We are going to have a seminar on 'NO EASY OPTION: Energy Technology Challenges along a Low Carbon Transition Pathway' on 19th November 2014, Wednesday, given by Professor Geoffrey Hammond, who is currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath.

Abstract and biography are given below.

Date & Time: 1:00-2:00 PM, Wednesday, 19th November, 2014
Venue: Room 468 (PG suite), James Watt Building South

Tea/coffee/biscuits before the start.

 

 

Abstract

The various benefits and dsbenefits of the major low carbon, energy options open to the UK going forward will be highlighted. This will draw on indicative energy technology assessments of an interdisciplinary character as carried out for the EPSRC 'Realising Transition Pathways' Consortium Project.
Such indicative assessments have typically embraced the use of quantitative methods (like energy, environmental, and economic appraisal techniques) as well as qualitative ones. The energy analysis and environmental appraisals were conducted on a 'cradle-to-gate', life-cycle basis. They are 'indicative' in the sense of being a simplified evaluations of the performance of alternative energy technology options, i.e., energy demand reduction and energy efficiency improvements, carbon capture and storage (CCS) from fossil fuel power plants, and the switch to other low or zero carbon energy sources, such as renewables and nuclear power. Nevertheless, such assessments provide a valuable evidence base for developers, policy makers, and other stakeholders. Professional and public perception of the advantages and disadvantages of different energy technologies inevitably change over time, but the current state-of-play will be illustrated using a selection of examples.

Biography

Geoffrey Hammond is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath, and was founder Director of its Institute for Sustainable Energy & the Environment (I•SEE). He is a mechanical engineer with a multidisciplinary background, including environmental engineering and management. After working as a design and development engineer in the UK refrigeration industry and then as a VSO Lecturer at Uganda Technical College (East Africa), he held various academic appointments within the Applied Energy Group at Cranfield University before moving to a Professorship at the University of Bath. His research interests are mainly concerned with the technology assessment of energy (including bioenergy) systems and transition pathways to a low carbon future. Professor Hammond is currently the Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-Leader of the EPSRC 'Realising Transition Pathways' Consortium.
He was also the co-originator of the 'Inventory of Carbon and Energy' (ICE), funded jointly by the Carbon Trust and the EPSRC, now widely used by practitioners for the calculation of ‘carbon footprints’ for products and in construction. He is the joint recipient of the Dufton Silver Medal and of the George Stephenson Prize for publications in his specialist field. Professor Hammond has given keynote and invited lectures on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Willem van Gool Memorial Lecture at the 3rd European Congress on Economics and Management of Energy in Industry. He sits on the editorial boards of several archival journals that publish material in the area of energy and the environment. In recent years he has advised the UK Government’s the Department of Energy and Climate Change, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Government Office of Science, and their independent Committee on Climate Change. In addition, he has undertaken international consultancy assignments for Government Ministries and Industrial R&D Organisations in Sri Lanka and Taiwan. In 2010, Geoffrey Hammond was also appointed as an Honorary Professor in Sustainable Bioenergy at the University of Nottingham.

First published: 24 October 2013

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