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Energy Policy
The Academy is responsible for a number of energy
initiatives and responses. Below is a summary of work done in this field.
Since the beginning of 2008 the Academy has submitted
a number of responses to Government inquiries in the
energy and climate change field. They are included
in the
list of Academy policy responses.
The Academy has helped
organise the following briefings and seminars:
Solar thermal power plants –
28 September 2009
Solar thermal power plants use
concentrated solar radiation to produce superheated
steam or hot air which is then fed into conventional
steam and/or gas turbine cycles to generate
electricity. In this briefing Professor Hans
Müller-Steinhagen FREng, Director of the Institute
of Technical Thermodynamics at the German Aerospace
Centre, describes current activities developing this
technology as well as the DESERTEC initiative to
establish a European supergrid that would allow such
solar plants in North Africa and the Middle East to
supply electricity to Europe.
Professor Müller-Steinhagen’s
address was followed by a panel discussion, chaired
by Professor Roland Clift CBE FREng, that covered
the commercial, political and economic issues raised
by this technology. Panel members included Professor
Nick Jenkins of Cardiff University and Director of
the Centre for Integrated Renewable Energy
Generation and Supply (CIREGS) along with Professor
Walt Patterson, a fellow of the Energy, Environment
and Development Programme at Chatham House and a
visiting fellow of the Science Policy Research Unit,
University of Sussex.
Geo-engineering: Challenges and global impacts - 15 July 2009
Co-hosted with the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institute of Physics, this seminar discussed a number of imaginative technologies that have been suggested to modify the Earth’s albedo or sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide, which could be sufficient to offset, in part, the effect of greenhouse gas emissions. It was chaired by Dr Brian Iddon MP and speakers included Prof. Steve Rayner of the University of Oxford and Dr Dan Lunt of the University of Bristol.
The heat beneath your feet: Geothermal energy in the UK - 8 April 2009
Geothermal heat mining technologies were initially developed in the 1970s. As the need for cleaner heat and energy sources becomes more urgent, the viability of geothermal power is being re-examined. This seminar, chaired by Prof Nick Jenkins FREng, re-assessed the viability of geothermal power in the UK. Speakers provided perspectives on a range of geothermal methods, including international case studies, within the current energy policy context.
Heat workshop – 22 Jan 2009
The Energy Research Partnership, Energy Technologies Institute and Royal Academy of Engineering jointly organised a workshop to examine the role of heat in the UK's energy system. The workshop was designed to raise the level of thinking on heat as an issue, help guide ETI's future work on heat, and inform participants' responses to the Government’s consultation on the Heat and Energy Savings Strategy, which was subsequently launched on 12 February.
EURO-Case conference 'How can the EU meet its 2020 renewables targets?' - 3rd Nov 2008
On 3 November 2008, The Royal Academy of Engineering hosted the first annual Euro-CASE conference at its London headquarters on the topic of the European Union’s 2020 renewable energy targets. The conference examined the engineering challenges associated with the targets, and asked: what policies, technologies and incentives need to be put in place within the next decade to ensure that they are met?
The Severn Barrage – 22 May 2008
The Severn Barrage proposal has been in existence for many years, but the more urgent need for low-carbon electricity generation and the adoption of legally binding national targets for renewable energy generation mean that the proposals, together with other tidal range power options in the Severn Estuary, are now receiving renewed attention from Government and industry. The briefing was opened with a keynote speech from Malcolm Wicks MP and went on to address various engineering, environmental and financial aspects of such a scheme.
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