On Tuesday (28 October) I was at the open meeting of the Defra Science Advisory Council which was really quite interesting. In essence the Council basically has a normal meeting in public – it put me in mind of the filming of a quiz show in front of a studio audience or something similar. Whilst the agenda was not particularly energy heavy, there were some useful snippets to be gleaned from Professor Bob Watson (Chief Scientist at Defra) and Professor John Beddington (Government Chief Scientist). Bob Watson confirmed that the Defra functions relating to climate change mitigation will be moving to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), however, all function relating to climate change adaption and emissions from agriculture remain in Defra. Forestry was a little less clear as it appears DECC will have the lead on international forestry policy (relating to climate change) but Defra will have UK forestry responsibilities. It was also noted that the Department for Transport (DfT) will retain responsibility for emissions from transport and the Department for Communities and Local Government responsibility for emissions from buildings. It is likely that DECC will eventually appoint their own Chief Scientist, but in the interim, that role will be shared between Bob Watson and Professor Brian Collins (DfT).
On Thursday (30 October) I was at a UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) workshop on a UK Energy Excellence Mapping Tool that they are seeking to develop. In essence UKTI is seeking to develop a website that fulfils several functions:
It will act as a marketing platform for promoting interest in UK energy capability.
It will provide evidence of this capability through carefully constructed case studies.
It will offer a comprehensive map of the UK energy industry linking to key companies and organisations in a structured manner, searchable by carefully chosen key words.
It will offer the opportunity for raising awareness within the UK energy community of technology advances which could be transferred to other sectors.
The process is very much in its scoping stage, but if it ultimately matches its aspirations then it will be a very useful resource. One of our interests is whether the UKERC Energy Research Atlas could be exploited within the UKTI website. If anyone is interested in further information about this project please let me know.
Elsewhere this week it was very pleasing to see praise for UKERCs dissemination activities from the Government this week in their response to the House of Commons IUSS Committee Renewable Electricity-Generation Technologies report. The response stated that "all [ESRCs] award holders are required to ensure dissemination and engagement with appropriate bodies and groups, examples include the UK Energy Research Centre which regularly produces and disseminates technology and policy assessments."
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