Rosie Simm, CASE Graduate Trainee, UCL Development and Alumni Relations Office

This UCL professional networking event on 19 February was the second that I have been to and I was unsurprised to find it as well-attended as the previous one.

Among the audience were several family groups, where two generations of UCL alumni had come along to seek advice before launching their first family enterprise.

The panellist’s backgrounds were varied: while Michael Doyle, CEO of the Alacrity Foundation, and Christian Nentwich, founder and CEO of Model Two Zero Ltd, had studied computer science at UCL, Sanchita Saha, CEO and founder of Citysocializer, and Nageela Yusuf, founder and MD of Cerebriam, had studied maths and archaeology respectively.

This was encouraging to see for those of us in the audience with a more limited grasp of the digital world (more…)

Written by Jenny Love, PhD student at the UCL Energy Institute.

The several hundred-strong audience attracted by Renee Lertzman of Royal Roads University bore testimony to our desire to effect ‘behaviour change’ in our society with respect to environmental protection.

It is a phrase that is used by many of us without an understanding of the people we are trying to effect change in. Renee, as a psychosocial researcher (this discipline addresses psychological development in, and interaction with, a social environment), brought us an insight into how people create meaning for themselves in a time of environmental degradation.

(more…)

  Rashed Sheikh, PhD student, UCL Chemical Engineering

After being invited to the O&G Pipes Global Conference 2012, held by Informa Energy in London, I was exposed to many political, technical and safety issues with top experts in the oil and gas energy sector. This highlighted the challenges that exist in the energy industry today.

One issue raised was the Iranian-Pakistani gas pipeline, linking the two neighbouring countries. This pipeline is under development and was recently inaugurated by President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.

The construction work on the Pakistan side is set to be completed within two years. Across Pakistan, there are thousands of homes and businesses that require a substantial increase in energy. This gas pipeline is one way of alleviating these problems and providing Iran (the world’s second largest holder of gas reserves) with a new gas export route.

It became apparent that these targets are difficult to meet due to political and security challenges and electrical power shortages, as meeting these targets itself requires energy – a Catch 22 situation.

Another issue raised was the Iraqi-Jordanian crude oil pipeline (under development) that links the two countries. This pipeline will help meet the growing energy demands for Jordan and help increase Iraq’s oil output from ~3 million barrels a day in 2012 to ~6 million barrels a day by 2020, and the aim is for it to be completed within five years.

It became apparent that these targets are difficult to meet due to political, security and infrastructural challenges. These problems cause businesses to focus elsewhere – however, Iraq (the world’s largest holder of oil reserves) has the potential to supply energy through to Europe for the next 80 years – another Catch 22 situation?

Seeing the scope of the oil and gas industry provided me with an in-depth view of the energy crisis. It was encouraging to see a new generation of experts exchanging ideas with experienced people, making the future of energy research worthwhile.

Image: oil pipeline by Toni Lucatorto on Flickr

West Yorkshire wind turbines (by
nulabugeye on Flickr)

Liberal Democrat Energy Minister Ed Davey’s clash with his Conservative deputy John Hayes over the future of wind turbines earlier this month demonstrates how topical and divisive the sustainable energy agenda can be.

Despite the issue’s current high media profile, a quick show of hands at the start of Professor Paul Ekins’ Lunch Hour Lecture on 20 November illustrated that there is little public awareness of 2012 as UN International Year of Sustainable Energy for All – even among an audience with an interest in the topic.

Undeterred, Ekins, who is Professor of Resources and Environmental Policy and Director of the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, immediately set out in stark terms why sustainable energy is “a huge issue”: 1.3 billion people globally in 2012 have no access to electricity, and 2.7 billion – more than one-third of the world’s population – lack clean cooking facilities.

(more…)