wholeSEM News

Energy Modelling for UK Policy Insights: Successes, failures, lessons and future directions

12 March 2018

“Energy models provide the integrating language and essential quantitative insights into these 21st Century challenges of decarbonisation, energy security and cost-effectiveness. The wholeSEM consortium ran from 2013 to 2017 and played a fundamental underpinning role in the UK’s strategic energy modelling activity.

UCL launches landmark data analytics and energy systems Master's

21 November 2017

Energy Modelling for UK Policy Insights: Successes, Failures, Lessons and Future Directions

Seminar delivered by Professor Neil Strachan, Whole Systems Energy Modelling consortium (wholeSEM), to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on Thursday, 28 September 2017.

Workshop Exploring Qualitative Uncertainty in UK Decarbonisation Pathways

The Whole Systems Energy Modelling Consortium (wholeSEM) hosted this one-day workshop in conjunction with the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) on Thursday, 14 September 2017. The workshop was attended by a range of experts ...

High Spatial and Temporal Resolution Electricity Model (highRES)

As part of wholeSEM, researchers at the UCL Energy Institute have developed the high spatial and temporal resolution electricity model (highRES). This video explains the model. Please get in touch with James Price ...

Stakeholder Engagement Study: What are the social issues affecting wind energy deployment

REAccept is a project aiming to improve the social acceptance representation of our energy system models, starting with onshore wind energy and highRES[1], funded by the BSEER Strategic Development Fund and wholeSEM ...

UK water-energy nexus under climate change - Cambridge University

A new report, co-authored by wholeSEM consortium members Dr Dennis Konadu, Professor Richard Fenner, Professor Keith Richards and Professor Julian Allwood discusses key issues and potential future challenges associated with water and energy ...

wholeSEM Annual Conference 2017

On the 3rd and 4th of July wholeSEM hosted the conference in London with keynote speaker John Loughhead Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. The key themes of ...

How might we use energy in the future? The BLUE model explained

Researchers at UCL have been working to build the Behaviour, Lifestyles and Uncertainty Energy (BLUE) model.

BLUE is a system dynamic model of the UK energy system that tries to capture important parts ...

Experts gather at the IEA to give strategic direction on energy and development

wholeSEM RA Francesco Fuso Nerini participated and helped organise this special event at the International Energy Agency (IEA) bringing together over 100 experts from 30 countries from governments, business, academia and the finance ...

Formalised guidance comes at critical time as Energy System Optimisation Models used to inform climate policy

Researchers have drawn on their collective modelling experience, lead by wholeSEM fellow Joe DeCarolis, to produce a guide for bottom-up energy systems modelling.

UK to fail to meet Paris Agreement unless emissions more rapidly cut, research suggests

The UK is set to fail to meet the Paris Agreement’s climate objectives unless Government cuts emissions far more rapidly than currently planned, UCL research suggests.

How buyer's regret costs us £25 billion every year

A wholeSEM paper from Ecological Economics has been cited in an article on the Mail Online.

Achieving climate targets may require additional investments of £35bn–£80bn

A new wholeSEM paper ‘Investment appraisal of cost-optimal and near-optimal pathways for the UK electricity sector transition to 2050’ by Francis Li and Evelina Trutnevyte E. (2017) has been published in Applied Energy.

Call for PhD Students to Present at wholeSEM 4th Annual Conference

Are you a PhD student?

Professor John Loughead announced as Keynote Speaker for 4th Annual Conference

Professor John Loughhead Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has been announced as keynote speaker for the wholeSEM Annual Conference 2017.

UKTM Model Explained

wholeSEM and UCL-Energy have released an animation explaining the importance of the UK Times (UKTM) model.

Flexibility essential for GB energy system - wholeSEM modelling used to inform two major reports.

Two major reports on flexibility in Great Britain's energy system have been released this month.

How will the global energy sector look in 2040? World Energy Outlook 2016 launched

UCL's Francesco Fuso Nerini contributed to the final editing and review of World Energy Outlook 2016 as part of his 3-month wholeSEM fellowship at the International Energy Agency.

Why on earth did I buy that!?! 82% of adults in Great Britain have regretted buying something wasting an estimated £5–25bn a year on regretted purchases.

wholeSEM researchers from University of Cambridge have published a paper in Ecological Economics presenting findings on the tendency to regret purchases.

Committee on Climate Change acknowledges wholeSEM UCL-Energy team in supporting efforts to address UK climate targets with net zero modelling

In October 2016 the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) released ‘UK Climate Action Following the Paris Agreement’

wholeSEM Job Opportunity: Research Associate in Energy Systems Modelling

wholeSEM's University College London team are recruiting for a Research Associate in Energy Systems Modelling.

