A SCOTS university will be the new home of a national energy policy centre set to open tomorrow.
The University of Strathclyde will formally open its Centre for Energy Policy (CEP), with the remit of challenging and informing policy analysis and decision-making in Scotland and around the globe.
The launch will take place in the University’s new, £89 million Technology and Innovation Centre.
University of Strathclyde Principal, Professor Sir Jim McDonald will open the event, followed by the keynote speaker Ian Marchant, Chairman of the Wood Group, renewable energy company, Infinis, and also Chair of the CEP.
Professor Karen Turner, Director of the CEP, said: “The Centre will look to broaden the discussion about the future of energy policy in Scotland, not just focusing on electricity and renewables but also considering the longer-term issues, such as transport and heating.
“The Centre will benefit from Strathclyde’s renowned collaborative approach to research and knowledge exchange. Our team will draw on the University’s considerable energy-related expertise – held across its Science, Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences faculties and Business School – and will create a space for useful and challenging debate on energy policy.”
Engagement
The CEP launch event will take place as part of Engage with Strathclyde, a week-long series of more than 50 events. The annual series of events aims to stimulate engagement with business, industry, and the public and third sectors, while enhancing the University’s collaborative partnerships.
The CEP, which is part of the University’s International Public Policy Institute, will also play a leading role in the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) project to look at the economic benefits of energy saving efficiencies across UK households and industry. The International Energy Agency anticipates that energy efficiency gains could account for around half of all global emission reductions by 2035.
Identifying these savings and their wider benefits, will be a cornerstone to the UK’s future energy policy. The CEP team led by Professor Karen Turner and working in partnership with researchers from the University of Sussex will be instrumental in helping to ensure the country meets its energy targets.
Ian Marchant, Chair of the CEP, said: “How we produce energy determines our environmental impact, its price our economic welfare and its availability our way of life. We need a joined-up policy framework that acknowledges these objectives.
“The Centre for Energy Policy is a much-needed innovation to bridge academic approaches to energy policy, the needs of policy-makers and the engineering and business challenges of this 21st-century industry.”
