Batteries for emerging economies (Theatre)

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Between 750-800 million people globally lack access to a reliable source of electricity. One possible solution to enhance the reliability of energy supply and maximise power availability from low-carbon, renewable energy sources is the increased use of battery energy storage. In the latest public engagement event in partnership with Faraday Institution, we take a deep dive into the research, systems engineering, and logistical challenges (and their solutions) of accelerating the deployment of batteries in emerging economies for micro-mobility and static energy storage.

Would you like to know more about how energy storage will support the UN's Sustainable Development Goals towards Affordable and Clean Energy and Climate Action? Join a panel of experts to find out.

To help set the scene for this lecture, Professor Charlotte Watts, Chief Scientific Advisor at the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) will outline how batteries can play a pivotal role in emerging economies. From there, discover the current state of play of sodium-ion batteries with Emma Kendrick, Professor of Energy Materials at the University of Birmingham, and learn about the importance of diagnostics and systems engineering in extending the life of batteries with David Howey, Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford.

Speaker information:

Professor Charlotte Watts CMG FMedSci, FCDO Chief Scientific Adviser and Director for Research and Evidence: Professor Charlotte Watts is Chief Scientific Adviser and Director for Research and Evidence at the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). She is seconded from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she is Professor of Social and Mathematical Epidemiology.

Charlotte is the most senior scientist in FCDO, with responsibility for providing scientific advice to the Foreign Secretary, Ministers, the Permanent Under-Secretary and Executive Committee, including during the COVID-19 pandemic and other emergencies. She heads the Research and Evidence Directorate, that brings together leadership of FCDO’s expert geopolitical and development advisors, FCDO’s significant research and technology development investments, and jointly oversees (with the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology) the UK’s overseas science and innovation diplomatic network.

Charlotte has a PhD in mathematics, with further training in public health. In her academic career, prior to joining UK Government, she made important contributions in infectious disease epidemiology, HIV prevention, and violence research, including showing that domestic violence is preventable. She is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and Foreign Associate Member of the US National Academy of Medicine. In 2019 was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Professor Emma Kendrick, Professor of Energy Materials, University of Birmingham: Professor Kendrick has worked in industry and academic extensively on energy materials and devices; batteries and fuel cells, and has 70 papers and 21 patent family applications in this field. Her recent book chapter on Advanced Battery manufacturing is being published by the RSC.

Her research over the last 20 years has focused on translation of novel functional materials to industry relevant device demonstrators, new battery materials and chemistries to cell demonstrators.

Her enthusiasm for new technology development, mainly batteries, extends to the industrial and academic fields. She has been on many EPSRC industry advisory boards, and is currently functional material specialist on the physical science SAT for EPSRC, Committee member for the Energy Group at IoM3 and the Materials Division Council at the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Emma is also the group lead for the Energy Materials Group now at the University of Birmingham.

Professor David Howey, Professor of Engineering Science, University of Oxford: Professor David Howey received his MEng degree from Cambridge University (2002) and PhD degree from Imperial College London (2010) on the topic of heat transfer in electrical machines. He also worked as an engineering consultant between 2002 and 2005.

In 2011, David moved to Oxford where he is now Professor of Engineering Science and Tutorial Fellow at St Hilda’s College. His current research interests are focused on modelling and managing energy storage systems, for electric vehicles as well as grid and off-grid power systems.

Professor David Howey's research expertise is in modelling, diagnostics and control of electrochemical energy devices and systems. Lithium-ion batteries are his current main focus, and he also has interests in sodium-ion batteries, lead-acid batteries, flow batteries, and supercapacitors.

His group’s aim is to improve performance and cost by predicting dynamics and lifetime, estimating temperatures and faults, and measuring how and why devices perform in the real world. This requires them to address fundamental issues in modelling, instrumentation and data processing.

This event is in collaboration with the Faraday Institution

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