Annex 1
Memorandum from the Engineering and Physical
Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
1. EPSRC supports research and training
in the core physical sciences (mathematics, physics & chemistry),
underpinning technologies (eg materials science and information
& communications technologies) and all aspects of engineering.
2. EPSRC awards research grants through
two main delivery modes—responsive and managed. Through
the responsive mode EPSRC invests in the highest quality research
projects, as judged by peer review, within subject areas of the
researchers choosing. In managed mode, researchers submit their
research ideas in response to a research remit specified by EPSRC
and key stakeholders; conditions may be applied to applications,
for example the requirement that proposals involve an industrial
collaborator.
3. EPSRC believes that it is technically
feasible to meet the likely shortfall in electricity generating
capacity by approaching the "generation gap" from a
truly mixed energy supply perspective, including most if not all
of energy generation technologies such as renewables, cleaner
fossil fuel technologies and nuclear fission and in the longer
term fusion power. EPSRC also recognises the huge potential for
energy efficiency improvements to lead to a reduction in both
energy demand and CO2 emissions.
4. Research, development, demonstration
and technology transfer are all essential to enable the implementation
of innovation in the energy supply market and funding agencies
must work in effective partnerships to support innovation. EPSRC
would emphasise that the shortage of trained personnel within
the energy industry as a key area of concern.
5. This memorandum provides an overview
of the research in energy supported by EPSRC including current
and future activities.
EPSRC SUPPORT TO
ENERGY RESEARCH
IN THE
UK
6. ESPRC aims to support a full spectrum
of energy research to help the UK meet the objectives and targets
set out in the 2003 Energy White Paper.
7. EPSRC has a large portfolio of research
relevant to energy. Research activities include technologies associated
with the extraction of energy resources (principally coal, oil
and gas), energy production (utilising carbon-based, nuclear,
and renewable sources), and electricity transmission and distribution.
The transmission and distribution of electricity encompasses research
relating to power systems management, protection and control systems,
energy vectors such as hydrogen, energy storage and recovery and
embedded generation. Research funded includes also some areas
of research underpinning the current and future activities in
the power sector such as nuclear physics. EPSRC funds also a diverse
range of research into the development and introduction of potential
energy efficiency measures in areas extending from the built environment
to industrial processes and products, from materials to power
generation, and from markets and regulation to organisational
and individual behaviour. Table 2 summarises EPSRC spent by technology
in the financial years from 2000 to date.
Table 2
EPSRC'S EXPENDITURE BY FINANCIAL YEAR IN
ENERGY ACTIVITIES
| Technology | 2000-01
| 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04
| 2004-05 | Total |
| Biofuels | £21,540 | £51,545
| £141,990 | £126,420
| £86,550 | £428,045
|
| Biomass | £159,422 | £301,443
| £271,907 | £803,033
| £1,026,848 | £2,562,653
|
| CHP | £17,675 | £77,637
| £34,473 | £39,319 |
£42,048 | £211,152 |
| CO2 Sequestration | £22,544
| £41,589 | £66,865 |
£30,323 | £40,177 | £201,498
|
| Conventional | £339,850 |
£819,493 | £895,434 |
£618,298 | £677,010 |
£3,350,085 |
| Energy Efficiency | £1,693,629
| £1,342,372 | £1,546,543
| £1,834,048 | £1,076,677
| £7,493,269 |
| Fuel Cell | £707,136 |
£949,997 | £1,126,368 |
£779,552 | £800,046 |
£4,363,099 |
| Geothermal | £40,493 |
£61,000 | £49,078 | £17,547
| £14,772 | £182,890
|
| Hydrogen & Vectors | £34,097
| £318,500 | £510,479
| £1,480,079 | £1,362,229
| £3,705,384 |
| Networks | £810,258 |
£1,003,320 | £1,173,606
| £1,500,383 | £2,054,832
| £6,542,399 |
| Nuclear | £117,634 | £288,900
| £237,622 | £173,555
| £85,825 | £903,536
|
| PV | £2,729,527 | £2,929,647
| £2,474,110 | £1,964,252
| £2,348,995 | £12,446,531
|
| Storage | £774,615 | £743,677
| £702,320 | £517,164
| £408,505 | £3,146,281
|
| Waste | £39,962 | £80,939
| £124,826 | £169,024
| £119,580 | £534,331
|
| Wave & Tidal | £184,599
| £452,661 | £417,115
| £730,707 | £954,827
| £2,739,909 |
| Wind | £256,148 | £300,041
| £421,680 | £309,070
| £149,590 | £1,436,529
|
| Grand Total | £7,597,119
| £10,156,071 | £10,089,833
| £10,430,515 | £12,706,341
| £50,979,879 |
| | |
| | | |
Notes:
1. Data for TSEC is not included, refer to RCUK overview paragraph
7-9.
