Annex C
Memorandum from the Engineering and Physical
Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to the House of Commons Science
and Technology Committee Inquiry
RENEWABLE ENERGY-GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES
1. The Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) is responsible for promoting and supporting
basic, strategic and applied research within its remit for the
benefit of the UK. The EPSRC mission is:
2. To promote and support, by any means,
high quality basic, strategic and applied research and related
postgraduate training in engineering and the physical sciences;
3. to advance knowledge and technology,
and provide trained engineers and scientists, to meet the needs
of users and beneficiaries thereby contributing to the economic
competitiveness of the United Kingdom and the quality of life
of its citizens; and
4. The EPSRC currently invests approaching
£650 million a year in the science base for research and
training in engineering and physical sciences with a view to ensuring
that the UK will be prepared for the next generation of technological
change.
5. The EPSRC welcomes the opportunity to
respond to this Inquiry. Further details on EPSRC activities are
available at www.epsrc.ac.uk.
The current state of UK research and development
in, and the deployment of, renewable energy-generation technologies
including: offshore wind; photovoltaics; hydrogen and fuel cell
technologies; wave; tidal; bioenergy; ground source heat pumps:
and intelligent grid management and energy storage
6. 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.
Training
7. Most PhDs studentships are run through
standard research projects, most notably the SUPERGEN consortia.
Skills and training are mainly addresses in two ways; Project
studentships and Collaborative Training Accounts (CTAs) and Masters'
courses (through the CTAs) and Doctoral Training Accounts (DTAs)
[EPSRC]. There are also other training activities such as industrial
CASE awards that support small number of studentship. CTAs allow
a single flexible mechanism for funding all EPSRC schemes that
link postgraduate training with the workplace, such as Masters
Training Packages, Engineering Doctorate, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships,
Research Assistants into Industry, Industrial CASE and CASE
for New Academics. As funding is provided directly to the Universities
CTAs provide a responsive approach to training driven by the market
needs, as they allow universities the flexibility to deploy funds
in response to emerging themes and industry needs. Table 1 shows
the number of studentships in each renewable energy theme. Masters
training funding is also provided through the CTA initiative and
Table 2 details the universities and the subject title of the
MTAs supported.
Table 1
EPSRC STUDENTSHIPS
|
| Project Students
| CTA/ DTA Studentships
|
|
| Wind | 0 |
5 |
| Solar | 6 |
11 |
| Fuel cells & Hydrogen | 18
| 23 |
| Wave & tidal | 21
| 6 |
| Bioenergy | 17
| 5 |
| Geothermal | 0
| 0 |
| Storage | 7
| 2 |
| Networks | 40
| 3 |
| Total | 109
| 55 |
|
| Note on table 1: project student number shown are full time equivalent and represent the proportion of projects that are applicable to renewable energy.
|
Table 2
MASTERS TRAINING PACKAGES SUPPORTED BY EPSRC IN RENEWABLE
TECHNOLOGIES
|
| University | (Training package) TITLE/NAME
| Primary Sector |
|
| Birmingham | Sustainable Energy Materials
| Power |
| Cardiff | Sustainable Energy
| Power |
| Cranfield | Offshore Technologies: Masters Level Courses for the Offshore and
Ocean Industries
| Power |
| Edinburgh | Sustainable Energy Systems
| Power |
| Heriot Watt | Flexible Learning Adv. Master in Energy
| Power |
| Lancaster | Decommissioning and Environmental Clean-up
| Power |
| Leeds | Sustainable Energy Engineering
| Power |
| Loughborough | Renewable Energy Systems Technology
| Power |
| Newcastle | Energy systems
| Power |
| Newcastle | Renewable Energy
| Power |
| Newcastle | Renewable Energy: Biomass & Waste Technology
| Power |
| Northumbria | Electrical Power Engineering
| Power |
|
8. Platform grants (EPSRC) enable research groups to
maintain capability by providing support for key research staff,
and to allow research groups to take a strategic view of their
research. Four Platform grants have been made; Decentralised polygeneration
of energy; Sustainable Electric Power Systems; Materials for High
Temperature Fuel Cell Technology; Future Technologies in Power
Electronics.
9. 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.
The UK Government's role in funding research and development
for renewable energy-generation technologies and providing incentives
for technology transfer and industrial research and development
10. As stated in the main body of the document the research
councils have a key role in supporting the fundamental science
that underpins energy research. ESPRC aims to support a full spectrum
of energy research to help the UK meet the objectives and targets
set out in the 2007 Energy White Paper.
11. EPSRC provides a major investment in renewable energy
and related R&D, at a level of over £13 million in the
period 2006-07. 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. 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, 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.
12. 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 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. Table 3
shows the current SUPERGEN consortia list and levels of funding.
Table 3
CURRENT SUPERGEN CONSORTIA
|
| SUPERGEN Consortium | Funding (Commitment)
|
|
| Bioenergy | £6.4M
|
| UK Sustainable Hydrogen Energy | £6.0M
|
| Marine Energy | £5.5M
|
| Future Network Technologies | £7.0M
|
| PV Materials for the 21st Century | £3.1M
|
| Conventional Power Plant Life Extension |
£2.1M |
| Fuel Cells | £2.1M
|
| Highly Distributed Power Systems | £2.6M
|
| Excitonic Solar Cells | £1.1M
|
| Energy Storage | £2.1M
|
| Biological Fuel Cells | £2.0M
|
| Asset Management and Performance of Energy Systems
| £2.5M |
| Wind | £2.5M
|
|
13. In addition to the managed activities EPSRC also
supports a significant portfolio of responsive mode proposals
in all the renewable energy themes. This provides a mechanism
for researchers to undertake novel blue skies research in a bottom
up manner.
14. 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 leaders 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 development
of clean, small scale energy generation technologies and their
integration with the existing power system.
Collaborative working
15. EPSRC is working with the other research councils and
funding organisations to support a full spectrum of energy related
research renewables, cleaner fossil fuel technologies and nuclear
fission and fusion and work in demand reduction. In addition to
the collaborative activities outlined in the main text of this
document.
16. 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. EPSRC has supported five
postgraduate research students to spend an additional year working
on hydrogen-related research at Sandia National Laboratories in
the USA.
17. 45% of EPSRC's current renewable energy research portfolio
is conducted in collaboration with industry, involving over 300
companies, with the value of their cash and indirect contributions
totalling over £12 million.
18. Working with the DBERR and other research councils,
EPSRC has organised three Energy Research Summits. Industrial
participants were asked to identify common business-led research
or postgraduate training opportunities which will are being used
to inform the strategic direction of the Research Councils Energy
Programme.
19. EPSRC have appointed Professor Nigel Brandon, Imperial
college, as an energy senior research fellow to be an envoy and
advocate for the Research Councils' energy work. In particular,
their work involves developing the international profile and level
of collaboration and to provide information to EPSRC on potential
international research opportunities.
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