So it’s important to innovate everywhere, I think, particularly with the global challenges, but it’s particularly important in the West Midlands because we’ve got world leading strength through our research, our universities in particular, but we’ve also got global strength in our supply chain. The success of the Clean Futures program to date has been fantastic. We’ve seen the companies that have been on the program so far raise over £20 million in private investment. They’ve won over £100 million in commercial contracts and created approximately 50 jobs. So clean Futures has really helped to accelerate innovation in the West Midlands.
0:45 – 1:22
So obviously it’s working to support transport, decarbonisation, new technologies, but it’s also been really important in terms of securing that private investment into the region. The partnership between Connected Places Catapult and Coventry University was really complementary. Being able to understand what the companies really needed to de risk their journey into new technology adoption and to explore new markets that they wouldn’t previously have access to. All the companies and supply chains are positioned to deliver the industrial strategy that we have in the UK at the moment. Forex Delivers is developing the technology to deliver transport as a service in Africa.
1:22 – 2:16
This is a world first electric ox truck and also a digital platform that optimises everything from maintenance and manufacturing through to providing transport as a service. We have developed Hyperfoil, this is a coating onto the traditional battery aluminium foil that’s at nano level, a highly durable and highly efficient current collector. We were fortunate enough to be on round one of the Clean Futures and on the Clean Futures Year three to focus on the design of experiments, understanding what the inputs are, the scalability of innovation. Oxdeliver has received funding support from Clean Futures, helping us optimize our manufacturing management system which all reduces the cost of building a truck and that benefits our customers in East Africa. We’ve got access to some really industry leading technologists which has helped us along our journey.
2:16 – 2:46
Converge University. They were able to bring on board experts who have worked with their digital twin technology. We gathered a team of software developers based in Birmingham and here in Leamington to put this project together and tested it out at the facility here in Leamington Spa. The Clean Futures programme for us has been a real catalyst, so not only providing valuable funding but also bringing us into a supportive and collaborative network across the West Midlands. This program has allowed us access into other companies on a similar journey and that collaboration is growing.
2:46 – 3:24
It’s like a similar seed has been planted with the Clean Futures program and we’re seeing the fruits of that work now having the support of the Connected Places Catapult has just been incredibly powerful for us. Whether it’s attracting investment, recruiting great people or finding the right partners to scale, Clean Futures has allowed global Nano Network to take an idea from a desk into the market. For the market, actually. To see the benefits, we’ve built an incredible team of around 40 engineers and innovators based in the West Midlands. We’ve also signed our first contract with our customer that’s worth over $120 million.
3:24 – 3:51
The criticality of innovation is commercialization. Working with Clean Futures means that we have an accelerated route to market. So Clean Futures has had a really positive impact on innovation in the West Midlands. I think it’s helped us to look at innovation and how we drive innovation differently in it’s brought new partners, and I think particularly what Connected Places Catapult have done is structure it around that market opportunity. And that’s been really critical for us.
Spotlight on the West Midlands
Join us for this insightful spotlight panel session focussing on trailblazing in the West Midlands as we unearth the benefits of partnering with a place, and illustrate how collaborative coalitions of public and private sector partners can drive high impact at a regional, national and international level.
Connected Places Catapult is helping to accelerate the transition to zero-emission heavy goods vehicles.
Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) are vital to industry and represent the backbone of trade and commerce worldwide. They are responsible for ensuring we have access to food, medicines, and goods of all kinds.
Almost 90% of domestic goods transported in the UK in 2022 were moved by road – the vast majority of which by HGVs. These vehicles currently produce approximately 19% of all UK domestic transport greenhouse gas emissions. By 2050, this must be reduced to zero, in line with the UK Government’s Net Zero Strategy.
Connected Places Catapult is supporting Innovate UK and the Department for Transport with the Zero-Emission HGV & Infrastructure Demonstrator programme, which represents a public investment of up to £200 million, match-funded by industry. The programme is deploying the first large (40+ tonne) zero-emission HGVs in significant numbers, together with supporting infrastructure, which will enable freight operators to determine the suitability of the new technology for their operations. Public-facing battery-electric charging stations and hydrogen refuelling stations will enable HGVs to go beyond ‘back to base’ operations.
Together with the British Standards Institution (BSI), Connected Places Catapult is supporting partners involved in the Innovate UK-funded demonstrations, and stakeholders in the wider zero-emission HGV ecosystem.
