Energy Technologies Partnership

The ETP Advisory Group held its first meeting in January 2009, co-chaired by Ian Marchant (CEO of Scottish and Southern Energy) and Prof. Anne Glover (Chief Scientific Officer for Scotland). The Advisory Group which comprises senior industry and public sector agency representatives from across Scotland provides strategic advice and support to the ETP in relation to key business and policy drivers.

The ETP Research Advisory Forum held its second meeting in March 2009. This group comprises of representatives from many of the research pools in Scotland (e.g. physics, geosciences, life sciences), industry bodies, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International. One of the main roles of the Forum is to help identify new inter-discliplinary opportunities between energy and other technology areas.

The ETP also now has a Programme Partner scheme where we work with other organisations outside of the ETP on specific projects and for mutual benefit. We currently have two programme partners:

Scottish European Green Energy Centre

The Scottish European Green Energy Centre (SEGEC) is a new initiative being developed by the Scottish Government to help Scotland exploit the opportunities offered by the green energy sector through stronger engagement with European institutions, partners and projects. SEGEC services will focus on influencing policy, accessing funding and supporting collaborative projects. SEGEC will work closely with the ETP to influence the EU research agenda, support access to EU funding and promote Scottish expertise throughout Europe. Detailed planning is now underway for the formal establishment and launch of SEGEC by summer 2009. Click here for SEGEC's Business Plan.

UHI Millenium Institute

Lews Castle College in Stornoway has ambitious plans to grow its energy capability and has recently secured ERDF funding to recruit additional academic and research staff in this area. The College has also been successful in becoming a partner in an EU 7th Framework Programme project SUSPLAN (PLANing for SUStainability) which will explore the development of regional and EU-wide guidelines for more efficient integration of renewable energy into future infrastructures.

Selection of other ETP activities

• ETP represented at meeting with Texas Universities seeking to develop collaborative opportunities with several new areas of opportunity identified, e.g. wind energy, SMART grids, Carbon Capture and Storage;
• Discussions ongoing with Chinese and Indian research groups to identify new potential areas for collaboration with meetings planned in Beijing for early April involving several ETP members;
• ETP short listed to provide mentoring support to new Indian Institute of Technology;
• We have continued to promote the excellence within the ETP at a wide variety of conferences, exhibitions, meetings and in selected journals, in the UK and Internationally;
• Study commissioned to help ETP identify opportunities to further improve Knowledge Transfer performance;
• Joint project underway between ETP and Scottish Development International to display the considerable energy capabilities of Scotland on a Knowledge Map - we hope to have on our web site soon.

Please contact us if you would like more information on any of the above.

The ETI recently announced its first programmes coming out of this £1.1bn initiative with ETP Members playing a prominent role. The University of Strathclyde is a partner in the two wind energy programmes and the University of Edinburgh a partner in a marine energy programme. These are tremendous successes and we remain hopeful that there will be further good news as other ETI programmes are announced.

Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) in Wind Energy

Further confirming the University of Strathclyde's reputation as a centre for wind energy R&D excellence, the EPSRC recently announced that the University has been awarded a £5.6m grant to develop a DTC in wind energy. The Wind Energy Systems Centre will create 10 PhD studentships every year for five years in a wide range of disciplines related to wind energy. Training will start at the Wind Energy Systems Centre in October 2009.

SUPERGEN Success

The University of St. Andrews will manage the latest consortia investigating the Delivery of Sustainable Hydrogen in the EPSRC's flagship SUPERGEN programme. ETP member University participation in the SUPERGEN is significant with a principal investigator/leadership role in 7 of the total 15 consortia and programme participation in another 6 areas.

 £2m Grant for Rural Electricity

A research consortium led by the University of Dundee has been awarded a £2m grant from EPSRC and DfID to explore means of generating and supplying power to rural areas in developing countries which do not have access to centralised electricity networks. The project will seek to find innovative and alternative methods of decentralised off-grid electricity generation and business models for off-grid supply. Contact Dr Subhes Bhattacharyya (S.C.Bhattacharyya@dundee.ac.uk) for more information.

Success with EPSRC Collaborative Project

A recent joint EPSRC application made between Prof. Chengke Zhou and Dr. Donald Hepburn at Glasgow Caledonian University and Dr. Martin Judd and Dr. W.H. Siew at the University of Strathclyde has been successful. The three year project "Knowledge Discovery from On-line Cable Condition Monitoring Systems: Insulation Degradation and Aging Diagnostics" commenced in February 2009. 

Solar Hat-trick for Heriot-Watt University - 3 Recent Grant Successes

Active Solar Panel Initiative: ASPIS: EU FP7 funded project coordinated by IPA, Fraunhoffer, Germany to develop a low cost parallactic tracking based solar PV concentrator with HWU responsible for elementary to system level modelling.

Building Integration Concentrating Enhanced Photovoltaic System: BICEPT: EPSRC funded project to develop a new 3-D concentrating PV system with hyperboloid-ellipsoidal configuration.

UKIERI funded project to develop a 3-D solar concentrator for water desalination.

EPSRC has recently published its future funding calls 2009-2011, including many related to energy technologies.

