SPECIAL
INTEREST DAY 5th
MAY 2020
‘CLIMATE
CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURES’
MARLBOROUGH
COLLEGE, BATH ROAD, MARLBOROUGH, WILTSHIRE, SN8 1PA
PROGRAMME
9:15
Coffee available in Ellis Theatre Foyer
09:30
Welcome Memorial Hall
Global
‘Climate Change' has created global concern. In this presentation
we will look at: the causes, projected impacts, possible steps for
mitigation and the need for greater understanding of climate change
and greater global awareness of the issue.
10:45
Coffee Ellis Theatre Foyer
11:05
Fusion Power. Within our grasp? Robin
Stafford Allen formerly Culham Centre for Fusion Energy
The
world energy issue will be covered and then I will move on to showing
what nuclear fusion is (power generation free from CO2
and nuclear waste) and how it is being researched using the machines
in UK (JET) and the latest machine in France (ITER). I will
endeavour to show the progress toward putting fusion generated
electricity onto the grid within our lifetime
12:05
Buffet Lunch Adderley Room
13:30
The Circular Carbon Economy Professor
Peter Edwards FRS, University of Oxford
Carbon
will continue as a necessary component for our energy future – but
– only with its continued use in a sustainable and
circular manner. Our
Carbon Economy
must therefore become a closed loop, Circular
Carbon Economy. The
Circular Carbon Economy
is the route to a world economy that is both restorative and
regenerative
14:30
Societal Perceptions of Climate Change and Support for Low Carbon
Lifestyles Dr
Katharine Steentjes, University of Cardiff
The
challenge set out by international agreements, to keep global warming
to below 2°C, will require drastic changes to our lifestyles. This
talk will examine current shifts in public perception and look at
what motivates behaviour change. The aim being to understand
psychological barriers and motivations to embrace low carbon
lifestyles on both individual and a societal levels.
15
30 Closing Words; Tea Ellis Theatre Foyer
16:00
Departure
Penny
Tranter
Penny
Tranter is currently a Met Office Advisor working in Southwest
England and is involved in providing professional meteorological and
climate advice, primarily on severe weather, to emergency responders
and planners. Penny has worked in the Met Office for over 35 years
originally as a professional weather forecaster. Previous roles have
included: national and international BBC weather presenter between
1992 and 2008, Meteorology Training Manager at the Met Office College
2008 to 2011 and a member of the successful official Met Office
weather forecasting team for the sailing events in Weymouth during
the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.
Penny
is a Chartered Meteorologist and a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological
Society. She enjoys sailing, powerboat instructing, swimming,
walking, cinema, theatre, watching tennis, Bath and 6 Nations Rugby,
and girlie weekends.
Climate
Change – is it really real?
Global
Climate Change is a major concern of the world today, and
the foremost environmental problem of the 21st
century. Climate
is the weather averaged over a long period of time, usually 20 or 30
years; Climate
Change refers to an increase in average global temperatures. Natural
events and increasingly human activities are believed to be the
source of the increase in average global temperatures, caused
primarily by increases in “greenhouse” gases such as carbon
dioxide (CO2). Human activities having caused most of the recent
world warming by releasing such greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Although
it is difficult to connect specific weather events to Climate Change,
increases in global temperatures are predicted to cause broader
changes, including glacial retreat, arctic shrinkage, worldwide sea
level rise and changes to climates across the world. Climate Change
is an emerging threat on a global scale, including to public health,
agriculture, infrastructure, unsustainable communities, businesses
and economies. Thus, global ‘Climate Change' has created global
concern. In this presentation we will look at: the causes, projected
impacts, possible steps for mitigation and the need for greater
understanding of climate change and greater global awareness of the
issue.
Robin
Stafford Allen
Robin
has a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and is a Fellow of the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers, he also has an MSc in
Bioengineering. He started professional life in the motor industry
at Vauxhall/Bedford
in Luton. Then worked for several years on the engineering of the
first generation of MRI magnets and cryostats with Oxford Magnet
Technology.
He
joined Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE)in 1992, and worked in
Cryogenics and in the Heating and Fuelling of plasmas. He spent a
sabbatical six years as Director of Engineering for a small company
on the Culham site designing and constructing a large 1-metre-bore
special superconducting magnet for the AMS-2 experiment (a
mass-spectrometer) which was launched on the penultimate Shuttle
flight to the International Space Station. Until retirement four
years ago he worked full time at CCFE on the mechanical engineering
of the plasma-heating equipment for the ITER machine, and the British
fusion research effort MAST machine.
He
works part time for the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and
lectures part-time on Engineering at Oxford Brookes University.
The
world population is growing at an astounding rate, the standard of
living is also rising, consequently the demand for energy is rising
faster than the population growth rate. Currently the vast majority
of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels. Reserves of these
are finite; their contribution to Global Warming means we may face a
serious food shortage, severe weather variations and loss of land
mass if the climate changes radically.
Renewable
energy sources provide only a few percent of the energy for the world
and almost all renewable, with the exception of hydroelectric power,
are “in addition” to power stations and not “ instead of”
power stations and cannot be relied upon for “base-load” energy
supply continuously.
Nuclear
fission has contributed a significant amount to the base-load supply,
but there are issues with this technology. Consequently Nuclear
fusion, the process that powers the sun where hydrogen is transmuted
to helium releasing energy in the process, is being examined.
