Monday 20 December 2010

Nottingham appoints first sustainable energy professor

The University of Nottingham has appointed its first professor in Sustainable Energy Technologies.

Gavin Walker, an expert in hydrogen storage, has taken up the post in the Faculty of Engineering.

The university's vice-chancellor David Greenaway said: "This key post and Professor Walker's appointment is a significant addition to our research capabilities, building on our excellent reputation for innovative and exciting developments in the field of energy technologies."

Nottingham is one of three universities - with Birmingham and Loughborough - compromising the Midlands Energy Consortium which won the competition to host the national Energy Technologies Institute, a £600m national programme of energy research and development. This new appointment is part of the consortium's support for the ETI.

Professor Walker is based in the research division of the Department of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing. He leads an internationally recognised hydrogen storage group, is involved in collaborations both nationally, through the UK Sustainable Hydrogen Energy Consortium, and internationally through the International Energy Agencies collaboration on hydrogen storage.

Professor Walker said: "I am delighted to accept this new position. It will enable me to branch into new research areas investigating alternative ways of transporting energy, high energy density storage devices, the greater penetration of renewables into the grid and the urgent need to decarbonise the transport sector. The new market opportunities available from distributed generation offer a wealth of opportunities and challenges in the area."