Events

Summary: Can today’s best buildings meet tomorrow’s net-zero targets? Drawing on evidence from 37 award-winning and recognised UK buildings, this seminar explores the gap between current best practice and the energy and carbon performance needed by 2050. Informed by expert insights from the ZERO Buildings working group, we examine the technological innovations, design choices and operational improvements needed to close [...]

Now the UK’s statutory climate advisor, Emma Pinchbeck’s career has taken her from campaigning at WWF-UK through the renewables industry and Energy UK to the heart of government advice, and she has often found herself criticised by environmental campaigners and sceptical newspapers alike. Emma will reflect on that journey, the biggest obstacles still standing between the UK and net zero, and [...]

Summary: This seminar, based on outputs from a recent research sprint on Environment and National Security, will look at how energy security fits into the big picture of environmental security. It will explore how energy, food, water, climate and nature resilience are interlinked, and how environmental degradation leads to cascading risks for national security. Finally, it will look at how [...]

Electrification is not simply about replacing fossil fuels with clean electricity. Electric technologies can deliver the same services using far less energy, creating a powerful but often overlooked benefit: electroefficiency. In this talk, Professor Jan Rosenow will explore how electroefficiency could reshape energy demand and accelerate decarbonisation, and introduce the new Oxford Martin Electrification Accelerator.  

Summary: The global shift to clean energy is increasing demand for the critical materials needed for renewable technologies and electric vehicles. For mineral-rich countries such as Zambia, this creates opportunities for investment, economic growth and participation in emerging clean-energy supply chains. However, it also raises important social and environmental challenges. Drawing on research from the FCDO-funded Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) [...]

Summary: At its core, energy is leverage. It allows us to do more with less, and our ability to harness it has transformed society immeasurably since the Industrial Revolution. Now, as we become increasingly able to exchange energy for cognitive output, we have unlocked a new scaling vector for this leverage, one that could reshape global power structures over the [...]

Professor Michael Grätzel is co-inventor of a pioneering third-generation photovoltaic technology inspired by how plants harvest sunlight during photosynthesis. ‘Dye-Sensitised Solar Cells’, sometimes known as Grätzel cells, use tiny dye particles to imitate chlorophyll atop a porous layer of titanium dioxide nanoparticles. These solar cells have since been developed into low-cost, flexible, transparent and colourful photovoltaics capable of generating electricity [...]