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Entrepreneurs who are developing green technology will be offered new government help to build up their companies.
Ministers want to offer more taxpayer support to clean-tech start-ups to help transform them from high-risk, early-stage ventures into attractive investment propositions.
It comes amid growing concern that Britain is falling behind in the international race to develop lucrative new green businesses.
China, often painted as an environmental villain, is increasingly pioneering green technology, leading some start-ups based in the West to relocate there.
UK environmental campaigners fear the Government's huge budget cuts will hit investment in green businesses.
However, ministers today backed a scheme launched by the Carbon Trust to fast-track commercialisation of Britain's best early-stage clean-tech companies.
Its Entrepreneurs Fast Track scheme is designed to boost new firms' chances of commercial success.
Start-up companies with “genuinely innovative” low-carbon ideas or technlogy are being encouraged to apply to the organisation for support on research and development, strategic, commercial and expert technical advice, building a good management team, and protecting their intellectual property.
The scheme is endorsed by Sir James Dyson, the vacuum cleaner magnate.
He said: “The UK will become a leading exporter of low carbon technology – if given the right support. Inventive British companies that invest in research and development are seen as a risky proposition. But new technologies are vital to the long-term health of our economy.
“Now is the time to act: we need to match a growing awareness of our environmental impact with British ingenuity. Developing new technology takes time, and other countries have stepped up the pace. This Carbon Trust scheme supports the UK 's most promising low carbon technologies by moving quickly to commercialise new ideas.”
Greg Barker, the Minister for Energy and Climate Change, said: “Low carbon investment is a vital part of our economic recovery. The Entrepreneurs Fast Track service will give a much needed boost to innovative companies developing green technologies. This will be vital in growing the UK 's low carbon industry, creating new jobs across the country and tackling climate change.”
