Mission Impossible? Five Challenges Facing 'Mission Innovation', the Global Clean Energy Innovation Drive

In December 2015 the landmark Paris Climate Agreement was signed by 195 countries at the 21st Conference of the Parties(COP21). Covering the period from 2020 it obligates all parties to take action to limit global temperature rise to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.To help deliver on this target world leaders established Mission Innovation (MI), an agreement between 21 regions to double their public ‘clean energy’ research and development (R&D) investment by 2021. Through international collaboration and coordination MI aims to usher in the next generation of clean energy technologies capable of mitigating catastrophic climate change. Whilst it represents a timely and much-need initiative MI is still at an early stage and faces a number of important challenges that policy makers need to address if it is to be a success. First, a doubling of clean energy R&D investment within 5 years during a period of declining R&D public investment represents an unprecedented challenge. Its success will rely on MI members sharing best-practice in energy innovation policy to ensure not only that this increase is achieved but that it is delivered effectively, leading to high-quality innovation outputs. Second, the political credibility and durability of anon-legally binding scheme is questionable when it demands all countries to double their total clean energy R&D investment despite some already committing significantly more investment as a proportion of their wealth than others (i.e.$ R&D per GDP). Third, a clear enabling framework must make clear the scale and type of benefit each MI member will receive as proportion of their investment from multi-partner international R&D collaboration. Fourth, a combination of international and cross-sectoral coordination of R&D investment is critical to ensuring a balanced distribution of investment across different clean energy priorities and stages of innovation. Fifth, MI members need to carefully consider the carbon emissions reduction potential of their increased energy R&D investment in each priority area and how together these activities will contribute to a 2oC future.  Taking these recommendations into account will undoubtedly help transform the ground-breaking Mission Innovation from Mission Impossible to Mission Accomplished

Examining the Effectiveness of Support for UK Wave Energy Innovation since 2000 : Lost at Sea or a New Wave of Innovation?

Almost 20 years after the UK’s first wave energy innovation programme came to an end in the 1980s, a new programme to accelerate the development of wave energy technology was launched. It was believed that wave energy could play a central role in helping to deliver a low-carbon, secure and affordable energy system, as well as provide an important boost to the UK economy through the growth of a new domestic industry. However, despite almost £200m of public funds being invested in UK wave energy innovation since 2000, wave energy technology remains some distance away from commercialisation. Consequently, this report examines the extent to which the failure to deliver a commercially viable wave energy device can be attributed to weaknesses in both government and industry’s support for wave energy innovation in the UK

Response to Scottish Government's 'Draft Offshore Wind Policy Statement: Consultation'

This is a combined response to the Scottish Government's consultation on its Draft Offshore Wind Policy Statement

South Seeds : a Community Energy Business Model Prospectus

South Seeds is a community-led, sustainability social enterprise with charity status. It has operated in the South of Glasgow for the past ten years and has had great success engaging with the local community to deliver a range of projects designed to build a sense of community, promote sustainability and tackle poverty. After a decade of helping local people to lead more sustainable lives, South Seeds is now exploring how its business model may need to evolve into the future; in light of a fast changing market and policy landscape. The organisation is also heavily reliant on grant funding, with almost all (91%) of South Seeds' revenue over the past six financial years from restricted grants. This raises questions about how it can become more financially independent and by extension, resilient to changing funding regimes. The purpose of this report is to explore new business model options for South Seeds that simultaneously deliver on the organisation's goals of sustainability and alleviating poverty, whilst also reducing its reliance on grant funding. The aim is to generate revenue that can at the very least cover the costs of its services but ideally to generate a surplus that can be used to cross-subsidise other non-revenue generating activities for fuel poor customers. Importantly, the report was authored independently by University of Strathclyde staff, on behalf, and with the support, of South Seeds. As such, the report's contents do not necessarily represent South Seeds' preferred business strategy. Instead, it offers a range of energy business activities the charity may choose to adopt as part of its future business model

Energy innovation and the sustainability transition

The development and subsequent deployment of new energy technologies lies at the heart of energy system change, however a sustainable energy system transition demands much more than technological innovation. Transformational change across a myriad of social and technical dimensions, including policy, markets, culture, science and user preferences, are all required. It is these inter-connected domains that shape the way in which we satisfy consumers’ energy needs, such as warmth, light and mobility. Energy system change is highly complex and unpredictable given how these different dimensions co-evolve, simultaneously shaping and being shaped by one another. This can result in positive feedbacks between these system dimensions that ‘lock-in’ the existing fossil fuel based energy system and in turn ‘lock-out’ more environmentally-friendly alternatives. In this context this chapter employs a system-level perspective on energy innovation and transitions (see definitions in Box 9.1 below), where transformative change depends on a coordinated and long-term approach that treats the energy system as an interconnected, nested ‘whole’. To achieve this end there is a need for a suite of conceptual tools that offer insights into how and why energy system change is unfolding

Gas prices : how to ensure consumers don't pay for the next energy crisis

[Wholesale gas prices have increased by 250% in the UK since January, and 70% since August, causing some energy suppliers to collapse and factory production to falter. The roots of the UK’s energy crisis are now well-documented. A cold winter depleted gas reserves and rebounding global economic activity in the spring and summer meant these weren’t replenished, while low winds in late August and September becalmed renewable power generation, prompting energy companies to increasingly burn expensive gas – which the UK has had significantly less space to store since 2017...

Comparative Study of Active Flow Control Strategies for Lift Enhancement of a Simplified High-Lift Configuration

Numerical simulations have been performed for a simplified high-lift (SHL) version of the Common Research Model (CRM) configuration, where the Fowler flaps of the conventional high-lift (CRM-HL) configuration are replaced by a set of simple hinged flaps. These hinged flaps are equipped with integrated modular active flow control (AFC) cartridges on the suction surface, and the resulting geometry is known as the CRM-SHL-AFC configuration. The main objective is to make use of AFC devices on the CRM-SHL-AFC configuration to recover the aerodynamic performance (lift) of the CRM-HL configuration. In the current paper, a Lattice Boltzmann method-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, known as PowerFLOWQ is used to simulate the entire flow field associated with the CRM-SHL-AFC configuration equipped with several different types of AFC devices. The transonic version of the PowerFLOWQ code that has been validated for high speed flows is used to accurately simulate the flow field generated by the high-momentum actuators required to mitigate reversed flow regions on the suction surfaces of the main wing and the flap. The numerical solutions predict the expected trends in aerodynamic forces as the actuation levels are increased. More efficient AFC systems and actuator arrangements emerged based on the parametric studies performed prior to a Fall 2018 wind tunnel test. Preliminary comparisons of the numerical solutions for lift and surface pressures are presented here with the experimental data, demonstrating the usefulness of CFD for predicting the flow field and lift characteristics of AFC-enabled high-lift configurations