Durham Energy Institute is a research institute

Research institute

A research institute is an establishment endowed for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research...

 at Durham University

Durham University

The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...

. It was launched in September 2009 to undertake multi-disciplinary research into energy

Energy

In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...

. , the Director is Professor Richard Davies.

The principal aim of the DEI is to tackle the societal aspects of energy use. The Institute draws upon its existing knowledge base, skills and expertise to:

• promote technical scientific excellence
• solve technological and social problems associated with energy provision, demand and use

Materials and chemistry for energy

Includes alternative fuels and photovoltaics. One area that the DEI is involved in is biofuels. Within the DEI is the Durham Centre for Crop Improvement Technology which has expertise in molecular biology, plant genetics, biochemistry and policy to underpin crop breeding and development. It researches the underpinning genetics behind oil/starch yield of crops as well as the metabolic pathways of algae. This research has led to patents being granted for genes which increase the oil/starch yield of crops. The photovoltaics research is carried out within another DEI centre; the Durham Centre for Renewable Energy (DCRE). The DCRE is spread over five complementary academic departments and is made up of about 25 members, most of whom are research group leaders.

Electricity conversion, transmission and distribution

Includes wind, wave, hydro, microgeneration

Microgeneration

Microgeneration is the small-scale generation of heat and power by individuals, small businesses and communities to meet their own needs, as alternatives or supplements to traditional centralized grid-connected power...

, smart grids, and grid integration of renewables

Geo-energy

Includes the exploitation of fossil fuel

Fossil fuel

Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...

s, carbon capture and storage

Carbon capture and storage

Carbon capture and storage , alternatively referred to as carbon capture and sequestration, is a technology to prevent large quantities of from being released into the atmosphere from the use of fossil fuel in power generation and other industries. It is often regarded as a means of mitigating...

 and geothermal energy. The Centre for Research into Earth Energy Systems (CeREES)

Centre for Research into Earth Energy Systems (CeREES)

The Centre for Research into Earth Energy Systems is a Geo-Energy research centre at Durham University. The centre was formed in January 2006, and since then has won a research income of £1.3M per annum. The current Director of CeREES is Professor Jon Gluyas, co-author of textbook Petroleum...

 is an important contributor to research in this area.

Energy and society

Energy and society research at the DEI is committed to developing pragmatic solutions to contemporary energy issues, including renewable energy, energy distribution, geopolitical security and climate change. But equally this work remains committed to conceptual innovation and is thus driven by methodological and theoretical pluralism.

Business, economics and law

Includes resource management and pricing, technological change and innovation, carbon finance, economics of renewables, environmental impacts, consumer behaviour.

Technologies for fusion energy

Fusion energy provides an alternative nuclear route. It is a demanding technology that includes holding a plasma burning at 100 million degrees. However the fuel is derived from seawater (i.e. essentially limitless), the levels of toxic materials are very much less than produced using fission because of the short lifetimes of the materials involved and fusion technology is not a weapons technology.

Its board of advisors includes Nick Butler

Nick Butler

Nick Butler is Visiting Professor and Chair of the King's Policy Institute at King's College London. He is also energy policy adviser at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, and a Senior Adviser to Coller Capital and to Linton Capital and to . From 2007 to 2009 he was Chairman of the Cambridge...

, Brent Cheshire DONG Energy

DONG Energy

-History:The Danish state company Dansk Naturgas A/S was founded in 1972 to manage resources in the Danish sector of the North Sea. After some years, the company was renamed to Dansk Olie og Naturgas A/S . At the beginning of 2000s, DONG started to extend itself into the electricity market by...

 and Chris Pywell ONE NorthEast

One NorthEast

One North East is the regional development agency for the North East England region.-History:It was established in April 1999. The North East receives a lot of government aid for regeneration....

Durham Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy (CDT in Energy)

The Durham CDT in Energy forms an important and integral part of the DEI, offering an interdisciplinary postgraduate research training programme in energy.

See also

• Renewable energy
  Renewable energy
  Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
  
  
• Biofuels
• Carbon finance
  Carbon finance
  Carbon finance is a new branch of Environmental finance. Carbon finance explores the financial implications of living in a carbon-constrained world, a world in which emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases carry a price....
  
  
• Energy and society
• Geothermal power
  Geothermal power
  Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. Earth's geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of minerals...
  
  
• Hydro power
• Microgeneration
  Microgeneration
  Microgeneration is the small-scale generation of heat and power by individuals, small businesses and communities to meet their own needs, as alternatives or supplements to traditional centralized grid-connected power...
  
  
• Smart grid

External links

• http://www.dur.ac.uk/
• http://www.dur.ac.uk/dei/
• http://www.dur.ac.uk/dei/cdt/
• http://www.dur.ac.uk/earth.sciences/research/cerees/