Professor
Peter Edwards FRS
Peter
Edwards is professor of Inorganic Chemistry at Oxford University and
a core member of Oxford Energy
(https://www.energy.ox.ac.uk/wordpress/)
and a Fellow
of St
Catherine's College. He
is the recipient of the Corday-Morgan
Medal
(1985), the Tilden Lectureship (1993–94) and Liversidge Award
(1999) of the Royal
Society of Chemistry.
He was awarded the 2003 Hughes
Medal
of the Royal Society for his distinguished work as a solid state
chemist. In the spring of 2012 he was elected International Member
of the American
Philosophical Society;
one of only four people from the UK in that year to be awarded this
honour across all subjects and disciplines. He was elected as a
Foreign Honorary Member of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 2014.
The
Circular Carbon Economy
The
United Nations Environment Programme finds that global carbon dioxide
emissions from burning fossil fuels will reach 41 gigatonnes by 2040
– well above the 19 gigatonnes needed to keep global warming below
2°C. Curbing greenhouse gas emissions will only be solved by strong
international collaborations with big fossil-fuel users and
producers, notably China, the USA, India, and the Middle East. In
this talk, I will outline our vision that carbon will continue as a
necessary component for our energy future – but
– only with its continued use in a sustainable and
circular manner. Our
Carbon Economy
must therefore become a closed loop, Circular
Carbon Economy
Major
components to the Circular Carbon
Economy will centre on
:
- Transforming the greenhouse gas emitters; carbon dioxide and methane into valuable products;
- Stripping hydrogen from natural hydrocarbon fuels to produce carbon-free, “Green Hydrogen”;
- Converting carbon dioxide directly from flue gas emissions of power stations to fuels, high-value chemicals and electricity;
- Converting nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water to safe and sustainable energy stores;
- Deconstructing plastic waste to its constituent building blocks.
The
Circular Carbon Economy
presents the biggest opportunity for academia, industry, business and
governments to make a positive impact on our planet. It is also the
route to a world economy that is both restorative and regenerative.
Dr
Katharine Steentjes
Katharine
Steentjes is a Social Psychologist and currently works for the Centre
for Climate Change and Social Transformations
at Cardiff University. She has worked on
several international research projects examining public perceptions
of environmental risks (such as climate change), policy strategies,
energy solutions and psychological factors underlying these views.
Katharine’s particular research interest concerns social normative
processes surrounding climate change, how norms are communicated
interpersonally and how society (might) shift towards more
sustainable lifestyles. Having a focus on communicating research
findings to wider audiences, Katharine has been involved in public
engagement events, recommendation reports, launch events and policy
briefings.
Societal
perceptions of climate change and support for low carbon lifestyles
This
talk will provide insights into public understandings of climate
change and support for related solutions. The challenge set out by
international agreements to keep global warming to below 2°C, will
require drastic changes to our lifestyles. Recent public perception
data shows that public concern about climate change has increased and
the issues has gained prominence in the public discourse.
This
talk will outline theories and empirical evidence around these
current shifts in public perception and will also look at motivators
of behaviour change. Thereby, we will aim to understand
psychological barriers as well as motivators to embrace low carbon
lifestyles on an individual level and on a societal level.
Joining
Arrangements
Travel
Marlborough
College is located on the A4 on the Western edge of Marlborough
(postcode SN8 1PA). Parking (at no charge) is available on the Water
Meadows pitch (see attached map) which is accessible through the gate
(no 4) adjacent to the Memorial Hall and will be marked by a U3A
‘flag’.
Refreshments
and Lunch
Coffee
is available from 09:15 in the Ellis Theatre Foyer (No. 31 on the
map) The formal events will begin at 09:30 in the Memorial Hall (No.
50)
Morning
coffee break is from 10:45 to 11:05 again in the Ellis Theatre Foyer
Lunch
will be from 12:05 to 1:30. Regrettably the space for buffet lunch at
the College is limited to 110
people because of space restrictions
(the College will be in full operation on May 5th) and places will be
distributed on a first come – first served basis. You
may opt not take the lunch in which case the fee is reduced by £5
and if all places for lunch are filled and you cannot be accommodated
the £5 reduction will be applied too.
(Marlborough College is generously subsidising all refreshments)
Marlborough Town Centre is two minutes’ walk from the College and
there are numerous places available for lunch from light (Food
Gallery; Polly’s) to substantial (Rick Stein; Dan’s at the
Crown). Please note that eating and drinking in the Memorial Hall is
not allowed and attendees are requested not to wander about the
College apart from between the Memorial Hall and the Ellis theatre.
After
the last session and some closing words, tea and cake will be
available in the Ellis Theatre Foyer from 3:30.
SPECIAL
INTEREST DAY 5th
MAY 2020
‘CLIMATE
CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURES’
MARLBOROUGH
COLLEGE, BATH ROAD, MARLBOROUGH, WILTSHIRE, SN8 1PA
REGISTRATION
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Fee;
£20.00
per person (U3A members only), fee includes attendance, car parking,
coffee/tea and lunch. Subtract £5 if not taking Marlborough College
provided lunch
Deadline
for receipt of payment and booking forms is 17th
April 2020.
Bank transfer
to ‘U3A in Kennet’ Sort Code,
30-92-63 Account No. 42720960. Please
use SID ‘your surname’ as the payment reference and email your
registration form to SID2020@u3ainkennet.org.uk
Cheque
payment to ‘U3A in Kennet’
and send it along with your registration form to
Treasurer, U3A in Kennet
Westview Cottage
Lockeridge, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 4EQ
Treasurer, U3A in Kennet
Westview Cottage
Lockeridge, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 4EQ
