Supergen Biohub, Supergen Offshore Renewables and Supergen Energy Networks collaborate for Future Game Changers Award at the British Renewable Energy Awards

Are you a postgraduate student and do you have an innovative idea or concept that could accelerate the race to achieve net zero? If yes to the above, you are invited to submit a short video or poster to showcase your idea for this year’s Future Game Changers Award as part of the joint submission from Supergen Energy Networks, Supergen BioHub and Supergen Offshore Renewables.

The winner will be announced as part of the British Renewable Energy Awards at the Gala Awards Dinner on 23rd June 2023 at The Grosvenor Hotel Ballroom in London. A shortlist of finalists will be invited to enjoy the evening courtesy of the Award sponsors, Glennmont Partners by Nuveen.

The winner will be decided live on the night as all guests at the Awards Gala Dinner will be asked to vote for their favourite idea. The winner will receive the Award along with a bursary.

It is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the work that is taking place within our academic institutions and network with a whole host of contacts from across industry and policy at the Awards ceremony.

Entries can be submitted in various forms ranging from a photo of an illustrative size A0 POSTER to a VIDEO ENTRY of 5 minutes or less. Submissions to be sent to supergen-bioenergy@aston.ac.uk or via WeTransfer to supergen-bioenergy@aston.ac.uk Deadline is 8 June 2023.

For more information please visit the Supergen BioHub website. Inspiration from last year’s winner and shortlisted entries and top tips video can be viewed on YouTube.

Supergen are partnering with UKERC to host their International Summer School in Global Just Transition: Equity in Net Zero. Links to the UKERC article, summer school programme and application form can be found below. Application deadline 05/04/2023

We are delighted to announce that we are partnering with UKERC and others to host UKERC’s summer school in Global Just Transition: Equity in Net Zero. The following information about the Summer school has been taken from the UKERC website:

Summer school format
The event will have an international, interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach throughout the week-long programme, which focuses on a global just transition and equity in net zero. The summer school will develop the next generation of academics, decision-makers and professionals currently completing their doctoral training, and will help them appreciate both the complexities and opportunities related to the global implementation of net zero. Early career researchers[1] are also welcome to apply.

The event will be an engaging mix of lectures and skills-based workshops, along with networking opportunities. It will also include a focus on a problem-based scenario developed in collaboration with key stakeholders, the output from which will support real life decision making and solutions. The programme will also include social events and site visits to maximise opportunities for attendees to interact with each other and develop networks with like-minded individuals.

Key information
The summer school will take place in Newcastle 19-23 June 2023, and we are opening applications on the 27th of February. We are keen to see applications from CDT and DTP students across the UK, and international students.

The fee for participating in the summer school is £400, which includes accommodation, meals, site visits and local transfers within Newcastle. Students are expected to pay for their travel to and from Newcastle and visas where applicable, and any additional expenses incurred outside of the summer school. Financial assistance for travel and visas will also be available to support 20 students of lesser means to attend. With the global aspect of the summer school in mind, we are particularly keen to welcome students from Africa, Asia, the Pacific, the Caribbean, and South and Central America.

The deadline for applications is 12.00 GMT, Thursday 5 April, 2023. Applications will go through a two-stage process, with initial eligibility screening undertaken by UKERC, after which Part B of the application form will then anonymised before it is reviewed by the summer school steering group. For more information about the review process, please see page 3 of the application form.

We are keen to see applications from a large, diverse group of students, both nationally and internationally so please circulate this page to networks and colleagues as appropriate.

If you have any questions about the application process, please contact ukerc@ucl.ac.uk.

UKERC summer school article: International Summer School in Global Just Transition: Equity in Net Zero | UKERC | The UK Energy Research Centre

Summer school programme (draft): Summer-School-Programme_Draft.pdf (d2e1qxpsswcpgz.cloudfront.net)

Summer school application form: Summer-School-Application-Form.docx (live.com)

Supergen Energy Networks are pleased to announce that Professor Phil Taylor (University of Bristol) has been asked to join the government’s ‘Net Zero Innovation Board’ as an independent member.

Chaired by Sir Patrick Vallance (The Government Chief Scientific Adviser), the purpose of the board is to provide strategic oversight of government funding of net-zero innovation programmes. Specifically, the board will: 

• provide strategic oversight of public programmes on energy innovation. 
• identify opportunities for enhanced collaboration on both UK and international energy innovation priorities. 
• ensure that government spending is aligned with government priorities. 
• provide clear recommendations to ministers and others across government to address issues identified by the board. 

Phil Taylor will join a team of technical experts and stakeholders from a range of backgrounds including government departments, public bodies, industry, and academia. 

Since its inception, one of the goals of the Supergen Energy Networks project is to help shape investment and inform policy making to help achieve net-zero. Phil’s position on the board is an opportunity to further fulfil this aim. 

