This is a joint lecture with The Rockefeller Foundation Economic Council on Planetary Health at the Oxford Martin School
Technological innovation is critical to addressing planetary health challenges. What can be done to ensure that innovation systems and the new “Fourth Industrial Revolution” respond effectively with positive social, environmental and economic consequences? How can we ensure equality of the energy transition?
About the speaker
Michael Grubb is a a member of the secretariat of the The Rockefeller Foundation Economic Council on Planetary Health; Professor of Energy and Climate Change at University College London (Institute of Sustainable Resources & Energy Institute). From 2011-2016, alongside academic roles, he worked half-time at the UK Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (the energy regulator, Ofgem) as Senior Advisor, initially on Sustainable Energy Policy, and subsequently Improving Regulation; from Autumn 2016 he moved to Chair the UK government’s Panel of Technical Experts on Electricity Market Reform.
He combined research and applied roles for many years, bringing research insights into policymaking, and bringing practical experience to bear upon academic studies. Before joining UCL he was part-time Senior Research Associate in Economics at Cambridge University, combined with (prior to joining Ofgem) Chief Economist at the Carbon Trust Carbon Trust, and Chair of the international research network/interface organisation Climate Strategies.
These conjoined appointments followed 10 years at Chatham House where he led the Energy and Environment programme. He founded the Climate Policy journal and remained Editor-in-Chief until 2016. From 2008-11 he served on the UK Climate Change Committee, established under the UK Climate Change Act to advise the government on future carbon budgets and to report to Parliament on their implementation.
Author of eight books, sixty journal research articles, and numerous other publications. The book Planetary Economics: energy, climate change and the Three Domains of Sustainable Development (Routledge 2014), brought together insights from 25 years of research and implementation of energy and climate policies.
Beyond energy and climate change, he is on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the German Inst for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), and the European Parliament’s Progressive Economy Initiative.
About the respondent
Malcolm McCulloch is Co-Director, Oxford Martin Programme on Integrating Renewable Energy; Associate Professor in Engineering Science and Group Leader 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, research is ongoing in developing power trains for electric vehicles. A successful project was that of the Morgan LifeCar – the first ever Hydrogen sports car. This project lead to the development of high-efficiency low-weight motors using new materials- The yokeless and segmented armature motor. This has resulted in the Oxford spin-out company Oxford Yasa Motors, of which Malcolm is a founder. He is extending the work of ICERT to create an Integrated Transport Network for Oxford.
In renewable generation, novel lightweight low speed direct coupled generators are being developed along with a transverse axis tidal turbine, leading to the spinout of Kepler Energy, of which Malcolm is also a founder and non-executive director.
In Energy for Development, he is developing technologies that leverage advanced intelligence to provide cost effective and nano and micro grid solutions that provide a scalable pathway to distributed electrification.
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.