2. Data does not include fusion, refer to paragraph 13.
8. EPSRC provides a major investment in renewable energy
and related R&D, at a level of £31.7 million in the period
2000-01 to 2004-05. Renewable sources of power include wave, wind,
biomass, solar PV, and fuel cells utilising renewable hydrogen
sources. The portfolio includes issues relating to the integration
of renewable sources of generation into the energy grid. An indicative
breakdown of EPSRC's investment classified by technology area
is provided in Table 2 although the nature of research is such
that it is likely that EPSRC funded research being undertaken
in other areas such as materials, chemistry and physics for example
may also give rise to useful results in this field. Full details
of all of the projects identified by EPSRC as relevant to the
inquiry can be provided if required.
9. The investment by EPSRC in these areas reflects current
and past research priorities in energy research. EPSRC has supported
a series of managed programmes in energy-relevant topics including
fuel cells, photovoltaics, energy storage, renewable and new energy
technologies, and energy supply research for the 21 century. The
operation of responsive mode and managed programmes in parallel
means that while strategic investment in targeted areas have a
significant influence on the overall distribution of research
funding, the ongoing award of research grants in responsive mode
allows for a broader range of innovative research ideas.
10. EPSRC is continuing to make strategic investments
in research addressing both the supply and demand side of the
energy economy through a major research programme on Sustainable
Power Generation and Supply (SUPERGEN). SUPERGEN, started in July
2003, is a multidisciplinary research programme that addresses
simultaneously technical solutions and market and public acceptability
issues. As such it is ideally placed to inform the development
of effective regulatory strategies to enable the transition towards
a low carbon economy. EPSRC total investment in SUPERGEN is of
£25 million over five years. Research is delivered through
multidisciplinary consortia of the order of £2-3 million
tackling key challenges in improving the sustainability of the
power supply industry. The activities of the SUPERGEN Programme
have been expanded into the social, environmental and life sciences
to address these challenges. This has enabled SUPERGEN to become
a collaborative activity across the research councils including
BBSRC, ESRC and NERC. Initial priority areas funded under the
SUPERGEN Programme were biomass, wave & tidal generation,
hydrogen generation & storage, and future distribution networks.
The second phase of the programme, with grants awarded early in
2004, is focusing on conventional generation plant lifetime extension
and photovoltaics. The third and fourth phase priorities, with
grants awarded between January and August 2005, include fuel cells,
energy storage & recovery, distributed technology and next
generation photovoltaic materials. Priorities for the fifth phase
include wind technologies, biological fuel cells and network infrastructure,
these awards are expected to be announced later in 2005. The expectation
is that the total value of the Programme over the five-year period,
inclusive of third party contributions, will be in excess of £40
million.
11. EPSRC is also working in partnership with the Carbon
Trust on "Carbon Vision", a £14 million joint R&D
programme on low carbon innovation, with additional funding from
ESRC and NERC. This Programme is supporting research to underpin
the development of tomorrow's low carbon technologies. Carbon
Vision current activities are research consortia in low carbon
buildings and low carbon industrial processes. The £5.4 million
Carbon Vision Buildings consortium, with ESRC contribution, aims
to create and assess a range of options whereby the owners and
operators of the national building stock can reduce carbon emissions
significantly in comparison with today's performance. The Carbon
Vision industrial processes consortium (£1 million, with
NERC contribution) aims to develop a methodology for a systematic
life-cycle estimation of carbon inventories in different industries
(food, chemicals, plastic, construction and biomass). EPSRC and
ESRC have also invested further £0.8 million in a Carbon
Vision project aiming at developing detailed understanding of
the barriers that apply at times of disruptive innovation towards
low carbon systems, and at identifying responses to these barriers
that will promote step changes in carbon efficiency, The Carbon
Vision programme includes management arrangements to encourage
close co-operation between the research teams. An Engagement Group
of key research users is being established for Carbon Vision Buildings
to provide advice and guidance to ensure that the Carbon Vision
portfolio delivers high quality stakeholder-focused, solutions-driven
research. As a final phase of the current Carbon Vision Programme,
ESPRC is planning to fund two awards to develop future research
leaders in low carbon technology and, in particular, in energy
efficiency. Each award will be £1 million to provide research
support in terms of staff and other items to excellent researchers
with the potential to become international leaders. We will also
be looking for commitment from the university in terms of longer
term support for the research group and for exploitation. The
successful candidates will also be provided with contacts and
mentoring to help them develop international and high level business
and policy-related contacts.
12. A Collaborative Training Account to provide masters
level and continuing professional development training in nuclear
energy related skills has been funded with £1 million from
EPSRC and £1.6 million from various stakeholders such as
Government bodies (NDA, MoD, Cogent), regulators (HSE/NII) and
leading industrial employers (BNFL (including NSTS, Energy Unit,
British Nuclear Group), UKAEA, AWE, Rolls-Royce Naval Marine,
Serco, British Energy, Nirex, NIS, NNC, NPL, Mitsui Babcock, Atkins
Nuclear, INucE and BNES).
