The role for nuclear energy in a low carbon world

Neil Hirst

Neil is the Senior Policy Fellow for Energy and Mitigation at the Grantham Institute and Author of The Energy Conundrum. He is currently working with China’s Energy research Institute of the NDRC on a joint project on China and International Energy Governance. He is the author of the recent Grantham Institute Briefing Paper: The role of nuclear electricity in a low-carbon world

From 2005 to 2009 Neil was a Director of the International Energy Agency. He pioneered the IEA’s flagship technology publication, Energy Technology Perspectives. Subsequently, and he forged closer relations and joint programmes with IEA partner countries, especially China, India, and Russia.

Dr Ben Britton

Ben is a researcher, Chartered Engineer and Chartered Scientist based in the Department of Materials at Imperial College London. His team works on understanding metals used in high-risk high-value applications, such as aerospace, oil & gas and nuclear power. Ben is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) and is Deputy Director of the Centre for Nuclear Engineering.

Ben’s research focusses on understanding materials behaviour for energy, transport and the built environment. He aims to understand the science of behaviour at the micro-mechanical length-scale to drive technology and innovation in engineering.

Tom Burke

Tom is the Chairman of E3G and a Visiting Professor at both Imperial and UCL. He is a Senior Associate at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, Chairman of the China Dialogue Trust and a Trustee of Black-E Community Arts Project, Liverpool. He is a Fellow of both the Energy Institute and the Royal Society of Arts and an Honorary Fellow of the Society for the Environment.

He has been an environmentalist for over 30 years and during his vast career he has served as Environmental Policy Advisor to Rio Tinto plc from 1996 -2016); Senior Advisor to the Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative on Climate Change from 2006-2012 and was Special Advisor to three UK Secretaries of State for the Environment; and served as Director of the Green Alliance from 1982-1991.

Paul Spence

Paul joined the EDF Energy Executive Team in January 2009. His teams are involved in R&D, Strategy, Policy & Regulation, Communications, and Supply Chain activities across EDF Energy in the UK. He chairs EDF Energy’s UK R&D centre and sits on the board of Hinkley Point C. He serves as a director of Energy UK, Energy Technologies Institute, and is a Fellow of the Energy Institute.

Before their acquisition by EDF he was Head of Strategy and Business Development for British Energy. He previously spent 17 years with Accenture and led their UK Energy Strategy practice. He holds an MBA from London Business School and a BSc in Engineering from the University of Bristol.

Malwina Gradecka

Malwina is a Senior Engineer for Low-carbon Energy Technologies at Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Malwina is a nuclear engineer by training, with a PhD from Oregon State University, but in her current role she provides advice to governme nt ministers and policy teams on innovation in energy technologies, renewable technologies and nuclear energy. Through her work in the government, Malwina has gained a wide perspective on energy systems and policy to take an action against climate change.

Alyssa Gilbert

Alyssa is the Head of Policy and Translation at the Grantham Institute. Alyssa connects relevant research across the university with policy-makers and businesses. Together with the team at Grantham and academics across Imperial, she delivers outputs for those audiences ranging from briefing papers through to workshops and events. Alyssa keeps abreast of developments in climate change and environmental policy in the UK and shares this information with the Imperial community. This information helps us target our research efforts and impact engagements as effectively as possible.