Further information about the Net Zero Innovation Board can be found on the gov.uk website.

“I am delighted to be given this opportunity and look forward to working with the board to identify practical ways we can scale up and unlock innovation in pursuit of net zero.”
Phil Taylor, Director, Supergen Energy Networks

Professor Sara Walker and Dr David Greenwood recently took place in a video to talk about how technology can be used to help us adapt our lives to a changed climate.

The Life Sciences team recently visited the Urban Sciences Building (USB), Newcastle University, to look at what the North East are doing in the fight against Climate Change.

The video is available to view via the Life website.

This week Professor Phil Taylor, Director, Supergen Energy Networks Hub and Professor Sara Walker, Deputy Director, featured on Sky News to discuss Hydrogen.  Professor Walker advised that around 95% of UK Hydrogen is generated from fossil fuels, while Professor Taylor advised that Hydrogen will feature strongly in all our low carbon futures.

“low carbon sources will be needed to tackle climate change”

Dr Robin Preece and Dr Ali Ehsan (Manchester University), recently wrote an article which was published in The Conversation about Heat Pumps and their increased electricity demand if millions more people switch to this form of heating.

“There’s only so much power you can get through a line or cable before it overheats and fails”

In its bid to massively reduce household use of greenhouse gases to net zero by 2050, the UK government aims to encourage the installation of 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028.

Heat pumps are a relatively new technology that take heat from the air outside, or the ground, to be circulated around a central heating and hot water system, using electricity. They are far more clean and energy efficient than gas.

The increased electricity demand caused by heat pumps if millions more people switch to this form of heating could place an “unmanageable burden” on the electrical grid, increasing the risk of power cuts, according to recent research using data from 6,600 gas-heated homes and 600 homes with heat pumps.

Without additional investments in electricity networks and additional innovations, such power cuts will be more likely. There are ways to reduce this risk but these mean major investment, financial incentives and public acceptance. The government has acknowledged the need to upgrade the grid.

The full article is available to read on the website.

Supergen Deputy Director, Professor Sara Walker, features in an interview and gives her advice on reducing vehicle emissions.

“Think about active modes of travel – and by active, I mean walking, cycling, scootering and for us to also use public transport.”

Professor Sara Walker, Deputy Director, Supergen Energy Networks Hub

Vehicle use in Newcastle is a large contributor to the city’s carbon emissions. With 96,000 cars registered within the region and over 55% of journeys made by private vehicles, more can be done to reduce the environmental impact our commutes have on the planet.

With COP26 currently underway, this ITV article provdies insight about how climate change is affecting the North East of England. 

CESI Director, Professor Sara Walker, spoke in an ITV news article this week which highlighted the localised impacts of climate change to the North East of the UK.

Sara gave advice on how the people of Newcastle can reduce carbon emissions and emphasised how important these actions are for the future.

The international aspiration to reach net zero carbon in energy systems by 2050 is growing. In the UK, the government has set a target of ‘Net Zero’ Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 in order to reduce contribution to global warming.

Facing pressure to be fit for a net zero GHG future, energy networks in the UK, and across the globe, are undergoing modernisation and investment. In order to ensure this investment is effective, energy network integration is a high priority for the UK regulator OFGEM, and hence the work of the Supergen Energy Networks Hub is urgent and timely.

This report summarises key academic literature with regards integrated energy network modelling across multiple vectors. This review will enable the Supergen Energy Networks Hub to address gaps in the review, and thereby contribute to the sector.

See the report here: Horizon scanning report 2020-21

We are pleased to announce the recent publication in the International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems

‘An interdisciplinary research perspective on the future of multi-vector energy networks’

Abstract:
Understanding the future of multi-vector energy networks in the context of the transition to net zero and the energy trilemma (energy security, environmental impact and social cost) requires novel interdisciplinary approaches. 

A variety of challenges regarding systems, plant, physical infrastructure, sources and nature of uncertainties, technological in general and more specifically Information and Communication Technologies requirements, cyber security, big data analytics, innovative business models and markets, policy and societal changes, are critically important to ensure enhanced flexibility and higher resilience, as well as reduced costs of an integrated energy system.

Integration of individual energy networks into multi-vector entities opens a number of opportunities, but also presents a number of challenges requiring interdisciplinary perspectives and solutions. Considering drivers like societal evolution, climate change and technology advances, this paper describes the most important aspects which have to be taken into account when designing, planning and operating future multi-vector energy networks.

For this purpose, the issues addressing future architecture, infrastructure, interdependencies and interactions of energy network infrastructures are elaborated through a novel interdisciplinary perspective.

Aspects related to optimal operation of multi-vector energy networks, implementation of novel technologies, jointly with new concepts and algorithms, are extensively discussed.

