The Landscape and Roadmap of the Research and Innovation Infrastructures in Energy: A Review of the Case Study of the UK

Zoya Pourmirza, Seyed Hamid Reza Hosseini, Sara Walker, Damian Giaouris and Philip Taylor
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Zoya Pourmirza: School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Seyed Hamid Reza Hosseini: Scottish and Southern Energy, Perth PH1 3NT, UK
Sara Walker: School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Damian Giaouris: School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Philip Taylor: Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TH, UK

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-24

Abstract: Research and development are critical for driving economic growth. To realise the UK government’s Industrial Strategy, we develop an energy research and innovation infrastructure roadmap and landscape for the energy sector looking to the long term (2030). This study is based on a picture of existing UK infrastructure on energy. It shows the links between the energy sector and other sectors, the distribution of energy research and innovation infrastructures, the age of these infrastructures, where most of the energy research and innovation infrastructures are hosted, and the distribution of energy research and innovation infrastructures according to their legal structure. Next, this study identifies the roadmap of energy research and innovation infrastructures by 2030, based on a categorisation of the energy sector into seven subsectors. Challenges and future requirements are explored for each of the sub-sectors, encompassing fossil fuels and nuclear energy to renewable energy sources and hydrogen, and from pure science to applied engineering. The study discusses the potential facilities to address these challenges within each sub-sector. It explores the e-infrastructure and data needs for the energy sector and provides a discussion on other sectors of the economy that energy research and innovation infrastructures contribute to. Some of the key messages identified in this study are the need for further large-scale initiative and large demonstrators of multi-vector energy systems, the need for multi-disciplinary research and innovation, and the need for greater data sharing and cyber-physical demonstrators. Finally, this work will serve as an important study to provide guidance for future investment strategy for the energy sector.

Keywords: landscape; roadmap; energy; whole energy systems; energy storage; renewable energy sources; carbon capture and storage; fuel cells and hydrogen; alternative fuels; nuclear energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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