Learn more in our new reports:
Ensuring safety in the transition to zero emission road freight Best practice guidance for developing and operating safe refuelling and recharging infrastructure for zero emission HGVs.
Planning and delivery of infrastructure for zero emission HGVs Setting out the key considerations and optimal pathways for the planning and delivery of zero-emission HGV infrastructure.
Zero Emission HGVs and Infrastructure: Infrastructure Planning and Delivery
In the coming weeks, we will publish the remaining reports, including:
UK Investment Prospectus for Zero Emission HGVs and Infrastructure For those considering investing in or financing zero emission HGVs, or charging or refuelling infrastructure in the UK. The prospectus outlines the exciting opportunities in this growing market and highlights the UK’s strong foundations for investment in zero emission HGVs and infrastructure.
To be notified as soon as these reports are available, please complete this form.
Standards – in partnership with BSI
Standards are crucial in ensuring zero-emission HGVs can roll out in an efficient and safe manner, with interoperability embedded from the start, and to create a market that delivers on required outcomes. Through the standards work, in partnership with BSI, we have formed a Standards Advisory Group for zero-emission road freight that will provide the decision making and governance for the standards development work. Three ‘flex’ standards, which are well suited to fast-moving areas of innovation, are currently being developed.
Complete this form to be notified when new reports are available.
reports
Green shipping corridors: a holistic approach to decarbonising maritime
Urgent action is needed to address shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions
The UK Government made a pledge in the Clydebank Declaration at COP26 to establish six green shipping corridors by 2026. This report describes in detail a pathway to deliver, what could be the first in the UK, between Liverpool and Belfast. This route is approximately 130 nautical miles and is one of the busiest routes in the Irish Sea, connecting the two major UK cities. A green shipping corridor is defined by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UKSHORE) as zero emission maritime routes between two or more ports, and are seen as vital for encouraging the development of vessel and shoreside technology in clean maritime.
Maritime, shipping and the movement of goods and people in the region via its ports is a major economic driver for both Liverpool and Belfast, contributing £5BN in economic activity. However this activity also attracts significant global greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to poor air quality locally. The UK is committed to see these emissions reduce and recognises that as an Island Nation, this represents a sizeable challenge and opportunity to transition to low or net zero emissions. This report is a summation of a lot of focused work by a large stakeholder group in examining options for decarbonising a route linking the Ports of Liverpool and Belfast, to demonstrate it is possible and establish a blueprint available for scaling to other routes, perhaps initially in the Irish Sea Region and then further afield.
This report captures what is needed to establish a green shipping corridor and identifies 29 suitable pilot projects to develop the corridor further and secure a leading international role in green ports and shipping for the UK. Green shipping corridors require a systems approach to implementation and to consider each element that contributes directly to the reduction of carbon emissions or provides a part of the enabling environment to support this reduction. We have identified the existing assets and enabling components of the maritime ecosystem, including subjects such as fuel production and communication systems, as well as governance and skills. This is a substantive tome full of rich detail covering nationally applicable matters but through a focused place lens. Delivering a Green Shipping Corridor is complex, but this work has shown us that with a well motivated stakeholder group this can be broken down in to manageable and crucially investible projects ready for delivery.
This report is an output of an Innovate UK funded programme, Pulse, which examined a suite of challenges in the aviation and maritime sectors. The report has been prepared by Connected Places Catapult, working in collaboration with Royal HaskoningDHV, Liverpool John Moores University, the University of Liverpool, Queens University Belfast, and Mersey Maritime.
This report is part of a larger body of ongoing work to decarbonise the maritime sector, supported principally by the Department for Transport, Department for Business & Trade, the National Shipbuilding Office and Innovate UK. UKSHORE supported by Innovate UK has administered the Clean Maritime Demonstration programme, investing £206M of grants with private sector match funding since 2022 across a host of propulsion and infrastructure projects. This includes investing in selection of feasibility studies into Clean / Green Shipping Corridors between the UK and Europe, which are due to conclude by Spring 2025.
Liverpool Belfast Green Shipping Corridor Executive Summary
Climate technology firm Kale AI is on a mission to accelerate the growth of sustainable deliveries in cities carried out by light electric vehicles, and is developing software to optimise route planning with financial support and networking provided by Connected Places Catapult.
Britain’s e-commerce boom shows no signs of slowing; but as the volume of deliveries continues to rise, so too are the number of journeys completed by vans – adding to air pollution and increasing road danger.
