In his speech, Mr Osborne set out seven further areas where the government thinks Britain is a world leader and can and must go further: computing, synthetic biology, regenerative medicine, agricultural science, energy storage, robotics and advanced materials including nanotechnology.

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Global revenues from clean tech businesses--including air and water purification, advanced materials, distributed power generation, renewable energy, and process controls, such as sensors to monitor air and water--now surpass 85 billion pounds, according to the Cleantech Venture Network, a for-profit membership group that connects venture and institutional investors with entrepreneurs.

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However, he warned against focussing disproportionately on the eight areas of excellence outlined by the Chancellor in November ("big data" computing, synthetic biology, regenerative medicine, agricultural science, energy storage, space, robotics and advanced materials including nanotechnology).

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