The role of policy, markets and regulation in facilitating multi-vector energy networks is also reported. Last but not least, the aspects of risks and uncertainties, relevant for secure and optimal operation of future multi-vector energy networks are discussed.

The full paper is available to view.

About the Author:

Professor Sara Walker is the Director of The Centre for Energy, in the School of Engineering. Her research focusses on renewable energy and energy efficiency in buildings, energy policy, energy resilience, and whole energy systems.

Sara is Director of the EPSRC National Centre for Energy Systems Integration, Deputy Director of the EPSRC Supergen Energy Networks Hub, and Deputy Research Director of the Active Building Centre.

My journey to Professorship
In November of 2021 I was promoted to Professor of Energy at Newcastle University. This has felt like such a career landmark for me.

I was brought up by my parents in Cramlington, a town to the north of Newcastle. When I was young my father was made redundant and the family moved into council housing. I never considered myself as poor, but I do remember we grew potatoes in the garden to save on food shopping and me and my younger sister would wear hand-me-down clothes. My older sister left school at 16 and got a job working in hospitality, and as my parents’ financial situation improved they were able to purchase their council house, but we were by no means affluent! At 15 I got a Saturday job at Whitley Bay ice rink in the cafeteria, and I started to earn my own money which was very empowering.

When I went to university at Leicester I noticed that my financial situation wasn’t the same as others around me. I had a grant from the council to cover most of my living costs and my parents also contributed to top my grant up. I got a part time job working at the bar in the students union, and also worked part time in a local pub. During summer vacations I always worked, normally bar work. I remember waiting to use the public telephone one weekend to chat to my parents whilst at university, and watching the person on the phone in front of me crying crocodile tears to her dad. She needed money to buy a ball gown since it wasn’t fair for her to be expected to wear her existing ball gown that she’d already worn. That’s when it really struck me that some of my fellow students were really well off! I didn’t join expensive societies like skiing and horse riding, I didn’t go to lots of balls and social events. For my graduation ball I hired my dress.

When I finished my undergraduate course in physics I was offered a PhD by my personal tutor at the university. I didn’t really know what a PhD was, I had been first in my family to go to university, and I turned it down. Instead, I did a teacher training course and got a job as teacher. After teaching for a short while I decided to go back to university to do a masters course in environmental science, because I had got really interested in energy issues through voluntary work. This led onto a research job, and an opportunity to complete a PhD part time whilst working as a researcher. I think this is the only way I could have completed a PhD since I didn’t have the financial resources to support myself on a student bursary. The part time PhD took five years whilst I worked as researcher and during that time I had my son Toby.

My early experience of academia was still affected by my background somewhat. I had to think carefully about attending academic conferences, because I didn’t know how long it would take for my expenses to be paid back. One time an expensive overseas trip wasn’t paid in time before I had to pay the credit card bill, and I could only pay the minimum and incurred interest, something I couldn’t claim back from my employer. Conference dinners were a minefield, I didn’t have lots of spare cash to spend on cocktail dresses. Even work suits were often bought from the catalogue and paid for monthly when I first started out. Later in my career, financially and socially I found myself excluded from social events and the associated networking opportunities of corporate boxes at football, or golf at exclusive members courses.

Academic statistics do not portray the full picture

HESA statistics are available, to tell us something of the makeup of our UK professoriate. In 2019/20 there were 22,810 professors, of which 6,345 are “female”, 16,415 “male” and 50 “other” gender. Of the 21,055 professors with known ethnicity, 2,285 are BME. 735 professors are known to have a disability. Looking just at engineering, this discipline areas has the lowest proportion of female academics (see figure below). There are no statistics for socio-economic group, and no statistics for intersectionality (i.e. we don’t know how many BME are female, or how many BME have a disability, for example). There are also statistics for grant applications and success from EPSRC, by gender. Data for other protected characteristics are lacking.

I am acutely aware of the lack of role models in academia from lower socio-economic backgrounds. But there are also a lack of role models who are LGBTQ+, minority ethnic, disabled, non-white, from different faiths, or any combination of these. In seeking out these role models, we expect people to be open about their protected characteristics, regardless of the discrimination this may attract.

Raising up colleagues, giving equality of opportunity, and being more aware of the potential barriers to engagement, are approaches we are taking at Newcastle University’s Centre for Energy. For example, we are working hard to encourage involvement from all job families in the Centre for Energy – research as an activity spans so many jobs including project managers, technicians, finance, research students, research staff and academic staff, for example. We want the Centre itself to address issues of fairness and equity in energy research, and so we have a theme on Justice, Governance and Ethics. We are tackling global issues of energy transition, issues which need a range of perspectives across gender, race, (dis)ability, sexual orientation and religion in order to come up with solutions that work for the majority, and not the select few.

I have a strong northern accent, and am proud of my roots and to be back in the north east working at a Russell Group university. But I am still that kid from the council estate. And I am proud of that too.