10:00 | Registration and Refreshments | Room 2 |
10:25 | Welcome | Room 3/4 |
10:30 | William
J Nuttall (Open University) Nuclear Power and Next Steps in European Electricity Policy | Room 3/4 |
11:05 | John
Young (National Grid) Electricity Demand Forecasting and the Problem of Embedded Generation | Room 3/4 |
11:50 | Tim
Bedford (Strathclyde University) Modelling Uncertainties in Offshore Turbine Availability | Room 3/4 |
12:30 | Lunch | Berrill Cafe |
1:30 | Tobi Kellner (Centre for
Alternative Technology) Zero Carbon Britain – Modelling Future Energy Systems | Room 3/4 |
2:15 | Parallel Session 1 (see below) | Room 3/4 |
2:15 | Parallel Session 2 (see below) | Room 2 |
3:25 | Refreshments | Room 2 |
3:45 | Rui Carvalho (Queen Mary,
University of London) Fair Flows and Robustness in Infrastructure Networks | Room 3/4 |
4:25 | Closing Remarks | Room 3/4 |
4:30 | Close |
2.15 | Parallel Session 1 | Room 3/4 |
2.15 | Gerd Kortuem (Open University) Energy-Balanced Living | Room 3/4 |
2.40 | Darren Jones (Low Carbon Europe) Energy Efficiency in the National Health Service | Room 3/4 |
3.05 | Stephen Potter (Open University) The Social Life of Smart Grids | Room 3/4 |
2.15 | Parallel Session 2 | Room 2 |
2.15 | Les Levidow (Open University) Innovation Priorities for UK Bioenergy: Technological Expectations within Path Dependence | Room 2 |
2.40 | Foroogh Hosseinzadeh (Open University) Role of Materials Engineering in Energy Challenges | Room 2 |
3.05 | Satheesh Krishnamurthy (Open University) Intelligent Nanomaterials for Energy Harvesting and Storage | Room 2 |
My talk will discuss the background to my PhD project on professional practice in the field of energy efficiency and carbon reduction within the healthcare built environment, which aims to support the NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy for England and hence associated NHS carbon reduction targets.
My talk will reflect on personal concerns as
to the validity of engineering low carbon projects and the rationale
behind decisions made. From 15 years’ experience working within the
NHS, I’ve seen little evidence of a coherent approach to energy
reduction and sustainability. Generally speaking, each Trust tends to
work in isolation and often poor decisions are made by senior
non-technical managers and uninformed technical managers based on the
perceived benefits of a given technology or practice; rather than
quantifying and qualifying the true effectiveness of new and
established carbon reduction technologies and good energy efficiency
practices.
I shall examine those factors that affect and influence present procurement methods and decision-making processes of low carbon technologies, and the ways in which these initiatives are evaluated and promoted within the healthcare environment.
The Zero Carbon Britain project group at the Centre for Alternative Technology is researching, developing and communicating scenarios for a future where all energy is supplied from renewable sources. One challenging aspect for future energy scenarios which incorporate large amounts of variable energy sources such as wind power is to demonstrate that supply and demand can be matched at all times. This presentation will illustrate how hourly data on weather and energy demand for the past decade is used to simulate a future energy system with interconnected flows and storage of electricity, heat and (synthetic) gas.
Energy-Balanced Living - A short overview of a research project undertaken by the OU Computing Department in collaboration with E.On. The talk will discuss the ongoing development of an IT infrastructure to improve overall effectiveness and usability of domestic energy generation.
Globally, the growth rate of the human population is increasing; creating a huge demand for energy to fulfill requirements for vehicles, computers, air conditioning etc and this is leading to global warming. Therefore, CO2-free energy is an emergent issue. The novel characteristics of nanomaterials, coupled with manipulation at atomic and molecular levels can contribute to the development of devices and technologies associated with carbon-free or low carbon energy applications.
The ability to control the particle size and morphology of nanostructured systems is of utmost importance both from a fundamental and industrial point of view considering the tremendous amount of high-tech applications. Controlling the crystallographic structure and the arrangement of atoms along the surface of nanostructured material will determine most of its physical properties. In general, electronic structure ultimately determines the properties of matter.
In this presentation, technological developments underpinning the energy efficiency, storage and commercialisation of nanomaterials with particular reference to solar photovoltaic, supercapacitors and fuel cells will be discussed. The recent results from my group on the textured silicon surfaces and plasmonic solar cells will be discussed as a potential for low cost high efficiency solar cells.
Over the past decade, UK policy has given bioenergy an increasingly important role for decarbonising the energy system. Given the future limits of sustainably sourced biomass, the UK strategy promotes technoscientific innovation to expand the range of biomass that can be sustainably converted to energy. Innovation priorities are shaped by policy arrangements closely involving industry with state bodies. Drivers can be identified by linking two analytical frameworks “technological expectations” and “path dependence“ as dual aspects of bioenergy policy. Technological expectations encompass several policy aims “combining environmental sustainability (GHG reductions, waste conversion) with various economic benefits. State support measures generally favour bioenergy innovation (e.g. biomass co-firing, advanced biofuels) as novel input-substitutes for supplying centralised infrastructures. Meanwhile support measures remain weak for alternatives (such as biomass-CHP or biohydrogen) which could enhance GHG reductions. Thus technological expectations mobilise support for novel path creation within a path dependence.
The talk will provide an introduction to current issues of European electricity policy, paying particular attention to issues relating to the building of new nuclear power stations. In the middle of the last decade there was much talk of a ‘nuclear renaissance’, however in recent years any exuberance has receded. In the EU prospects for new nuclear build have diminished, but have not been extinguished. For instance, the UK government continues to see a strong role for nuclear power going forward.
More than twenty years ago the UK led the EU in efforts to liberalise the electricity market. In 2013 the UK is once again the source of provocative ideas in energy policy as the Energy Bill passes through the UK parliament. If passed, the Energy Bill will help facilitate low carbon electricity generation investment, including in nuclear power. Arguably these latest British proposals will roll back the market liberalisation that the UK fought so hard to win. The talk will represent a personal overview of current issues in European electricity policy, and provide a level of context for the talks that follow.
This will be based on the work that the Open University is undertaking as part of the Western Power Distribution Project FALCON Smart Grid project in Milton Keynes. “Smart Grid” systems are increasingly considered to be a critical component of a transition to a sustainable system of electricity production, transmission and consumption. Smart Grid designs seek to avoid costly upgrades by sophisticated energy management at a number of levels, down to that of the individual home. This suggests that Smart Grids must involve a blended socio-technical approach and vision.
Yet in practice, the ‘socio’ element receives little emphasis compared to the ‘technical’. There is a crucial issue of the role and active participation of users and enablers in the design and emergence of Smart Grid configurations as opposed to conceiving the user as a passive consumer (albeit accepting that they need to be ‘educated’ to use the resultant technologies).
Our
current research provides insights regarding the way Smart Grid
projects are constructed and the surprising partners who are now
involved, including a brewery and a community media organisation. Smart
grids may well need smart partners and user inputs to succeed.