Thursday 24th November was the Fuellers Arkwright Green Energy Conference organised by Simon Wilson of the Smallpeice Trust.
After an introduction by PM Chloe Andrews-Jones, Johnny Ball kicked off with a very energetic take on why science doesn’t always get things right and why it’s only by challenging and asking questions that science progresses. Grazia Todeschini as a guest lecturer from Kings College covered the problems with the UK’s Energy Supplies, followed by Fueller Mark Crowther who gave a very persuasive case for using hydrogen for heating, for transport and for industry. Fueller Peter Evans discussed the importance of environmental science and the safety regulations applied to the oil and gas industry, particularly to mitigate methane as a lesser-known green house gas and finally an Arkwright Scholar Alumna Jayne Higham, who now works in sustainability in the Manufacturing Technology Centre, discussed the issues facing the UK in pursuing an all-electric route to net zero. All the panellists joined for a very interesting half hour of Q&A introduced by PM Averil Macdonald.
Over 800 students from numerous schools attended (precise figures will be provided at the GPC meeting and we are hopeful that many will have been inspired to qualify in ways to lead them to careers in the sector.
The whole event can be seen on YouTube here.