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Imperial College Stduents act as climate negotiators of the future

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As a welcome to the new energy students around college, a large number of students joined organisers from the Grantham Institute, the Centre for Environmental Policy, the Energy Futures Lab, and the UK Energy Research Centre for an afternoon of Energy Islands negotiations.

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As we had around 70 students, during the game the students were divided into three parallel worlds (red, green and purple) and assigned roles for ‘islands’ that represented the EU, China and Africa. Using detailed information on their island’s resources, societal structure, energy systems and emissions levels, the students were tasked with negotiating an agreement between all three islands that would allow a global target of 30% emissions reduction by 2030 to be reached. Through resource and technology exchange, and the implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies, each island bartered its assets to achieve this target. Energy Society members and PHD students from around college acted as ‘Energy Mentors’ to the students to inform their choices and provide technical expertise. To compliment this maze of interactions and discussions, several divisive and informative reporters were running around the proceedings – the results of which are immortalised in the twittersphere here.

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Whilst the remit for each world was identical, the negotiations produced three sets of outcomes! The Red world focused on technology transfer while offering a very fair deal to the developing nations, encouraging both renewable energy and agricultural efficiency. In contrast, the Purple world appeared to move towards the ‘end of capitalism’ by creating very equitable sharing of responsibility for emissions, encouraging educational support and regenerating the housing stock in the developing world. Our Green world reached agreements on CCS, while focusing on reducing emissions from industry in the developed world and allowing growth in the developing nations. Eventually, after shortened deliberations due to the pressing need for a glass of wine, the World Council reached the decision that the Red world had produced the most thorough, feasible and equitable solution, and awarded the Red team members the honour of ‘winning’ the negotiations. Congratulations Red World!

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Many thanks to all the students who were involved, EFL, ICEPT, the Grantham Institute, and of course the very creative Jeff Hardy at UKERC for coming up with the event. Thanks also to Erica Thompson, PHD stduent at the Grantham Institute, who brilliantly thought of creating a twitter account for our energy worlds and kept things very interesting with her proposals for climate intervention protestors!

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For further information on getting involved with the Energy Society and being involved with future versions of this game – including the possibility of working with the Imperial College Reach Out Lab who run the game with under-18s, please contact S.Lester@Imperial.ac.uk

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Please see Energy Society Facebook page for photos of the event

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Energy Islands

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Wednesday 12^th October 2011: 2.30pm to 7pm

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Imperial College London – Great Hall, Sherfield building, South Kensington

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• Be a climate negotiator for an afternoon

• Meet energy and climate researchers from around Imperial

• Socialise with other Imperial College students working on energy and climate change

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Imagine the planet has just agreed a binding target to reduce carbon emissions 30% by 2030. Set in a fictitious world not dissimilar to Earth, a World Council has been elected to ensure the World meets the target, but the onus is three main islands, Sandorra, Nacam and Zania, to decide how they will divide the target up between them. As part of the Committee on Climate Change for one of these three islands, you have been tasked with looking at your country’s emissions, technologies and resources to be able to meet this target. With its own strengths and weaknesses, each island will need to take action with its own populations and infrastructure but they will also have to do deals with one another to achieve the overall target.

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Students will have the opportunity to work with expert scientists and policy makers from UKERC, the Grantham Institute for Climate Change, the Centre for Environment Policy and the Energy Futures Lab at Imperial College to work towards a climate change solution for their world. This dynamic workshop based on negotiation and strategy, aims to enable students to explore the scientific and political aspects of climate change and how they are applicable within the world today and allow students to engage with leading research groups to explore cutting edge technologies and current policy.

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The event will be followed by a drinks reception and discussion of energy and climate research at Imperial College London.

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To register please contact Sarah Lester ( s.lester@imperial.ac.uk )

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Download full information: Energy Islands flyer_Oct 12th

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This years Sparks PHD symposium on the 20th October at UKERC HQ in London will have a special feature:

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a Have your paper reviewed by a fellow PHD

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At the symposium you will present your paper and a “discussant” assigned to you will review it briefly afterwards. This is an excellent opportunity to get constructive and friendly feedback before facing (nasty) journal peer reviewers.

