Past events

Since the late 2000s, science has established that global warming is largely defined by the total amount of carbon dioxide we emit into the atmosphere. This concept not only implies that halting warming to any level implies that global carbon dioxide emissions haveto be reduced to net zero, it also allows to estimate carbon budgets thatwould be compatible with limiting warming to either 1.5°C or 2°C. [...]

The presentation will introduce the development of the new Offshore Renewable Energy Supergen hub and describe the process and results of the engagement and consultation work carried out to design the new programme, together with an update on the status of the new Supergen hub. Speaker Deborah Greaves is Head of the School of Engineering, Professor of Ocean Engineering and Director of [...]

The transition of worldwide energy systems to cleaner sources, and at the same time, providing energy to over 1.3 billion people currently without access to electricity, whilst simultaneously maintaining the quality of supply for those already with access, is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century.  A necessary requirement on solving this challenge is to equip future generations [...]

Transitioning away from our current global energy system is of paramount importance. The speed at which a transition can take place—its timing, or temporal dynamics—is a critical element of consideration. This presentation therefore investigates the issue of time in global and national energy transitions by asking: What does the mainstream academic literature suggest about the time scale of energy transitions? [...]

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) features prominently in scenarios that deliver the 1.5C target agreed in Paris during the 2015 COP. However, it remains a technology dogged by social, political, and scientific controversy. For some, it is a panacea which permits the reversal of the effects on the climate of fossil fuel combustion. For others, it is reckless [...]

Chemical manufacturing is responsible for 26% of the world energy demand. The need to decouple industrial processes from fossil energy sources is growing more and moreurgent in the struggle to mitigate climate change whilst meeting increasedglobal energy demand. The industry requires large amounts of heat derived from fossil sources to drive thermochemical processes. Emerging electrochemical processes which require electricity rather than [...]

Shell’s latest Scenario, called Sky, meets the objectives of the Paris agreement whilst also providing access to energy to the billions of people on the planet who do not currently have it.  The route forward for energy is heavily dependent on renewables. The Sky Scenario illustrates this technologically, industrially and economically and also sees an ongoing role for fossil fuels, even [...]

As we move from demand-led to supply-led electricity systems, the need to match demand to available supply in real time becomes more significant. There is a plethora of research setting out the desirability of ‘active demand’ and modelling potential outcomes and there are also many possible ways of achieving it, with different combinations of technology, pricing and human effort. But [...]

This talk proposes ways of studying fossil fuel consumption through the lens of global history. Study of technological systems, the social and economic systems in which they are embedded, and the interactions between these, can yield insights. These types of history may help us to understand, first, the context for the political history of the international climate negotiations, and, second, [...]

Does high consumption make us happier? As much as we like it not to be true, electricity consumption correlates positively with enjoyment. This is a problem for all who wish we used less. This week we will explore how *valuable* energy is to people, rather than just how costly it is. High resolution data from hundreds of UK households can shine [...]