"Sustainable transport: electric dreams vs carbon reality" by Prof David Banister and Dr Malcolm McCulloch

Past Event

Date
21 May 2015, 6:00pm - 7:30pm

Location
Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School
34 Broad Street (corner of Holywell and Catte Streets), Oxford, OX1 3BD

I Stock tomwang112 hybrid car
© Istock/Tom Wang 112

Can we develop transport technologies that are less harmful to the planet? Professor David Banister, Director of the Transport Studies Unit, and Professor Malcolm McCulloch, head of the Electrical Power Group will present research into low carbon technologies, and examine the issues surrounding their implementation.

Join in on Twitter #2015climate


About the speakers

Professor David Banister was Co-Director of the Institute for Carbon and Energy Reduction in Transport, a member of the Oxford Martin School from 2008-2013. He remains connected with the School through his role as an Oxford Martin Expert. He is Professor of Transport Studies and Director of the Transport Studies Unit at the University of Oxford.

His interest is in transport research, in particular the contribution that the social sciences can make to the analysis of transport. Policy Scenario Building; Reducing the Need to Travel; Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Modelling; Transport Investment and Economic Development; Rural Transport and Employment.

During 2009-2010 he was also Acting Director of the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford and until 2006, he was Professor of Transport Planning at University College London. He has been Research Fellow at the Warren Centre in the University of Sydney (2001-2002) on the Sustainable Transport for a Sustainable City project and was Visiting VSB Professor at the Tinbergen Institute in Amsterdam (1994-1997). He was a visiting Professor at the University of Bodenkultur in Vienna in 2007. He was the first Benelux BIVET-GIBET Transport Chair (2012-2013).

He is editor of the Journal Transport Reviews (2000-) and joint editor of Built Environment (1993-), and is on the editorial board of Town Planning Reviews (1993-), European Journal of Transport Infrastructure Research (1999-), International Journal of Sustainable Transport (2005-), Logistics and Sustainable Transport (2006-), Environment and Planning B (2008-), and Travel Behavior and Society (2013 - Consulting Editor).

He has acted as an adviser to several government departments (Defra, DfT, DECC, Cabinet Office, and the NAO). He has been a member of numerous Research Council Committees including; EPSRC Link Programme on Future Integrated Transport 1999-2004; EPSRC Link Programme on Inland Surface Transport 1996-2002, and the ESRC Professorial Fellows panel (2010). He has been the director of the ESRC Transport and Environment programme, a member of the EU STELLA/STAR TransAtlantic Research Network organising team 2000-2005, the ODPM Planning Research Network (2003-6) as well as the HEFCE RAE Town and Country Planning Panels (1999-2001 and 2006-2008).

Dr Malcolm McCulloch was Co-Director of the Institute for Carbon and Energy Reduction in Transport, a member of the Oxford Martin School from 2008-2013. He remains connected with the School through his role as an Oxford Martin Expert. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Science and Head of the Energy and Power group at the University of Oxford.

His interests are in the area related to the domestic energy sector, development of user centric demand side management technologies, useful information to enable behaviour change. Previous work lead the the spin-out Intelligent Sustainable Energy, of which Malcolm is both a founder and non-executive director. This has merged to form Navetas Energy Management.

In the transport sector, Malcolm has been involved in developing power trains for hydrogen vehicles. There are currently three hydrogen based projects – the BOC ECh20 an eco-marathon car, LifeCar a concept car being developed by Morgan and four other partners and Hyrban, an urban hydrogen car. Work includes developing high efficiency low weight motors using new materials as well as developing the power electronics and the control.

The domestic sector is one of the largest energy sectors in the UK, although large amount of the energy is used in heating. Two projects on the go are smart feedback metering and a relook at domestic devices so as to improve their efficiency. In renewable generation, he is part of a team developing tidal flow devices and second related project to develop slow speed direct coupled generators.