• Energy Research
• OA Publications Mandate: No close
• 2016 close

China's rapid economic growth has created a series of pressures which has forced the country to engage more closely with a number of low and middle income countries. First, China's growth has depleted scarce domestic resources and so part of its 'Going Out Strategy' encourages overseas investment to access natural resources such as energy and minerals. Secondly, as some sectors of the Chinese market become relatively saturated large state-owned enterprises aim to internationalise and acquire new markets. Thirdly, China's rapid technological advances -such as in energy and information technology- have made it possible to expand overseas. These three drivers - resource access, new markets, technological advances - come together in the hydropower sector where China is the pre-eminent global player in major dam projects usually supported by Chinese state finance. The aim of the proposed project is to provide the first systematic and comparative analysis of the social, economic, environmental and political impacts of Chinese dam projects in low and middle income countries that will inform corporate behaviour in the UK and China and shape emerging national and international policy responses. The project will involve detailed empirical research in Ghana, Nigeria, Cambodia and Malaysia, which represent different facets of China's hydropower in the global South. This research aims to address four key issues: (a) Coordination of Chinese investment strategies vis-à-vis low and middle income countries; (b) impacts on local social and environmental conditions in recipient countries; (c) effects on local and regional governance; and (d) implications for both UK firms and OECD aid programmes. To address these key issues we adopt an interdisciplinary, multi-method approach which reflects the international scope of these complex interconnections. We will conduct 4 case studies in Africa and Asia where Chinese hydropower activity is most intense. The selected case study sites are the Kamchay Dam in Cambodia, the Bakun Dam in Malaysia (Borneo), the Bui Dam in Ghana, and the Zamfara Dam in Nigeria. We will conduct a wide range of in-depths interviews with Chinese firms, financiers, policy-makers, African/Asian policy-makers, Asian/African communities, NGOs, UK firms and international aid organisations and evaluate project documentation, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies and firm strategies. The expected outcomes will be (a) the first systematic study of Chinese hydropower projects as part of a wider concern with China's growing role in the developing world and its implications for UK firms and OECD donors; (b) a truly inter-disciplinary theoretical and methodological approach which combines human geography, development studies, environmental sciences, and politics; and (c) the generation of new theory in the area of critical development studies and political ecology, particularly around the implications of 'South-South' relations of resource control.

The aim of this technical feasibility project is research the feasibility of applying proven technology, performance management and efficiency principles from the aerospace sector to the solar energy sector through prototyping of advanced predictive analytics leveraging the technical and market innovations provided by the Internet of Things (IoT). The study will have a stakeholder group of solar companies.

Reports concerning dwindling reserves of fossil fuels and concerns over fuel security are frequent news headlines. The rising costs of fuel are a daily reminder of the challenges faced by a global society with ever increasing energy demands. In this context it is perhaps surprising that so many of the renewable energy supplies available to us, namely, sunlight, winds and waves, remain largely untapped resources. This is mainly due to the challenges that exist in converting these energy forms into fuels from which energy can be released 'on demand' when we wish to play computer games, drive a car and so on. However, during plant photosynthesis fuels are made naturally from the energy in sunlight. Light absorption by the green chlorophyll pigments generates an energised electron that is directed, along chains of metal centres, to catalysts that make sugars. These sugars fuel us, and all animals, when their energy is released following digestion of a meal. However, using farmed plants to produce biofuels is controversial as agriculture is also required to feed the world. As a consequence, and inspired by natural processes, we propose to build a system for artificial photosynthesis. In essence, we wish to place tiny solar-panels on microbes in order to harness sunlight to drive the production of hydrogen - a fuel from which the technologies to release energy on demand are well-advanced. We will use dyes and semi-conductor particles as mechanically and chemically robust materials to capture the energy in sunlight and generate energised electrons. We will couple these particles to biology's version of conducting wires. These wires are made from heme proteins that span membranes that provide Nature's solution to compartmentalising water-filled chambers (i.e., the inside of the bacterium). The heme-wires are produced naturally by 'rock-breathing' microorganisms and after these wires have transferred the energised electrons across the membrane they will drive enzyme catalysis to produce hydrogen Our novel bio-mimetic photocatalysts will establish new principles for the design of homogeneous photocatalysts with spatially segregated sites for fuel-evolution and the supply of electrons that is needed to sustain this process. We imagine that our photocatalysts will proove versatile and that with slight modification they will be able to harness solar energy for the manufacture of drugs and fine chemicals.

Recent reports indicate that a significant impact of accumulation of dust and other debris on the surface of photovoltaic modules causes a decrease in the incoming solar irradiance, with typical power losses of 10-15%, or even up to 50% in some cases reported. Durable highly repellent coatings based on advanced, nanostructured, low energy materials can provide a permanent solution to prevent the accumulation of dirt on the transparent top layer of a PV system. The primary objective of the SOLplus project is to determine the technological, commercial, and economic viability of such a low surface energy coating for use in the solar PV market. The main technology and commercial objectives for this product will be to deliver a durable coating that prevents the accumulation of dirt/dust on glass and plastic solar substrates, is cost-effective in its application method, and demonstrates real and tangible benefits to the end user (maintenance-free and avoidance of expensive cleaning procedures). Technology validation for the solar PV market and a refinement of our assessment of the market opportunity during the project will allow for a better focus on the market needs