Energy Research Programme
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Technological innovations in renewable energy, energy efficiency and low carbon buildings are key to sustainable greenhouse gas emission reduction. Our core philosophy is to combine energy and informatics - energy information assets are critical to understanding and development of physical assets. Policy, economics and environmental factors are also highly important. Our group therefore is interdisciplinary in nature.
Projects at Greenspace Research are grouped into six themed areas:
Energy and Buildings
Dr. Neil Finlayson, Donald Macritchie, David Maciver, Malcolm Murray, Derek Maclean, Donald I. Macdonald, Victoria Silver
- energy analysis software tools - building information models - building envelope - building systems - building management and use - thermal imaging
Energy Infrastructure
Dr. Alasdair Macleod, Arne Vogler, Donald Macritchie, John Macbeth
- wind turbines - hydrogen - solar - marine - heat pumps - thermal storage systems - grid
Energy Dynamics
Dr. Neil Finlayson, Dr. Alasdair Macleod, Sally Bell, John Macbeth, Keith Murray, James Morrison
- fluid dynamics - nonlinear dynamics - energy harvesting - vibrations and instabilities
Energy and Economics
Prof. Sinclair Gair, Brian Wilson, Neil Finlayson, Malcolm Murray, Dr. Eddie Graham
- SusPlan - Low Carbon Hebrides - clean energy business incubation - energy and the university - energy infrastructure
Energy and the Natural Environment
Dr. Eddie Graham, Mark Bradley, Keith Murray, John Egbuta, Iain Macpherson
- Effect of weather on buildings, extreme wind, infra-red thermography, sustainability, marine (waves, tidal, energy harvesting), Geographical Information Systems (GIS), clouds and climate change, climate datasets
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Laboratories
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Energy Visualization and Simulation Lab (EVSL)
Lead System Administrator - James Morrison
The Energy Visualization and Simulation Lab will provide computational research support for energy visualisation, simulation and remote collaboration. Core tools used in the lab include:
- a high-powered Linux computing cluster
- a high resolution tiled display wall
- state of the art video-conferencing
- parallel computational fluid dynamics software
- GIS software and databases
- energy analysis software
Low Carbon Buildings Lab (LCBL)
Lab Engineer - Arne Vogler
The Low Carbon Buildings Lab will support a range of renewable energy and low carbon building experiments. Systems will include:
- thermal imaging
- thermal storage
- laser diagnostics
- smart materials and sensors
- control networks
Renewable Energy Lab
Manager - Dr. Alasdair Macleod
- hydrogen fuel cells
- electrolyser
Energy Mini-grid
Manager - Dr. Alasdair Macleod
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Commercial Arm
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| Our commercial arm - Greenspace Live - is responsible for taking commercialisable research and development projects to the marketplace. Commercialisation activity is led by Donald Macritchie, with support from Neil Finlayson, Iain Macmillan, Paul Woddy, Gabriel Coch, Rachel Mackenzie, Manisha Devgun, Donald Macaskill and Murdo Maclennan.
One of these projects is LiveEPC - Web-based building energy performance certificates.
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News
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| August 2009
Edward Hyams Visit
Edward Hyams, Chairman of the Energy Saving Trust visited us last Thursday. He had some very nice things to say about his time in the Hebrides.
A CENTRE OF LOW CARBON INNOVATION ON THE EDGE OF THE BRITISH ISLES
March 2009
SusPlan Workshop
A SusPlan workshop on "Energy Infrastructure Scenarios for Scotland and the Islands" was held at Lews Castle College on Wednesday 4th March, 2009.
Attendees and Stakeholders were able to:
- Receive first hand information on new trends regarding long term planning of infrastructure in Europe.
- Influence the outcome of the SUSPLAN "Scotland and the Islands" regional case study.
Topics addressed during the workshop included:
- What are the attributes, strengths and weaknesses of the energy system in Scotland and the Islands?
- What role do Renewable Energy Sources (RES) play in Scotland and the Islands?
- In respect of the above questions, what contribution could be expected from Scotland and the Islands in terms of European deployment of RES?
- What capacity could future energy infrastructure support?
- What infrastructure bottlenecks exist and must be overcome to more efficiently integrate RES into the energy system?
Key regional stakeholders from the energy sector addressed these topics within the European context, focusing on medium- (2030) and long-term (2050) perspectives.
Speakers included:
- Welcome and Introduction Professor Sinclair Gair
- The Prospects for a Green Energy Future for the Western Isles Rt Hon Brian Wilson Former UK Energy Minister to the Labour Government
- Introduction to SUSPLAN Dr Michael Belsnes Sintef, Norway, (Coordinator)
- Objectives of regional study Dr Hans Auer Technische Universität Wien, Austria
- Future View 2030-2050 Jason Ormiston - Chief Executive Scottish Renewables
- Grid Issues – Technical Report Paul Espie, Sinclair Knight Mertz
- Utility Perspective Alan Mortimer - Head of Renewables Policy ScottishPower Renewables
- Future Prospects for the Western Isles from Marine Energy Simon Robertson – nPower Renewables
- Renewable Energy Opportunities in the Western Isles Iain Mowat - Halcrow Group
- Current Status of Offshore Grid Developments Karen Fraser – Director, Scottish European Green Energy Centre, Scottish Government
- Implications for Islands Derek McKim - External Strategy CnES
February 2009
Welcome to our latest recruits - mathematician Sally Bell and software engineers David Maciver and Derek Maclean.
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