Future events

Our events page covers not only events and seminars from the Energy Network, but also energy related events across Oxford University. Student-led events can be found by visiting the Oxford Energy Society.

04 Oct

Designing net zero governance: The moment for multilateral governance and national regulation

Selam Kidane Abebe (Oxford Net Zero), Kaya Axelsson (Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and the Environmental Change Institute)

National net zero commitments now cover 88% of global emissions, 92% of GDP and 89% of the world’s population (Net Zero Tracker). To support this, net zero guidance and standards now exist for organisations at every level of the economy. Still, an implementation gap exists with respect to net zero regulation and implementation at the national level – and there is limited [...]

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10 Oct

Energy Seminar – Week 1: The political economy of fossil fuel subsidy reform in developing countries

Dr Neil McCulloch, Director, Policy Practice

Summary: This seminar will outline the main arguments of the new book on “Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies – the politics of saving the planet”, written by Dr. Neil McCulloch.  The book explains what fossil fuel subsidies are, how they inflict harm and what steps are being taken to reduce them.  It also shows why subsidies persist and why existing efforts [...]

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11 Oct

Onshore CO2 storage in the UK: What’s the current state of knowledge?

Tom Kettlety (Department of Earth Sciences)

Permanent CO2 storage is an integral part of reaching net zero and meeting the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. The UK has committed to develop CO2 storage in geological reservoirs deep underground, but so far has focussed on doing so offshore. Onshore storage might well prove useful, however, especially for sources of emissions that are dispersed and far from [...]

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17 Oct

Energy Seminar – Week 2: Targeting Transformation of the World’s Energy Supply with the Most Practical Path to Commercial Fusion Energy

Myles Hildebrand Director, Strategic Partnerships

Summary: This talk will explain Magnetized Target Fusion, how it draws on concepts from both magnetic and inertial confinement fusion and sidesteps the traditional barriers to commercial fusion. A brief overview of past experimental success will be provided along with a description of General Fusion’s future plans on their path to commercialization. General Fusion’s numerous strategic partnerships will also be [...]

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07 Nov

Energy Seminar – Week 5: The UK energy demand observatory – how Oxford helps to understand and accelerate changes in energy demand

Dr Phil Grunewald

Summary: The way we use energy will have to undergo fundamental changes during the transition towards a net-zero world. Many of the technical solutions are known: insulate homes, electrify heating and transport, deploy smarter, more efficient and flexible appliances. But how well do they work in practice? Tracking the impact requires careful observation and robust control groups. Oxford leads the technology [...]

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Seminar | Week 5
14 Nov

Energy Seminar – Week 6: Bringing Breakthrough Technologies to Market: Solar Power and Feed-in Tariffs

Sugandha Srivastav

Summary: Solving societal problems such as climate change requires commercializing new technologies. Yet, due to incomplete information, there are under-developed markets for finance and insurance for these new technologies. Temporary support to bring the first set of projects to market may be warranted to resolve this credit market failure. Sugandha investigates the impact of the UK’s feed-in tariff (FiT) which [...]

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21 Nov

Energy Seminar – Week 7: The roles of nuclear fission and fusion in the future UK energy system

Professor William Nuttall, CPhys FInstP FRSA

Summary: Fusion has somehow leapt from being a distant concern of horizon-scanning academics and national lab researchers to being a trendy new start-up technology. Fission advocates have a new plan that is factory built and hopefully cheaper than the vast 2-reactor power plant under construction near Bristol. Fusion research and development has seen a culture shift that is both profound [...]

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