An energy Conference at The University of Birmingham and the Claverton Group

 
 
 
 
 
A Conference presented by The University of Birmingham and the Claverton Group of Energy Experts, Friday January 18th
 
 
 
This Conference will focus on policies needed to underpin a feed-in tariff system for funding renewable energy and also the sort of policy environment that is needed to ensure maximised expansion of renewable energy. The event coincides with the passage through Parliament of the Energy Bill implementing Electricity Market Reform (EMR) which is concerned with giving priority to a low-carbon electricity strategy. A mixture of expert speakers and participants from industry, government, environmental NGOs, and academia will discuss the details of the issues and options. Attendance fees will be £200 corporate, £50 individuals and free to voluntary groups  – also free to speakers of course.
Booking should be done through the online shop at;
http://shop.bham.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=2&prodid=546&deptid=17&catid=20
THE  FREE PLACES ARE AVAILABLE to interested individuals on application to d.toke@bham.ac.uk,
The Conference will be held in the Edgbaston Room, Lucas House, University of Birmingham, 48 Edgbaston Park Road, Birmingham, B15 2RA, http://www.venuebirmingham.com/venue/edgbaston-room
Timetable
 
 
 
Note each individual speaker session (apart from the panel session) will comprise a talk for 20 minutes with 10 minutes for discussion
 
 
 
10.20 Tea and coffee
 
 
 
10.50 -11.00 Chair’s opening comments by Dave Andrews from the Claverton Group. Dave has worked widely in the energy industry, including a recent stint at the European Commission, and he has been the biggest force behind the formation of the Claverton Group.
 
 
 
11.00 Holly Tomlinson, Regulation and Compliance Analyst for Ecotricity: ‘How the Energy Bill might affect green electricity suppliers and also renewable generators’. Ecotricity is a leading green electricity supplier and the only one that is principally concerned with installing renewable energy projects.
 
 
 
11.30 Dr David Toke: ‘What sort of Feed-in Tariff do we need for renewables?’ David Toke will discuss the different types of feed-in tariff and what might be an optimum solution for renewables. Dr Toke is the author of a report ‘Fixing Renewables’, a new report  published by Friends of the Earth and Senior Lecturer in Energy Policy at the University of Birmingham
 
 
 
12.00  Rachel Cary, Policy Advisor, Green Alliance: ‘Implementing a feed-in tariff for energy efficiency’ Rachel has done a lot of the work on the Green Alliance’s proposal for an energy efficiency feed-in tariff. She leads the low carbon energy theme of the policy work of the Green Alliance. See http://www.green-alliance.org.uk/staff/Policy-team/Rachel-Cary/
 
 
 
12.30 Nigel Cornwall, Managing Consultant and Director, Cornwall Energy: ‘How Electricity Market reform may affect independent renewable generators’. Nigel Cornwall is said to be one of the few people in the country who has a deep understanding of how the electricity system and, in particular, the Balancing and Settlement Code works.
 
 
 
1.10 Lunch
 
 
 
1.40- 2.10 Alan Whitehead M.P. Alan is Chair of the Parliamentary Renewable And Sustainable Energy Group (PRASEG) and is very much involved in debates around the Energy Bill. Amongst his Parliamentary activities he is a member of the Commons Select Committees on Energy and Climate Change and Environmental Audit
 
 
 
2.10-2.40 Martin Alder, ‘What policy do we need to maximise renewable energy deployment?’
 
Martin runs Optimum Energy Ltd. which specialises in renewable energy contracts, trading and renewable market economics.   OEL is a partner with the Wind Prospect Group in the Wind Direct joint venture.  He is Director of Energy UK, and Chairman of their Renewable Energy Committee. He represents Energy UK as the UK member of the Eurelectric workgroup for Renewables and Embedded Generation. He is a member of the DECC CfD expert group. ‘
 
 
 
2.40-3.10 David Hirst: What are smart grids? What sort of ‘smart grid’ and demand-responsive system do we need to have a proper functioning system based on renewables? David Hirst is and inventor who runs consultancy through his company RLTec and has been involved in patenting and promoting demand-side response and smart grid technology.
 
 
 
3.10-3.25 Tea and coffee
 
 
 
3.25- 3.55  Gaynor Hartnell, Chief Executive of the  Renewable Energy Association (REA). Gaynor will talk about what renewables need in terms of policy support in order to achieve the EU target for renewable energy.
 
 
 
3.55-4.45 Panel Session. Each of the following panel members will give a 6 minute presentation followed by a question and answer session:
 
 
 
Graeme Cooper,  Graeme is Policy Regulatory & Compliance Manager at Fred Olsen Renewables. Fred Olsen Renewables is an independent developer in Norway, UK, Ireland, and Canada
 
 
 
Doug Parr, Chief Scientist, Greenpeace UK. Doug has been involved in numerous publications, presentation, submissions, campaigns and media interventions promoting sustainable energy on behalf of Greenpeace
 
 
 
Dave Timms, Energy and Climate Campaigner, Friends of the Earth. Dave Timms, previously Economics Campaigner for Friends of the Earth has led various FOE initiatives, including the 2007-2008 campaign for the small renewable energy feed-in tariff and campaigns for energy efficiency and anti-fuel poverty.
 
 
 
4.45 Chair’s closing comments
 
 
 
4.50 End of Conference