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If anyone has got a working paper in progress, a conference or a major presentation looming (which includes the submission of a paper to go with it), why not take advantage of the opportunity to present your paper at the Symposium and have it reviewed by a fellow energy PHD?  If you’re interested, please submit a short abstract to Angie (angela.knight@ukerc.ac.uk) by 30th September. If accepted, please submit your paper no later than the 10th October. We assign a discussant to you, and in turn you will be sent someone else’s paper for review. To help us in the process, please list areas you are comfortable to ‘discuss’ as part of your abstract. Attached the flyer with more information

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If you’re not at the presentation stage at the moment, but would like to attend the meeting, could you let Angie Knight know what topics you’d like to be a discussant on – a short list of the topics you would be interesting in covering in an email when you register would be ideal.

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See you all at the end of October,

UKERC Sparks organising committee

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Download programme: Sparks consortium meeting_Oct 2011 outline

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Imperial College Business school, Exhibition Rd, London, SW7 2AZ

28th June 6pm – 7.30pm

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The Imperial Private Equity Club and the Imperial College Energy Society welcomes three of London’s leading green investors for a discussion on financing and entrepreneurship in the renewable energy sector. Speakers will discuss current trends in the market and hot topics and green innovations in business, followed by an open question and discussion topics: What do investors look for when investing in green energy companies?  Advice on how to secure funding from green investors. How can an entrepreneurs overcome common startup difficulties?a

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Speakers

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Professor Gerard George, Imperial Colllege London – Moderator

Vivienne Cox, Chairman, Climate Change Capital

Ben Guest, CIO, Hazel Capital

Patrick Sheehan, Founder, Environmental Tech Fund

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Please register online at: http://www.icbs-peclub.com/events-2/?event_id=14

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The event is organised by Imperial College’s Private Equity club and Imperial College Energy Society

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Speaker Biographies

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Patrick Sheehan is a Partner and Founder of Environmental Technologies Fund, a £110m venture and growth capital investment fund with a highly-focused mission: “To support and finance fantastic growth companies whose products and services deliver a significant environmental and economic benefit.” Patrick also chairs the European Venture Capital Association’s Environmental task force.

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Vivienne Cox is the Chairman of the Board, Non-Executive Director of Climate Change Capital, is an environmental investment manager and advisory group that manage funds of c. US$1.5 billion. Vivienne is the former CEO and Executive Vice President of BP Alternative Energy and a former member of the BP Executive Management Team. Vivienne joined BP Chemicals in a commercial role moving to BP Exploration in 1985, and then BP Finance.

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Ben Guest, an Imperial College alumnus, founded Hazel Capital in April 2007 and serves as its CIO and co-portfolio manager. London-based Hazel Capital invests exclusively in cleantech sectors that help overcome global resource constraints and achieve a sustainable environment. Ben has over 16 years’ investment experience, including 10 years in the cleantech sector and is an active angel investor in a number of cleantech companies.

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Gerry George is Professor and Deputy Head of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and serves as the Director of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre at Imperial. In the energy sector, one of Prof. George’s project focuses on rural electrification in Kenya and Tanzania. He also serves on the Strategy Board of the Energy Futures Lab.

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Reaching Further – Outreach Developmental Workshop

Energy and Environment Theme

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Reach Out Lab, Ground Floor Skempton Building

Thursday 26th May 2011  -  9.30pm – 5.00pm

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To  book  a  place  at the  session please contact: shreena.patel@exscitec.com

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The Energy Society, EFL and the Grantham Institute will be holding a one-day workshop with the Imperial College Reach Out Lab to introduce energy and climate students to their outreach schemes. The Reach Out Lab works with school aged children to introduce them to university level science and research, by  holding workshops for Masters, MRes and PhD students within the energy and environmental communities to develop public engagement activities. More information on the scheme – Energy Outreach Workshop flyer

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Programme Aims:

• Provide a platform for research based public engagement activities for researchers
• Develop new transferable skills and increase outreach profile
• Develop a hands on experience of different teaching approaches
• Inspire confidence and creativity in public engagement through STEM outreach

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/outreach/imperialstudents

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Tuesday 3^rd May 2011 – 6:30 PM to 8 PM

Imperial College – Huxley building: Lecture Theatre 311. No 13 on this Map

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Speakers:

Chair: Paul Rutter, Visiting Professor, Centre for Process Systems Engineering, Imperial College London.

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Neil Hirst, Senior Policy Fellow, Energy Mitigation and Climate Change at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London.

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John Mitchell, Associate Research Fellow, Chatham House and Research Adviser, Oxford Institute of Energy Studies.

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Andrew Dobbie, International Energy Security, Department for Energy and Climate Change.

