MAKING YOUR IDEA A REALITY:Discovering and developing a clean technology that is commercially attractive is merely the first step in a long process of bringing it to the market, according to Kevin O'Connor from UCD's school of biomolecular and biomedical science, who gave a talk at Copenmind.

"The single biggest challenge as a clean technology innovator is getting someone to believe in you.

"You often find people are barrier builders who prefer to pose a negative question," says O'Connor.

"Very few people are risk takers. So you need to find someone who has some vision, and who can see the potential in what you're doing.

"It's like someone looking at a derelict house and being able to see past it, with a view to buying it and renovating it.

"This means that there's a big gap between proving we can do what we say we can and then getting the investment so that we can grow," he says.

The initial application of O'Connor's clean technology is to use a certain bacteria to turn the oil from which plastic is made into a high-value virgin polymer material.

He and his team of 10 researchers are also investigating the potential for it to be a "platform" technology. This should mean that the biological process that involves the bacteria could be applied to by-products from biodiesel refining, agricultural by-products and wastewater.

O'Connor is currently talking to a major Irish waste company about the uses of his technology, and is also collaborating with RedOx Biofuels, whose founder, Kim Ogaard-Nielsen, is a former chief executive of Lotus Group, the renowned sports car maker.

Red Ox has divisions in Britain and the US, and the firm is a spin-off of the AIM-listed Applied Intellectual Capital.