One way of making city deliveries greener and safer is through the greater use of sustainable last mile mobility, such as electric cargo bicycles that carry goods in a platform up front, or quadracycles or trikes with freight carried in a larger box at the back.
Among the champions of these emerging forms of transport logistics is Kale AI, a start-up firm supported by Connected Places Catapult. It received £30,000 through the Transport Research & Innovation Grants (TRIG) programme’s Future of Freight challenge in 2021, and is now part of a growing community of logistics firms gathered in the Freight Innovation Cluster. It has also recently raised around £250,000 of pre-seed investment with a private capital firm.
“Our mission is to accelerate the transition to sustainable logistics in cities through a switch from vans to cargo bikes, and the impact of doing so cannot be emphasised enough,” says the company’s co-founder Nicolas Collignon.
Research conducted during his time at cargo bike delivery company Pedal Me – in collaboration with academic researchers from Westminster University – found that light electric vehicles, such as cargo bikes, can be up to 60% more efficient than vans for deliveries in cities.
This efficiency gain is attributed to three main factors. “The first is that cycles are affected much less by congestion: the average car speed in London is less than 10mph, whereas on a bicycle you can go faster,” he says.
“Secondly, finding a parking space can be very difficult for motor vehicles in cities: delivery staff can spend half their day walking to complete a delivery, whereas cargo cycles can pull up right next to a door.” Nicolas also says that sustainable last mile vehicles have access to a wide range of infrastructure such as bike lanes and low traffic neighbourhoods, so their journeys can be up to a third shorter.
“Put all of that together, and you can see a significant advantage to using cargo cycles.”
Putting science into action
After completing his PhD in computational cognitive science and AI, Nicolas joined Pedal Me, a cargo-bike delivery company, as a data scientist. There, he worked on improving delivery efficiency while also making deliveries himself in London using cargo bikes. This experience proved valuable when he started Kale AI with his two co-founders.
“It was just as the pandemic began, and I was keen to apply my knowledge from AI research into an area with climate impact, such as cities, and see how the science worked on the ground,” he explains.
He used data to monitor the performance and efficiency that cargo bike deliveries were having, and explored the potential of the sector as he saw it. “One thing that was obvious was the tools could be improved to make deliveries more efficient.” He started building technology along with two former student friends, and the trio formed Kale AI.
In 2021, they won a smart mobility innovation grant from the London Mayor alongside the Better Bankside business improvement district and King’s College to develop an app to help businesses make smarter use of delivery vehicles, and encourage a switch to electric cargo bikes and electric vans.
The following year, the company applied to Connected Places Catapult for the TRIG competition’s Future of Freight call. It developed technology that predicted where light electric vehicles would be more efficient when planning last mile delivery routes.
Meeting growing expectations
One issue the team looked to address was how to help speed up deliveries in cities to meet customers’ growing expectations.
“Urban logistics used to involve a depot outside of cities: you loaded your van at the beginning of the day, and did your deliveries throughout the day.
“But the new trend among urban operators is to have micro-hubs in the middle of cities, and demand is more dynamic. Customers expect faster turnarounds, but operators have so many different kinds of customer: businesses, consumers and those who want next day deliveries, same day, even same hour deliveries.”
Because of this complexity, operators don’t always have the correct business insights, or even know if the choices they are taking are making or losing them money, Nicolas adds. “This means they are being guided by their intuitions, which becomes very difficult if you want to scale, and especially when margins are tight.
“So the software we are developing captures data and brings insights to the surface which operators need, such as which routes are profitable, how to make optimum use of deliveries, and anticipate when uncertain levels of demand may come.”
Longer term, the insights generated may allow operators to better understand what their delivery fleet should look like: how large their cycles should be and the number of wheels they should have, or which sized electric vans are most suitable.
Sustainable last mile transport is growing in popularity, but still has a long way to go. “Eighteen months ago, the UK hosted a cargo bike logistics summit and I remember people kept repeating that ‘We are not a niche market’. But to me, if you are saying it, there’s still an issue.
“But now it feels we are at the start of something; when you cycle in London, you notice just how many more cargo bikes there are today compared to a few years ago.
“What is critical is how you can reach a tipping point, and continue this momentum,” Nicolas adds. “There are strong signs this could happen; with companies like Amazon focusing on transitioning to using cargo bikes and setting ambitious targets.”
Investment and business support
Kale’s focus now is on creating a version of its software product that can be sold to the market, growing the team, and raising further funding at the end of the year.
