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UK Energy Research Centre Appoints Executive Director

November 08, 2004

RESEARCH COUNCILS UK

Mr John Loughhead, former Vice-President of Technology for the energy giant Alstom, has been appointed Executive Director of the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), to help coordinate research in Britain's drive to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050.

Mr Loughhead has over 25 years' experience leading research and development teams in energy and transport, and co-ordinated technology internationally within Alstom, a company responsible for one fifth of the world's energy capacity.

As Vice-President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and Chairman of its Energy Panel, a member of the Defence Scientific Advisory Council Technology Board, and an independent assessor of both the DTI's New and Renewable Energy programme and the European Commission energy research programme, he already has an excellent track record in this field and will start his new post today (8 November).

Mr Loughhead said, "Sustainable energy supplies are vital to the future of the UK. I am delighted to have the opportunity to help bring together our world-class research skills through this initiative to meet the challenge".

He will have overall responsibility for UKERC operation and will work closely with the Research Director, Professor Jim Skea, who is responsible for the centre's research programme.

UKERC, founded in April 2004, is a distributed centre and will be at the heart of the UK's sustainable energy initiative, looking at new ways of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels by introducing an integrated whole systems approach to energy research, taking account of environmental, social, economic and technological factors. The UKERC research programme began in October and its activities will ramp up during the first quarter of 2005.

This joint Research Councils initiative will provide opportunities for networking, training and exploitation of new technologies covering a wide range of energy issues, from energy demand and future energy sources through to systems modelling and environmental sustainability. It will work with the government and inform energy policy, helping the UK to meet the targets set out in the 2003 Energy White Paper, including a 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in the long-term.

John Lawton, Chief Executive of The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), said, 'Government, industry and scientists must provide realistic solutions to this problem. We will get them all working together. These targets are tough but we think, with the right team in place, we will meet them.'

The £13 million research centre, promoted in the Government's Energy White Paper 'Our Energy Future - Creating a Low Carbon Economy', February 2003, is part of the UK Research Councils' programme "Towards a Sustainable Energy Economy." The whole programme, led by NERC, has a budget of £28m for 2003-6.

Mr Loughhead will personally take responsibility for establishing and managing the operations of a National Energy Research Network. This network will improve co-ordination in energy research, drawing in all key players in this area by developing partnerships with researchers, the government and industry. Public engagement is another part of his remit.


Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)