By Martin MacLean The UK has recently experienced some of the worst flooding ever recorded. Having invested billions of pounds already in the sector, Martin MacLean ponders the benefits of the government working in unison with the green sector and the more conventional flood defence businesses:“In 2014 the UK government committed to a six-year spending plan of £2.3bn for UK-wide flood defences, with 1,400 projects being funded to protect 300,000 homes. Notably, the majority of these funds are for engineering/structural defences, such as the Boston Barrier (£73m), Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme (£42m), Humber Estuary (£80m) and Thames Estuary (£196m).While these projects aim to bring relief to those affected by or at risk of flooding, they are not without their own issues (cost of maintenance, potentially environmental consequences). In addition, these projects take time to implement, and unfortunately in some cases can’t resolve the problem quickly enough. Therefore, there is great potential for green-tech/biotech innovations to work in parallel with the more conventional approaches to provide more effective and timely flood protection.”