“Securing our TRIG grant in 2022 allowed us to test out an idea and build our network, and we have attended several Freight Innovation Cluster meetings which have helped us to understand funding options and the world of transport. I’m excited to be part of the Cluster and seeing what may come of it.”
The firm has also been supported in joining Innovate UK’s ‘Bridge AI’ initiative which aims to close the gap between technology innovation and implementation.
Nicolas is optimistic for the future of last mile deliveries, and says his firm’s software can help operators to make better informed decisions. “Operators are currently struggling to be profitable, and are suffering from a lack of data-driven business insights. Our AI driven software is fully focused on their pain points, and could radically help their businesses.
“It might even persuade more delivery companies who had previously not considered them to try out cargo bikes.”
West Midlands green transport innovators secure funding and support
From automating EV charging to designing lightweight components, 19 firms with ideas to make transport greener have been selected to join the latest cohort on the Clean Futures accelerator.
29.08.24 BIRMINGHAM, Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation accelerator for cities, transport, and place leadership, has today announced 19 small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) selected to join the Clean Futures accelerator programme in the West Midlands.
Now in its second year, the accelerator has already supported 20 SMEs through the first year’s cohort. 18 out of 20 companies participating in the first year have entered serious discussions with new customers about their innovations. £2.6 million has so far been secured for SMEs through contracts or research and development funding; with a further £43 million in the commercial pipeline. So far, £1.3 million has been raised in private investment, with a further £27 million pending.
The companies chosen to join this year’s new cohort will each receive up to £50,000 to trial their solutions over the next six months. Their solutions respond to challenges associated with the rail and automotive manufacturing sectors. These include clean and efficient vehicle manufacturing and assembly design; the production of cost-effective solutions for clean transportation infrastructure; and the production, transport, and storage of alternative fuels such as hydrogen or biofuels.
Alongside funding, the accelerator will also provide the businesses with bespoke technical and commercial support, utilising expertise and cutting-edge facilities at the BCIMO in Dudley and the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering at Coventry University. The cohort will also be provided with networking and showcasing opportunities to connect with industry and financial partners.
Clean Futures is led by Connected Places Catapult, alongside the Black Country Innovative Manufacturing Organisation (BCIMO), Coventry University and Coventry University Services. It is part of the wider West Midlands Innovation Accelerator, which is designed to bolster the region’s innovation and R&D capability and capacity to spark commercial growth and investment. The West Midlands Innovation Accelerator is delivered in partnership with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Innovate UK and the West Midlands Combined Authority.
“Clean Futures is supporting the West Midlands to be at the heart of the green industrial revolution. Through our close collaboration with BCIMO and Coventry University, we are enabling green transport innovators in the West Midlands to test their ideas and build their businesses. “The first-year cohort of businesses on this programme has already seen millions of pounds worth of contracts and investments secured, and I’m excited to see what this year’s cohort can achieve.”
Alex Cousins, Director – Regions at Connected Places Catapult
“Clean Futures is helping the region move towards being net zero by 2041 and we’ve already seen huge successes with the first cohort of SMEs involved in the accelerator programme. We are excited to see what the next group of entrepreneurs can bring to the table and use Coventry University’s cutting edge research facilities to make a difference here in the West Midlands and further afield.”
Professor Marcos Kauffman, Director of the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering at Coventry University
events
UKREiiF 2024
The UK's Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum
This year, we are proud to host our own Pavilion, a place designed to showcase real innovation, and provide opportunities to connect with thought leaders, and UK and global peers.
To review our full Agenda of sessions and activities taking place over the three days and plan your visit, please head to the UKREiiF website > Programme tab > Download Programme or > Click on the Connected Places Catapult Pavilion dot to browse online.
Make sure to visit our Pavilion in Pavilion Square, we look forward to connecting with you in Leeds!
Paul Wilson, our Chief Business Officer, is participating in the keynote panel titled ‘Transport as the key to people-centric, accessible, and sustainable urban spaces’ on 27 Feb, from 13:10 on the Keynote Stage.
Justin Anderson, Director of Digital Twin Hub, is delivering a presentation on connected digital twins as part of Interchange partner event Transforming Infrastructure Performance (TIP) Live, also on 27 Feb.
Come find us on the show floor and connect!
Register using code CPC24.
events
Open and Agile Smart Cities (OASC) Conference 2024
We’re delighted to participate in the Open & Agile Smart Cities Conference. Make sure to visit our Connected Places Catapult stand on the show floor and to join the sessions our experts are participating in over the course of the two days.
