The Role of Physics in Renewable Energy RD

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The Role of Physics in Renewable Energy RDD

• Judith Bates

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Renewable Energy

• Why do we need to develop renewable energy
  technologies?
• Challenges in developing renewable energy
• The role of physics and physicists in RDD
• Improving support for the RDD base

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Why do we need Renewable Energy?

• Climate change and the need to move to a low
  carbon economy
• Renewable energy needs to be part of the package
  of future low carbon energy supplies
• Modelling work shows that renewable energy could
  make significant contribution at UK, European and
  global level
• Other benefits include diversity and security of
  energy supply

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Renewable Electricity in the UK
2010 target 10, 2020 (aspirational target ) 20
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Potential contribution in the UK in 2040
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Potential contribution from technologies globally
in 2040
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Challenges for Development

• Barriers which need to be overcome
• Maturity
• Cost
• Intermittency
• Distributed nature
• Social and institutional constraints
• RDD needed to
• Improve performance and reliability
• Bring down costs
• Improve energy storage options and integration
  with grid

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Renewable Energy RDD

• Wide range of disciplines and skills involved
• Often requires an interdisciplinary or
  multidisciplinary team
• Mature technologies focus is on incremental
  improvements
• Emerging technologies demonstration, prototype
  testing and scaling up
• Some technologies still require fundamental
  research

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Status of Technologies
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Assessment of Role of Physicists

• Literature review
• Discussion with technology experts in academia
  and industry
• Qualitative assessment of the contribution that
  physicists could make
• Recognition of transferable skills (e.g.
  mathematical modelling, simplification by
  approximation) which physicists can apply in a
  variety of situations

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Key RDD Areas Photovoltaics
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Quantum solar cell research
Experimental Solid-State Physics Group, Imperial
College
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Dye-sensitised Solar Cells
School of Physics Astronomy, University of
Nottingham
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Key RDD Areas Marine
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Marine PS Frog
Visual representation
Device concept
Engineering Department, Lancaster University.
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Key RDD Areas Fuel cells
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Key RDD Areas Hydrogen
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Other examples

• Grid integration of remote sources development
  of high temperature superconducting material
• Offshore wind development of optoelectical
  sensors for monitoring strain in blades tackling
  issues of interference with radar
• Energy storage superconducting magnetic energy
  storage

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Supporting the RDD Base Skills

• Issue Shortage of necessary skills in UK
• No quantitative data on number of current or
  future researchers required or types of
  disciplines
• Potential solutions Ensure adequate supply of
  suitably qualified personnel by
• Estimating future skills and associated
  educational needs
• Ensuring appropriate training is available

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Supporting the RDD Base involving physicists

• Issue Physicists could contribute usefully to
  RDD on most renewable energy technologies and
  help to plug skills gap
• Number of physicists declining as is proportion
  entering science and engineering employment
• Potential solutions Encourage physicists (and
  others) to consider career in this area
• Raise awareness e.g. in A level and undergraduate
  physics course, continuing professional
  development activities, Institute journals

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Supporting the RDD Base multidisciplinarity

• Issue RDD for many technologies require an
  interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary approach
• Difficulties in obtaining funding for
  multidisciplinary MSc courses or PhD research
  opportunities, and finding a home for research
• Potential solutions
• A more flexible approach from funding bodies
• Universities could consider setting up energy
  technology centres to act as a focus

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Supporting the RD Base - Funding
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Supporting the RDD Base Funding

• Issue Variety of funding routes (DTI, Carbon
  Trust, EPSRC SUPERGEN, EU FP6) but overall levels
  are lower than in several other European
  countries
• Potential solutions
• develop clearer overall strategy for RDD,
  clearer map of RDD funding, clearer demarcation
  of roles of different funding bodies
• Ensure adequate funding for areas of strength
  (marine and novel PV devices)