13. The Nuclear Technology Education Consortium (NTEC)
includes 11 universities and other training partners and the key
public and private sector stakeholder groups in the UK. NTEC will
cover decommissioning and clean-up, reactor technology and fuel
cycles, environment and safety, policy and regulation, project
management, fusion and medical use.
14. A Letter of Arrangement (LoA) has been agreed between
EPSRC, the Ministry of Defence, the Atomic Weapons Establishment,
British Nuclear Fuels PLC and British Energy PLC. The first activity
under this LoA is to establish a Nuclear Engineering Doctorate
(EngD) Centre. The EngD is a four year, industrially relevant
doctoral training programme which offers a radical alternative
to the PhD, geared to training research managers of the future.
It is hoped that the first intake of students will take place
in the 2006-07 academic year.
15. From April 2003, EPSRC funds the UK fusion programme
based at Culham. The UK fusion programme includes the UK participation
to the European Programme Joint European Torus (JET) and the development
of the UK's own spherical tokamak (the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak
MAST). The programme is currently supported by a single large
grant of £48 million for four years from April 2004 to March
2008. A mid term review of the activity is scheduled for January
2006 which will review the level of funding for the second half
of the grant and to address the current plans for JET extension
and the associated host subscription requirements. The research
programme funded by EPSRC is aligned to the development of the
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and will
be enhanced by £8.65 million in this spending review period.
16. EPSRC continues to invest in research and training
relevant to the oil and gas sector and areas such as clean coal,
efficient combustion, combined cycle and gasification technology.
EPSRC recognises the potential of carbon sequestration combined
with fossil fuel plant as a potential zero-net carbon energy source;
this option should be explored further as one of a number of priorities
within a broad-based R&D programme.
17. EPSRC is working with the DTI under the auspices
of the Memorandum of Understanding with the USA on collaboration
in energy research, As part of this agreement, this year EPSRC
will fund postgraduate research students to spend an additional
year working on hydrogen-related research at Sandia National Laboratories
in the USA.
18. Energy has been identified as a strategic area to
be addressed by the EPSRC Science and Innovation Awards programme.
Established in partnership with the Higher Education Funding Council,
the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and the Department
for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland, the Science and
Innovation Awards programme aims to address academic capacity
needs in areas with declining number of entrants as a result of
a changing research landscape. £2.7 million has been awarded
to the University of Strathclyde to focus on future trends in
power technology.
19. Platform grants are one of the key mechanisms by
which EPSRC strives towards maintaining and developing the strength
of the UK engineering and scientific research base, by supporting,
through underpinning funding, those UK groups considered to be
world leading in their fields. Platform funding is aimed at providing
a baseline of support for retention of key research staff with
the aim of providing stability to these groups. It is also anticipated
that it will provide the stability and flexibility to permit longer-term
research and international networking, and to take a strategic
view on their research. An example of such a platform grant is
supporting a group at Imperial College London looking at the decentralised
polygeneration of energy supply.
20. EPSRC supports the establishment of networks in new
interdisciplinary research areas to develop and stimulate interactions
between the appropriate science, technology research community
and industrial groups. An example is the Radioactive Waste Immobilisation
Network which aims to provide a forum for all stakeholders to
foster an integrated approach to nuclear waste management through
improved communication and the identification of new collaborative
research programmes.
21. The Faraday Partnerships have been established to
strengthen the way technology is developed and exploited within
the UK by stimulating closer communication and cooperation between
researchers and new product developers. DTI and EPSRC sponsor
the Integration of New and Renewable Energy into Buildings Faraday
Partnership. This provides a national focus for research, training
and technology transfer in building-integrated new and renewable
energy technologies, relevant to research into energy efficiency.
It includes research on options beyond the basic energy efficiency
packages of measures in the domestic and non-domestic building
sector, with over 225 companies, Universities and other organisations
involved. The core funding consists of a grant from the DTI of
£1.2 million for three years, and a grant of £1 million
from the EPSRC. In addition, ESPRC provided funding for 14 postgraduate
studentships in collaboration with industry sponsors.
22. 50% of EPSRC's current energy research portfolio
is conducted in collaboration with industry, involving over 200
companies, with the value of their cash contributions totalling
over £7 million.
23. Working with the DTI, EPSRC is organising an Energy
Research Summit Launch, to be held in November 2005. This will
launch the expanded Research Councils' Energy Programme and provide
the starting point to develop better strategic engagement on research
and training priorities with energy-related business. Participants
will be asked to identify common business-led research or postgraduate
training opportunities which will then be worked up in more detail,
culminating in a second Energy Research Summit in spring 2006.
24. EPSRC aim to appoint a prominent member of the energy
research community as an energy senior research fellow to be an
envoy and advocate for the Research Councils' energy work. In
particular, their work will involve developing the international
profile and level of collaboration and to provide information
to us on potential international research opportunities. The appointment
will be made in early 2006.
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