is compounded by the need to
extend localised sampling to larger geographical scales and ultimately
global information. This often requires sophisticated but validated
models and analysis to ensure data sets collected by different
instruments, methods, and research teams can be appropriately
weighted and integrated to allow effectively seamless data sets
to be established to test/support the theories developed by the
science community.
At present the level of metrology expertise
in the UK (and wider international community) applied to this
issue is severely limited. Indeed it is in recognition of this
that NERC have approached NPL to explore mechanisms for building
such expertise based on our existing capability. We propose a
programme of work focussed initially in three areas; Earth Observation;
Global Climate and composition variables; Atmospheric Science
and air quality. Work in these areas would cover:
— R&D in metrology-driven applications
aimed at improving the knowledge base of measurement science and
technology for environmental applications.
— Building an enduring capability in environmental
metrology (including coordination of existing capability) to encompass—facilities
for calibration/validation available to the research community;
metrology expertise to provide advice and review; data and model
assessment capability.
— Knowledge transfer aimed at; attracting
talent to the field; increasing skills in metrology and related
areas; changing culture; disseminating knowledge.
As part of this strand there is the opportunity
for a flagship project that would underpin satellite-based observations
and measurements of the Earth in the optical domain. The project
would also increase awareness of the importance of data assurance
and enable the UK to take a significant global lead. TRUTHS (Traceable
Radiometry Underpinning Terrestrial- and Helio- Studies) is a
low-cost small satellite mission to measure incoming and Earth
reflected solar radiation (integrated and spectrally resolved)
with more than a factor ten improvement in uncertainty over any
other sensor. This mission would facilitate for the first time
the prospect of making truly "climate quality" measurements
in the solar spectral domain. It would also improve the accuracy
of all other satellite sensors by providing them with access to
traceable calibrations in space in effect becoming an orbital
standards laboratory. The need for such a mission is widely recognised
by organisations such as the World Meteorological Organisation
(WMO) the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and
NASA. A UK lead would not only provide significant scientific
kudos but also a platform to showcase UK technological innovation,
providing a stimulus to the British space industry.
ENSURING VALUE
FOR MONEY
All three of the above areas of work for the
proposed centre would benefit from NPL expertise in formulating
and delivering programmes to world-class scientific and technical
standards in a way designed to maximise the economic and social
impact. NPL's existing science and knowledge transfer programmes,
together with its unique relationships with business, government
and academia, have been proven (through macro-economic studies,
industry surveys, qualitative and quantitative case studies) to
facilitate business innovation, increase productivity and improve
international competitiveness. A recent DIUS study indicated that
an increase in funding for the National Measurement System of
£6 million/annum could add as much as £400 million to
GDP. Government can have a high level of confidence that an investment
in this area would show a real return in both short and long term.
The cost of the first three-year programme for
the centre is estimated as £52 million. This includes £13
million for the TRUTHS project, (excluding a launch platform for
the mission). NPL has the technical infrastructure and governance
in place to enable the work to start quickly and with minimal
start-up costs, ensuring this investment would be directed to
deliver maximum impact.
July 2009
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