EPSRC - Cross-Disciplinary Feasibility Account - Expressions of Interest

The Cross-Disciplinary Interfaces Programme |invites expressions of interest for a Cross-Disciplinary Feasibility Account, to be held by an established cross-disciplinary research group, and used to support a suite of short-term research activities. Research activities should be highly adventurous, speculative feasibility studies that have the potential to consolidate the cross-disciplinary culture within the institution. Closing date for applications is 1 May 2009.

EPSRC - Complexity Science for the Real World

The EPSRC Cross-disciplinary Interfaces Programme |invites proposals for internationally leading, cross-disciplinary programmes of research which will develop and apply the tools and techniques of complexity science for tackling major societal research challenges. Grants funded against this call may be up to six years long, and will provide funding to support a suite of related research activities focusing on one major theme. Up to £10 million has been earmarked for this targeted activity; it is anticipated that we will fund three or four proposals. If you would like to attend register your interest by emailing complexity@epsrc.ac.uk| by 17 April 2009  at the latest. 

The Energy Technology Institute has a Heavy Duty Vehicle Effiency Project with a closing date of 10 April 2009.

The Technology Strategy Board has two competitions open in the areas of Energy Generation and Supply: Carbon Abatement Technologies (closing date 23 July 2009) and Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Technologies (23 April 2009) and has also announced plans for three competitions (total £24m) in the summer to cut the environmental impact of buildings.

The Technology Strategy Board, The Northern Way and the Department of Energy and Climate Change are to jointly invest £15 million in innovative research |that will see the development and demonstration of technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel power stations and other CO₂ intensive process industries. Expressions of interest by 23 July 2009. 

The EU has shortlisted a number of key energy projects across Europe for funding under its recent stimulation package, including a proposed investment of 40 million Euros on the Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm and associated test and demonstration facilities. The ETP is working with the developers of this project to consider how the ETP's expertise in wind energy R&D might be best integrated with the demonstration and deployment aspects of this exciting new development.

Factory Offcuts and Fuel Cells

Interesting article in the New Scientist related to work at the University of St. Andrews using fibre board as a feedstock for fuel cells.

RCUK Knowledge Transfer Portal

Research Councils UK has launched a Knowledge Transfer Portal |which offers a single point of access for those in academia, business, public, private and/or third sectors, who want to find out about Research Council knowledge transfer schemes and activities, and how to get involved. You will find links to Research Council funding opportunities, current events, networks, and training courses, just to name a few.

UKERC launches the results of its ambitious whole systems research project

A one day event held at the Institute of Engineering and Technology, 2 Savoy Place, London - 30 April 2009.

This event will bring to a close the first five year-phase of the UK Energy Research Centre's activities, showcasing the findings of an ambitious cross-Centre research project – UKERC Energy 2050. 

The results will show how the UK can meet its goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 while dealing with anxieties about energy security. 

The project, over two years in the making, has involved a unique whole systems investigation of energy in the UK.  It utilises UKERC's complete set of interdisciplinary skills covering economics, engineering and the physical, environmental and social sciences, taking full account of technology, lifestyle and environmental dimensions.

For more information and to register click here |or see attached.

The UKERC fifth annual Energy Summer School to be held 5 – 10 July 2009

UKERC has 100 places up for grabs for UK and international first and second year PhD students on this years annual energy summer school| at the University of Sussex, Brighton.  The deadline for nominations is 5pm London time on 2 April 2009.   

Dalton Institute Awarded Contract for UK Nuclear R&D Capability

A contract to evaluate the UK's Nuclear R&D capability has been issued to the Dalton Nuclear Institute. The work, commissioned by the Technology Strategy Board, several Regional Development Agencies and Materials UK, sets out to understand the UK's current position as a technology provider and identify the potential business opportunities that may be created by a resurgence in the civil nuclear power sector. The review will be completed by summer 2009.

Doctoral Training Centres 

The EPSRC has announced a number of successful Doctoral Training Centres across the UK, including the DTC at the University of Strathclyde (referred to above). The main energy related DTC's are;

• University of Bath - Sustainable Chemical Technologies
• University of Birmingham - Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and their Application
• University of Leeds - Technologies for a Low Carbon Future
• University of Manchester - Nuclear Fission Research, Science and Technology AND
• Industrial Doctorate Centre in Nuclear Engineering
• University of Nottingham - Efficient Power from Fossil Energies and Carbon Capture Technologies
• University of Reading - Technologies for Sustainable Built Environments
• University of Sheffield - Sheffield Training in Interdisciplinary Energy Research: STIER
• University of Southampton - Industrial Doctorate Centre in Transport and the Environment
• University of Strathclyde - Doctoral Training Centre in Wind Energy Systems
• University of Surrey - Industrial Doctorate Centre in Sustainability for Engineering and Energy Systems
• UCL - Industrial Doctorate Centre in Urban Sustainability and Resilience AND
• Doctoral Training Centre in Photonic Systems Development

 All-Energy '09, 20-21 May, Aberdeen

This year's All-Energy event, the UK's largest event devoted to renewable energy, will be taking place at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on 20 and 21 May 2009. The ETP will have a stand at the exhibition and a 90 minute slot on the conference programme to showcase our research excellence. For further details on All-Energy '09 click here.