Supergen Net Zero Conference
1-3 September 2021, online
The COP26 UN climate change conference is taking place in November 2021. In preparation for this, the Supergen Programme for sustainable power generation and supply (funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) is organising a collaborative meeting for researchers, policymakers and people in industry to discuss steps the UK can take to mitigate climate change.
The Supergen group consists of six hubs – energy storage, networks, solar, bioenergy, offshore renewable energy and hydrogen. This meeting will offer collaborative ideas on how the UK can mitigate climate change from an energy perspective, helping to inform policymakers, academia and industry on the direction of the UK’s energy future.
Qver three days from 1 to 3 September, we will hear from each of the Supergen research hubs as well as look at the cross-cutting themes of equality, diversity and inclusion; industry; internationalisation; and policy.
Keynote speakers
Alan Whitehead MP, Shadow Minister for Energy and the Green New Deal
Southampton Test
Alan has been the Shadow Minister for Energy and the Green New Deal since April 2020 and served as the Shadow Energy and Climate Change Minister October 2016 – April 2020 and the Shadow DECC Minister for Generation and Transmission September 2015 – June 2016.
During his time in office he has championed the development of a new decarbonised energy landscape. He is frequently lauded by his fellow parliamentarians for his grasp of the complexities of this policy area.
Since becoming the Labour MP for Southampton Test in 1997 Alan has served on the Select Committees for Environment, Transport and the Regions, Energy and Climate Change, and Environmental Audit. He has a PhD in Political Science from Southampton University.
Alan will give a keynote address at 12.30pm on Thursday 2 September.
David Joffe, Head of Climate Budgets, Climate Change Committee
David is the Head of Carbon Budgets at the Climate Change Committee, where he’s worked since 2007. He oversees the Committee’s advice on the levels of UK carbon budgets, as well as the pathways to meet these and the Net Zero target. He oversaw the scenarios analysis and recommendations for the CCC’s recent advice on the Sixth Carbon Budget that sets out five pathways to Net Zero for the UK.
David oversees the CCC’s energy system analysis and led the CCC’s Hydrogen Review in 2018. He has a PhD on hydrogen infrastructure from Imperial College London.
David will give a keynote presentation during the session on policy implications of Supergen research ahead of COP26 at 3pm on Friday 3 September.
About the Supergen Programme
The Supergen programme was set up in 2001 to deliver sustained and coordinated research on SUstainable PowER GENeration and supply, focusing on several key research areas, including bioenergy; energy networks; energy storage; fuel cells; hydrogen and other vectors; marine, wave and tidal; solar technology; and wind power.
Supergen ORE Hub
The Supergen ORE Hub is a £9 Million Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded project. Led by Prof. Deborah Greaves OBE, Head of School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics at the University of Plymouth, the Hub is a consortium of Universities researching Offshore Renewable Energy which also includes University of Aberdeen, University of Edinburgh, University of Exeter, University of Hull, University of Manchester, University of Oxford, University of Southampton, University of Strathclyde and University of Warwick.
The Supergen ORE Hub brings together and builds on the work of the former Wind and Marine Supergen Hubs following consultation with the research community. The new hub looks for synergies between wind, wave and tidal technologies as well as building on current research in each area.
Supergen Bioenergy Hub
The Supergen Bioenergy Hub works with academia, industry, government and societal stakeholders to develop sustainable bioenergy systems that support the UK’s transition to an affordable, resilient, low-carbon energy future. The Hub is funded jointly by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and is part of the wider Supergen Programme.
Supergen Energy Networks Hub
The Supergen Energy Networks Hub brings together the vibrant and diverse energy networks community to gain a deeper understanding of the interactions and inter-dependencies of energy networks. Led by Hub Director, Professor Phil Taylor from Bristol University, the Hub integrates a wide range of industrial and academic partners with other energy network stakeholders. The Hub’s research is carried out by a consortium of Universities: Newcastle, Bristol, Manchester, Cardiff, Bath and Leeds. The research addresses the challenges of technology, policy, data, markets and risk for energy networks.
Supergen Energy Storage Network+
The Supergen Energy Storage Network+ is an integrated, forward-looking platform that supports, nurtures the expertise of the energy storage community, disseminating it through academia, industry, and policy, at a particularly important time when decisions on future funding and research strategy are still being resolved. The Supergen Network+ has secured £1M in funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and has a core partnership of 19 investigators from 12 UK institutions, all focused on the wider advancement, exchange and dissemination of energy storage expertise. A further 100 organisations from the UK and abroad have pledged their support for the network. The Supergen Storage Network+ is led by Professor Yulong Ding (University of Birmingham). Dr Antzela Fivga manages the Supergen Network+, leading on project management and day-to-day operations.
Supergen SuperSolar Hub
The Supergen SuperSolar Hub started in May 2012 and has since successfully formed an inclusive solar community that links research carried out by universities and industry. Led by Loughborough University’s Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST) the Hub comprises the Universities of Bath, Cambridge, Imperial College, Liverpool, Oxford, Sheffield and Southampton and the Solar Fuels Network. SuperSolar is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s (EPSRC) RCUK energy programme. In 2018, the universities of Swansea and Warwick joined the core members.
H2FC Supergen
The Hydrogen and Fuel Cells (H2FC) Supergen Hub is funded by the Research Councils UK Energy Programme, as part of the government’s Sustainable Power Generation and Supply initiative. It was set up in 2012 to address the key challenges facing the hydrogen and fuel cell sector as it strives to provide cost competitive, low carbon technologies in a more secure UK energy landscape.