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Presentations and a debate will be followed by a wine reception

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Since 2005, the UK has been a net importer of oil, which constitutes 32% of its energy consumption. Unless new North Sea fields are brought on-line and until alternative sources are fully developed, the UK’s energy security will be hostage to events beyond its control. Some of the threats are foreseeable—booming Asian economies competing for scarce energy resources. Others such as the Libyan conflict, which has sent the price of oil rocketing, are unpredictable. For now and the foreseeable future, energy security lies at the heart of foreign policy.

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Imperial College’s Energy Society brings together leading experts from academia, industry and government to debate the impact of recent events in global energy markets on international relations and UK foreign policy. Following the speakers’ presentations, a discussion will take place with participants from the energy industry, staff and students of Imperial College, and relevant UK government departments.

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To register, please send a quick email to: livia.paggi10@imperial.ac.uk

For more information see: http://www.ic-energy.org/energy_security or Download Programme

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Information Session – Reaching Further

Reach Out Lab, Ground Floor Skempton Building

Thursday 3rd March 2011 – 5.30pm – 7pm

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To  book  a  place  at the  session please contact:

shreena.patel@exscitec.com or h.whitmore@imperial.ac.uk

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The Energy Society, EFL and the Grantham Institute will be holding an Information Session with the Imperial College Reach Out Lab to introduce energy and climate students to their outreach schemes. The Reach Out Lab works with school aged children to introduce them to university level science and research, by  holding workshops for Masters, MRes and PhD students within the energy and environmental communities to develop public engagement activities. More information on the scheme – Reaching Further flyer

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Programme Aims:

• Provide a platform for research based public engagement activities for researchers
• Develop new transferable skills and increase outreach profile
• Develop a hands on experience of different teaching approaches
• Inspire confidence and creativity in public engagement through STEM outreach

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/outreach/imperialstudents

Join Imperial EcoTeams today and…

• start measuring your carbon footprint
• find out how your daily life impacts the environment
• share your ideas and tips, discuss your teams’ progress, difficulties, etc.
• challenge your friends!

In teams of 3 – 5 people, you will measure and record key statistics such as your gas and electricity readings, water usage, how much rubbish you throw away and your travelling habits. The measurements are easy to do and shouldn’t take very much time – we’ll show you how to do and it and make it as easy as possible!

The aim is to reduce the measurements of your team by as much as possible over the course of the next 3 and a half months. It will be the overall team’s measurements that count – individual measurement won’t be revealed but obviously contribute to the team’s success (or failure) – so don’t let your team down!

Teams that perform the best will be awarded eco-friendly prizes!

Next steps?

• Email Tamaryn at tamaryn.brown@imperial.ac.uk to join Imperial EcoTeams
• Come to our Kick-off Event on Monday 14th February, 5:30 – 7pm to find out more about the Challenge and hook up with your EcoTeam partners!
• For more information visit our website and the EcoTeams website

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6pm to 8pm on Jan 31st 2011 Grantham Institute for Climate Change, Imperial College London

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2011 is set be the year electric vehicles finally take off in UK- five EV makers have new models, two of them made in UK, with the government’s £5k incentive to lessen the sting of what is still an overpriced mode of transport. For more details of the event, please see the No Emission Monday (NEMO) website.

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Speakers:

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David Howey, Racing Green Endurance project and Electric Aventures – a venture by Imperial College London students converting a Radical SR8 to battery electric and racing it the full length of the Pan-American Highway. Download presentation here

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Tim Crocker of Green Energy Technologies presented and demonstrated his unique up-down-in-out DCDC controller for electric vehicles. Download presentation here

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To find out more about Racing Green Edurance: visit their website or follow them on Twitter or Facebook

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On Monday January 24^th, the Energy society hosted the Careers in Sustainable Energy event. A packed Grantham Boardroom heard a panel of early-career professionals from the energy sector detail their experiences and aspirations, and offer advice on the skills necessary for a successful career start. Representatives  gave insightful and candid responses, offering diverse views reflecting the variety of work available in the energy sector.

PANEL

Adrien Lebrun – Energy Analyst, Energyexcel

Charlie Blair – Strategic Energy Consultant, Carbon Trust

Luka Vukotic – Civil Engineer, Arup

Malek Al-Chalabi – Doctoral student in Energy behaviour and tech transitions, Oxford University

Martin Evans – EDF Energy

Richard Taylor – Energy Consultant, E4Tech

Pictures of the event are posted on our Facebook page (Imperial College Energy Society).