Establishing partnerships to develop renewable energy
The search for reliable, cost-effective and renewable energy sources as fossil fuels deplete is one of the biggest challenges facing us today.
Exeter’s renewable energy researchers are combining their expert knowledge with the latest technological advances to influence policy, shape the debate and develop positive responses to the need for clean and renewable energy for generations to come. Working with partners and industry is key to Exeter’s approach.
World leading renewable energy research
Research into renewable energy and sustainable mining and minerals resourcing is well established at the University of Exeter.
Broadly, this encompasses:
- Renewable energy, by which we mean renewable heat and cooling and marine renewables, as well as both solar and wind energy.
- Sustainable mining and minerals resourcing, encompassing clean technologies in mining, environmental geochemistry, carbon footprint and energy life cycle analysis, and impact assessment.
- Sustainable materials and manufacturing.
Based on the University’s Cornwall campus, the Centre for Renewable Energy has access to the conventional laboratory facilities, including materials testing and workshops as well as access to significant specialist resources and unique facilities because of its coastal location in Cornwall. The Centre has expertise in:
- Marine renewable energy
- Photovoltaics (solar energy)
- Energy storage, carbon capture and storage and biomass (anaerobic digestion)
- Power conditioning and grid interconnection
- Energy policy research
Exeter researchers are also conducting biodiversity research for industry, as part of the team for the EUR 17 million EU ‘Horizon 2020’ funded project that will test a new wave energy converter at Wave Hub in Cornwall. This five-year project will involve a new design of convertor called the ‘Penguin’. Exeter researchers, with colleagues at Plymouth and Uppsala universities, will coordinate biodiversity research at the Penguin installation site at Wave Hub to determine how the device interacts with the marine environment.