What is the potential of batteries and fuel cells for helping achieve net-zero?
Monday 15 March 2021
The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee will hear from leading researchers about anticipated developments in batteries and fuel cells over the next ten years that could contribute to meeting the net-zero target.
It can be followed live on Parliament TV from 10am tomorrow (Tuesday 16 March 2021).
The Committee will ask a panel of experts about batteries, hearing about the current state-of-the-art in technologies that are currently in deployment, primarily lithium-ion batteries. It will explore the potential of next generation technologies currently in development and the challenges in scaling them up to manufacture.
The Committee will then ask a second panel about fuel cells, hearing about the different types available and their applications. It will explore challenges that need to be overcome in the development of the technology and will consider the UK’s international standing in the sector.
Witnesses
10am
- Professor Serena Corr, Chair in Functional Nanomaterials, and Director of Research, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield;
- Professor Paul Shearing, Professor in Chemical Engineering, University College London;
- Dr Jerry Barker, Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Faradion Ltd; and
- Dr Melanie Loveridge, Associate Professor, Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick.
11am
- Professor Andrea Russell, Professor of Physical Electrochemistry, University of Southampton;
- Professor Anthony Kucernak, Professor of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London; and
- Professor John Irvine, Professor, School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews.
Possible questions
- What research is being undertaken to improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries, and does this technology have fundamental limits?
- What advantages do ‘next-generation’ battery technologies offer, and what potential do they have for deployment in the near-term?
- What are the challenges facing the scaling-up of new battery technologies and materials from the lab to wider manufacture and usage?
- What are the current uses of fuel cells in the UK, and what makes them suited to these applications?
- What advances in fuel cell technologies are expected in the next decade, and what challenges are envisaged?
- Is there coordination between battery and fuel cell research and development in the UK?
