Andrew Hebden is Assistant Editor (Business) of The Journal »
Matt James runs fingerprint-recognition technology firm UKB Security »
James Mills is a web developer in the North East of England and founder of Refresh Teesside »
Phil Renton is managing director of North East IT empire Croft »
Matthew Rippon is an IP lawyer for BHP Law »
Formerly editor of a national business lifestyle magazine, Jez Davison is a business writer for the Evening Gazette in Teesside »
Ian Brown, Northumberland farmer and businessman writes about the agricultural industry »
Accessibilty Champion Steve Wilkinson on the importance of inclusion »
Shared Interest Staff at Newcastle's fair trade firm blog on their latest international missions »
PR man David Honeywell on raising your profile in the right places »
Marion Bernard is from NorthStar Equity Investors »
Caroline Theobald is the Managing Director of Bridge Club Ltd »
John Barton of Renew, on the region's low carbon and sustainable energy agenda »
Paul Williamson is Senior Partner at Deloitte »
Stephen Hall is Tax Partner at Deloitte »THE year is 2050. Wind and biomass are Britain's main energy sources. Electric cars have replaced their petrol predecessors. And an entire community is powered by a single hydrogen fuel cell.
This could be Britain's future if Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has his way. His grand vision of an "energy independent Britain" - designed to end the UK's increasing dependence on foreign coal, gas and oil - would have received more column inches but for the implosion of financial systems across the world.
Amid the din of takeovers and crashing share prices, the green challenge masquerades on the horizon as both saviour and executioner.
The threat comes from proposed EU targets that will require member states, including the UK, to produce 20% of its overall energy from renewable sources by 2020.
Critics believe that Brussels is out of touch with reality and that, in the next 10-15 years, Britain will need to rely substantially on coal to power large factories and on imported gas until the Government's new-build nuclear programme has gathered momentum.
In contrast, others say green projects can turn into potential goldmines.
In Tees Valley, hydrogen fuel technologies, the proliferation of wind turbines, home-grown bio-fuels and the conversion of biomass to electricity are all promising to generate wealth, create jobs and reduce our carbon footprint, creating thousands of green collar jobs.
This early promise hasn't jolted consumers out of their natural buying trends. Will people really swap their petrol-run BMWs for an electric car that needs recharging every 50 miles? Will they really use bio-fuel as long as they see "Unleaded" and "Diesel" at the pumps? And will they be happy to pay £1.30 a go for low-energy light bulbs when they could buy the more powerful version at half the price... and not wait half an hour before it lights up the room?
Ultimately, consumers will decide the commercial fate of these green projects, many of which have only just evolved from the R&D chamber. Working out how to lower production cost - and therefore the price to the consumer - is essential to ensure these projects get past first base.
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