Research Update Centre for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (CEES) www.sheffield.ac.uk/cees
Managing risks in the world climate DR TINA MCGUINESS was successful in her bid to NERC under the Drought Call. This four-year, £3.92million project, entitled ‘Developing a drought narrative resource in a multi-stakeholder decision-making utility for drought risk management’, brings together a consortium of researchers from the Universities of the West of England, Warwick, Exeter, Harper Adams, Falmouth, CEH (Edinburgh and Wallingford) and Sheffield. It aims to develop an easy-to-use, evidence-based resource which can be used in decision-making in drought risk management. While previous drought impact studies have often focused on using mathematical modelling, this project is very different, and will integrate arts, humanities and social science research methods, with hydrological, meteorological, agricultural and ecological science knowledge through multi-partner collaboration.
Organisations benefit from the Advanced Resource Efficiency Centre
The launch of the Advanced Resource Efficiency Centre (AREC), led by PROFESSOR LENNY KOH from Sheffield University Management School, has captured the attention of organisations looking to improve their sustainable credentials, both locally and on a national scale. The centre has been formed as a facility to promote collaboration between industry and academics who can help introduce resource efficiency and sustainability across supply chains. It also offers a platform for access to policy makers and focuses on four main industries: advanced materials and manufacturing; energy and nuclear; water; and agritech/food. CEES and the Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LSCM) research centres at the Management School are partners in AREC. The centre will help achieve the aim of UK Government and EU policy to support 4.8million UK-based Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to flourish in a European and global context.
It is AREC’s view that long-term success lies in achieving a fair and sustainable balance between rewarding all stakeholders in a business, not just the shareholders. With this approach, customers, suppliers, employees and the community in which the business operates should benefit.‘Green’ and sustainable organisational elements are becoming increasingly important to reputation, and investors are developing a longer-term view on their partners – if firms are seen to be neglecting these vital criteria, customers may choose to go to a competitor that is doing them well. AREC will support businesses in considering development in these areas, and will provide resources and partnerships with which to do so. Professor Koh said: “I am delighted to be leading this centre. The calibre of our industrial and academic partnerships speaks millions about the attention and investment the University is putting into our initiative. “Sustainability and sociallyresponsible work practices are built into the Management School’s mission statement, so my involvement and that of my Management colleagues is very relevant. This initiative sits well strategically with the specific research priority of the Faculty of Social Sciences on climate change and sustainable growth.”
Through AREC, participating SMEs can collaborate with larger industrial partners such as Tata and Rolls-Royce, and benefit from cutting edge academic research and skills, to enable the development of resource sustainable supply chains. AREC also provides a platform for access to policy makers in order to meet the challenge of promoting resource efficiency To find out more about AREC, visit and sustainability across supply chains. www.sheffield.ac.uk/arec
Circular economy – Recycling C02 as a resource CEES is a partner in the £2.5million SCOT (Smart CO2 Transformation) project, a collaborative FP7 supported initiative designed to develop a strategic european research agenda aimed at improving the technical and economic performance of emerging CO2 transformation technologies. SCOT is the first ever European initiative in the field of CO2 recycling. The consortium comprises experts from Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, all of whom are committed to the cause and advanced researchers in this emerging area of CO2 recycling. The University of Sheffield is leading on Work Package 2 Socio-Economic Analysis. For further information about the project, visit: www.scotproject.org
The challenge of materials availability Leader of CEES, PROFESSOR LENNY KOH, is playing a key role in a £3.1million EPSRCfunded project at the University of Sheffield, entitled ‘Substitution and Sustainability in Functional Materials and Devices’.
ENERGY INNOVATION TRANSFORMS LIVES AND ECONOMIES Partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the ‘BIG Energy Upgrade Programme’ contributed to the understanding of how houses can be made more effectively energy efficient. The pioneering £15.76million project, which has seen thousands of energy efficient measures installed in homes across some of Yorkshire and Humber’s most deprived communities, is being hailed a success following research by the University of Sheffield, led by CEES’ leader PROFESSOR LENNY KOH. The BIG Energy Upgrade, one of the first schemes of its kind in the country to adopt a whole house and whole community approach to energy saving, achieved the following between 2010-2014: • 2,324 measures installed in homes across 14 of Yorkshire and Humber’s most deprived communities • 1,808 houses upgraded with energy efficient measures • 64 new jobs created • 119 jobs safeguarded • CO2 emissions reduced by 53,947 tonnes Professor Koh said: “The University’s team has worked in an integrated way to deliver the whole house/whole community method, which has produced important findings in the live environment. “Our achievements in this project will be very influential to key decision makers when considering the design and set up of future energy efficiency projects and investment in the supply chains for innovation and growth.” For more information about the BIG Energy Upgrade and its community impact, visit: www.big-energy-upgrade.com
The project aims to reduce the world’s reliance on rare materials and identify possible alternatives. It will utilise materials engineering, multi-scale modelling, advanced manufacturing, supply chain/Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and industrial partnerships to establish a holistic response to substitution and sustainability within the UK’s functional materials and devices sector. Professor Koh’s role is to advance understanding of what the resulting supply chains might look like; that of the rare earth materials, and also of the alternative materials. She will assess the potential supply chains from an advanced LCA perspective, and also hopes to enhance the supply chain LCA sustainability methodology on her team’s tool, SCEnAT.
Professor Lenny Koh