Durham Energy Institute (DEI) is a research institute located within Durham University. It was launched in September 2009 for research in the fields of

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

technology and society. The current

Executive Director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

is Professor Jon Gluyas. The principal aim of the DEI is to find solutions for societal aspects of energy use and so * olve technological and

social problems A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's cont ...

associated wit

demand In economics, demand is the quantity of a good that consumers are willing and able to purchase at various prices during a given time. The relationship between price and quantity demand is also called the demand curve. Demand for a specific item ...

ovisio. and use.

Research

The DEI has expertise in a number of energy technology areas: * Fundamental science into cheaper more efficient energy materials * Developing future energy generation technologies such as hydrogen and nuclear fusion * Designing energy systems which are more smart, flexible, people-centred and sustainable * Understanding the social, economic and political processes which shape the energy world so we can build a brighter future.

Biofuels

Biofuels covers a range of technologies, either where biological material is readily converted to an energy source, or living organisms produce a fuel source. The DEI undertakes research on Microalgae biofuels, Cellulosic Crops and aspects related to intellectual property and the social pressures on biofuel policy.

Photovoltaics

The DEI undertakes photovoltaics research (PV) on the fundamental science that underpins both organic and inorganic PV devices right through to their design, manufacturing and deployment. Key areas are: organic PV, inorganic PV, hybrid organic-inorganic structures and the underpinning systems required to successfully deploy PV.

Energy generation, transmission and distribution

Includes wind, wave, hydro,

microgeneration Microgeneration is the small-scale production of heat or electric power from a "low carbon source," as an alternative or supplement to traditional centralized grid-connected power. Microgeneration technologies include small-scale wind turbin ...

, smart grids, and grid integration of renewables.

Geo-energy

Includes the exploitation of fossil fuels and shale gas,

carbon capture and storage Carbon capture and storage (CCS) or carbon capture and sequestration is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) before it enters the atmosphere, transporting it, and storing it (carbon sequestration) for centuries or millennia. Usually th ...

and geothermal energy. The Centre for Research into Earth Energy Systems (CeREES) is an important contributor to research in this area.

Energy and Society

Energy and society research at the DEI is committed to developing pragmatic solutions to contemporary energy issues, including renewable energy, energy distribution, geopolitical security and climate change. The Society and Energy Research Cluster at DEI is fundamentally interdisciplinary, drawing on the expertise of a wide range of social and physical science disciplines across the University. The ambition of the cluster is to develop new theoretical approaches to current energy research challenges based on the conception of energy systems as socio-technical.

Economics, Regulation, and Policy

Includes resource management and pricing, technological change and innovation, carbon finance, economics of renewables, environmental impacts, consumer behaviour.

Technologies for fusion energy

Pragmatic low-carbon solutions to the UK energy challenges will inevitably include nuclear energy.

Fusion energy Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices de ...

provides an alternative nuclear route. It is a demanding technology that includes holding a plasma burning at 100 million degrees. However the fuel is derived from seawater (i.e. essentially limitless), the levels of toxic materials are very much less than produced using fission because of the short lifetimes of the materials involved and fusion technology is not a weapons technology. Work at Durham includes the Superconductivity Group, the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation Group, and the European Reference Laboratory. Its board of advisors includes Ian Burdon, Benj Sykes DONG Energy,

John Loughhead Prof John Neil Loughhead CB OBE FREng FIMechE FIET (born 24 September 1948) is a British businessman and Chief Scientific Adviser to Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). He is also a Fellow of the Royal Academy o ...

UKERC, Helen Moss IBM and Andrew Mill

Narec Narec, since 2014 known as the National Renewable Energy Centre, is a part of the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, a British technology innovation and research centre for offshore wind power, wave energy, tidal energy and low carbon t ...

Durham Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy (CDT in Energy)

The Durham CDT in Energy forms an important and integral part of the DEI, offering an interdisciplinary postgraduate research training programme in energy.

MSc Energy and Society

The MSc Energy and Society is led by Durham University's Anthropology Department, in association with the Durham Energy Institute and its partner departments (including Engineering, Social Sciences and Humanities). Unique among Masters programmes, the course emphasizes the insights that the social sciences can offer to energy and development, and vice versa.

References

External links

Durham Energy Institute
{{University of Durham Research institutes in County Durham Durham University