Rolls-Royce is collaborating with Qatar Foundation to establish an engineering and science campus in the United Kingdom to develop green-tech start-ups, as the British luxury automobile maker seeks to enhance its roadmap of progress towards net 0.
The collaboration will witness the energy-rich Gulf state invest billions of pounds into the endeavour over the next two decades, with Rolls-Royce providing its production and manufacturing expertise and testing amenities. The partnership might be revealed as early as this week’s COP26 climate conference held in Glasgow.
Whilst the precise details of the collaboration are not yet finalized, the goal is to fabricate five green engineering start-up firms that are worth nearly USD 1 billion or more by the next decade or two. The excess investment will be encouraged from external investors inclusive of venture capital funds.
An anonymous spokesperson associated with the firm stated that Qataris are open to investments. Owing to the climate crisis, speed is of dire necessity.
The pledge from Qatar, which facilitates via the state’s non-profit Qatar Foundation, is dubbed to be one of the biggest inward investment commitments into the United Kingdom since the Brexit.
The world’s most prosperous nation as per capita terms and one of the leading exporters of liquefied gas, Qatar, is already a big investor in the United Kingdom and possesses London’s Shard skyscraper, a big stake in supermarket chain J Sainsbury, and the Harrods retail store. Under the blueprints, it is indicated that Qatar Foundation would establish a sister campus in the state, according to a Sunday Times report.
The Qatar Foundation and Rolls-Royce declined to comment on the matter.
For the British luxury automobile maker, the collaboration is amongst a plethora of initiatives being trailed by the group as it seeks to persuade investors that it can be one of the pioneers in combating climate change.
Decarbonization is the biggest challenge for Rolls-Royce. Before the pandemic, around 50% of Rolls-Royce’s GBP 15.4 billion (USD 21.08 billion) annual revenue was procured from its civil aerospace segment, whose engines power some of the globe’s biggest aircraft.
The firm is seeking to inject some of its latent climate change technologies into the middle to enhance them into practical businesses. One choice would be for Rolls-Royce to utilize it to enhance ongoing research into direct air capture technology.
Recently, the automobile maker collaborated with an Australian research organization to research the most cost-effective manner to eliminate carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere. This endeavour was amongst several chosen by the UK government in early 2021 to enter a contest to deliver funding for developing carbon capture technologies.
About Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce has been known as one of the most eminent brands in engineering across the globe.
Rolls-Royce emerged from the mechanical and electrical business established by Henry Royce in 1884. Royce manufactured his first car in 1904 and in May 1904, Royce met Charles Rolls, whose firm sold quality automobiles in London.
A contract was established that Royce Limited would produce an expansive array of cars to be exclusively retailed by CS Rolls & Co. Eventually, the cars began bearing the brand of Rolls-Royce.
About Qatar Foundation
The Qatar Foundation was conceived in 1995 by Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (the former emir of the State of Qatar) and his second wife, Moza bint Nasser.
The Qatar Foundation is comprehensive of over 50 entities working in research, community development, and education. It is a non-profit organization that is supported by partnerships with esteemed international entities.
The Qatar Foundation is built on the ingenuities that address the most challenging problems prevalent around the world, empower people, and pave the way for global opportunities to fabricate our present and future.