Mayor of London Boris Johnson is backing plans proposed by the London Sustainable Development Commission (LSDC) to turn the capital into a major European clean technology hub.
The Evening Standard reported the plans involve creating a clean tech ‘city’ in west London to attract start-ups and other firms to the Park Royal and Old Oak Common areas of London, near Acton and Ealing.
The ‘city’ would look to follow in the footsteps of east London’s Tech City hub in and around Shoreditch and establish links with Imperial College’s Imperial West campus at White City which has a number of highly regarded clean technology academics and researchers.
And the plans have attracted the support of Boris Johnson, whose senior environmental adviser Matthew Pencharz told the Standard that the hub could “put low-carbon rocket boosters on the sector”.
Former climate change minister Greg Barker was appointed LSDC chairman in November last year and said the site’s aim was to “create the largest concentration of clean tech businesses outside of California”.
Full plans are currently being drawn up by LSDC commissioner James Cameron ahead of their publication which is expected in the autumn.
Boris Johnson’s record on clean technology and especially solar is mixed, with many questioning the mayor’s office’s action over poor air quality in London and lack of support for utilising London’s ample rooftop space for solar.
Green Party London Assembly Member Jenny Jones has been a strong critic of Boris Johnson in the past and has previously pushed for him to create a dedicated solar PV delivery unit for London.