News

The European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) will launch a call for joint research projects in 2016 on the topic of Energy. The call will advance fundamental and applied measurement science on topics related to sources of energy and the whole energy chain, including energy generation, conversion, transport, storage and consumption.

The EURAMET Task Group for Energy, in collaboration with the Centre for Carbon Measurement at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), hosted a one-day event in November 2015 to prepare the industrial and research communities for the upcoming call by exploring themes in energy research where metrology can make a significant contribution. The event featured a series of high-profile strategic and industrial speakers who presented their vision on the needs for metrology research.

Gert Rietveld (VSL, The Netherlands), Chair of the Task Group for Energy, presented the outcomes of the soon-to-be-published EMPIR Energy Strategic Research Agenda and forward process for the upcoming call. This was followed by a talk from Diego Pavia, CEO of KIC InnoEnergy, who discussed the dimensions needed to realise the goal of Europe having secure, affordable and environmentally-friendly energy into the future. Perspectives from high-level industry speakers were provided by Professor Francesco Profumo, President of the Italian multi-utility company IREN; Professor David Hart, Director of sustainable energy consultancy E4tech; and Bo Normark, Chairman of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences project, Crossroads Electricity. The focus of these talks highlighted the gaps in understanding and need for further research along the energy supply chain, focussing on generation and supply, the fuel cell and hydrogen energy industry, transmission and distribution of electricity and smart grids.

Six parallel breakout sessions were held on important themes identified in the EMPIR Energy Strategic Research Agenda: energy efficiency, conventional fuels, renewable generation, transmission and distribution, storage and conversion, and materials and modelling. These discussions resulted in a prioritised shortlist of key topics for future research, intended to form the basis for developing Proposed Research Topics (PRT) for the EMPIR Energy Call in early 2016.

The event was attended by over 100 delegates from more than 40 organisations.

Full summary report of the event and breakout sessions >>
Further information from NPL >>
Documents of the workshop >>