Alan Bailey, the chair of Low Carbon South West, the UK’s largest environmental business trade association, has received an Honorary Degree of Master of Science from the University of the West of England (UWE) in recognition of his significant contribution to the development of a low-carbon economy in the region.
Alan said: “I was delighted when I heard that the University of the West of England wanted to confer this honour upon me. UWE is leading the way in engaging with the environmental business community and is an exemplar of how universities, the public sector and the private sector can work together to tackle the issues of climate change and sustainability. Therefore, an award as prestigious as this from an organisation like UWE is fantastic.”
Alan is a director and chairman of ABS Renewables Ltd, a project development company that focuses on developing and implementing innovative bio-tech and renewable technologies.
He is also a member of the Bristol Green Capital working group which is developing a joined-up approach for the environmental sector in the city, and chairs the Avonmouth and Severnside Green Industries Forum and the Low Carbon High Skills Initiative for the South West (on behalf of Universities South West).
In 2010 he became the chair of Low Carbon South West. Now merged with Bristol Environmental Technologies Sector (BETS), it has become one of the UK’s leading environmental associations and is now an exemplar of how business, the public sector and academia can work together to deliver networking opportunities, knowledge transfer and direct investment. From 30 companies it has now risen to a national network of more than 3,000.
He is a strong advocate of Bristol and during 2009 represented the city in Brussels for the European Green Capital Awards. In 2010 he spoke at the Houses of Parliament on the case for the West of England to be recognised as the leading low carbon area in the UK. As the key note speaker at the inaugural Low Carbon Conference hosted by the Croatian Government, Alan identified opportunities for UK companies to support the development and implementation of the country’s low-carbon strategy prior to its membership of the European Union from 2013.
He is now leading the commercial and technical feasibility study for what will be Europe’s largest industrial thermal energy grid and the development of the first phase of a low-carbon re-processing park in Avonmouth.. He has also been leading the development of the Low Carbon Strategy Board for the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership.
