Durham Energy Institute 4th Annual Research Symposium

 “Is Renewable Energy Sustainable?”

The industrial revolution occurred because humanity started to exploit fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) in large quantities. We remain addicted to fossil fuels burning them at the rate of around 20 million times faster than the Earth can accumulate them. The results of fossil fuel use are many fold and include the near doubling of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere and the consequential impact on climate change.

In order to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide we must switch our energy sources from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources which convert wind, moving water and solar energy into power, plants to biofuels and capture the sun's heat - all in the name of sustainability; but is renewable energy sustainable?

This symposium will explore the material demands and technology of renewable energy as well as asking how we might use energy more efficiently.

The morning panel debate sessions will include panels on The Circular Economy and Energy Materials. The afternoon session will include a Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition, and panel debate sessions on Energy Efficiency and Heat. There will also be a Keynote speech and the results of the photography competition and 3MT Competition.

Three Minute Thesis Competition. 

On the afternoon of Friday 28 September at 14.00-15.00, Durham Energy Institute will be holding a 3-Minute Thesis competition as part of their Annual Research Symposium to provide students researching in any Energy related area, from any University, with an opportunity to exercise their research communication skills in language that is appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

Participants will be challenged to present a compelling talk on their PhD Thesis or Masters Dissertation Project in just three minutes, and with the use of only one background slide. Fore more information see https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/dei/events/3MTcompetitiondetails.pdf

Energy Photography Competion.

Durham Energy Institute (Durham University/DEI) invites you to submit entries to our energy photography competition, which will run alongside the annual research symposium on 28 September 2018. This is an opportunity for any professional, amateur or budding photographers out there who are interested in documenting energy in the world around them, and is open to anyone.

The photography competition is open to anyone, and prizes of £100, £50 and £25 will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Each symposium delegate will receive a voting slip on registration. The 3MT competition is open to all HEI PhD and MSc students. Prizes for the 3MT competition are also £100, £50 and £25.

This free symposium is open to academics, industry specialists, policy makers, energy planners, funders and energy professionals as well as community groups, students and the general public. You can view the full programme for the day here