University of Surrey release animation ‘Understanding the dynamics of household energy use’

wholeSEM’s team at the University of Surrey working with CRESS: Centre for Research in Social Simulation have released a fantastic animation explaining how their research explores the complex nature of household energy ...

wholeSEM’s UK TIMES model used by DECC to set ambitious new fifth carbon budget with a target to reduce emissions 57% by early 2030

It was announced today that the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) have agreed with the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) and set an ambitious new carbon budget proposing that the fifth ...

University of Cambridge wholeSEM group publish report on UK land use and bioenergy production

June 2016

Job Opportunity: Join wholeSEM's University of Surrey team

wholeSEM's University of Surrey team are recruiting for a Research Fellow for the final 14 months of the project to support the analysis and integration of the quantitative and qualitative data on ...

Nature Energy publishes paper by wholeSEM's UCL Energy team 'Reinventing the energy modelling–policy interface'

wholeSEM's Principal Investigator Professor Neil Strachan along with researchers Dr Birgit Fais and Dr Hannah Daly from our UCL-Energy team have had the paper ‘Reinventing the energy modelling–policy interface’ published in ...

Jo Coleman appointed as new wholeSEM Advisory Board Chair

Jo Coleman, Strategy Development Director at the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has been appointed as Chair of the wholeSEM Advisory Board. She takes over from Professor Jim Skea, who has recently been elected ...

wholeSEM's Principal Investigator Professor Neil Strachan Appointed to Catapult Board

wholeSEM's Principal Investigator Professor Neil Strachan has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the Energy Systems Catapult.

'Reinvigorating the scenario technique to expand uncertainty consideration' paper published

University College London’s team with colleagues from CIRED in France and RAND Santa Monica in United States have published a perspective on “Reinvigorating the scenario technique to expand uncertainty consideration”. Published by ...

wholeSEM's Imperial team contribute to Committee on Climate Change 'Power sector scenarios for the fifth carbon budget' report

Members of wholeSEM's Imperial team have produced a new report for the Committee on Climate Change to identify and quantify the system integration costs of low-carbon generation technologies in the context of ...

Members of wholeSEM contribute to new report from Royal Academy of Engineering warning that UK energy system update is almost out of time

A new report from the Royal Academy of Engineering published today warns that time is rapidly running out to make the crucial planning decisions and secure investment to keep the UK on track ...

New publication from wholeSEM's Cambridge team discusses land use implications in achieving UK emissions reduction targets

A new publication, by wholeSEM's University of Cambridge team considers the challenges of increased use of bioenergy for future energy system pathways. The study, published in Elsevier's 'Energy Policy' (volume 86 ...

Stronger action needed to transform the UK's energy system

An ambitious policy package is essential for the UK to transform its energy system to achieve the deep reductions in carbon emissions required to avoid dangerous climate change, according to research led by ...

Members of wholeSEM present at the International Energy Workshop 2015

The 34th edition of the International Energy Workshop (IEW) took place in Abu Dhabi from the 3th to 5th June 2015, hosted by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The IEW is one ...

Members of UCL's wholeSEM team contribute to new Book 'Informing Energy and Climate Policies Using Energy Systems Models'

Members of UCL's wholeSEM team have contributed chapters to a new book looking at how energy systems models are used to underpin and support energy and climate mitigation policy decisions. The book ...

wholeSEM Job Opportunity: Research Associate in Energy Systems Modelling

wholeSEM's University College London team are recruiting for a Research Associate in Energy Systems Modelling.

New publication from wholeSEM's Imperial team describes comprehensive, end-to-end bioenergy value chain model

A new publication, by wholeSEM members Dr. Sheila Samsatli, Dr. Nouri Samsatli and Prof. Nilay Shah, describes in detail the state-of-the-art mathematical model formulation that they developed for the Energy Technologies Institute’s ...

Dr Thomas Roberts awarded British Academy grant to explore the impact the ‘invisibility’ of the natural environment on the construction of peoples environmental values

Dr Thomas Roberts, Research Fellow with wholeSEM's Surrey team, has been awarded a British Academy grant to explore the impact the ‘invisibility’ of the natural environment and anthropogenic impacts upon it, has ...

Members of UCL's wholeSEM team attend ADVANCE project meeting

On 21 - 23 January 2015, members of UCL's wholeSEM team attended the year’s first bi-annual meeting of the EU’s ADVANCE project. This consortium brings together institutions from across Europe with ...

wholeSEM's UCL team to develop open source version of UK TIMES with the Department of Energy and Climate Change

University College London (UCL) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) have agreed to collaborate to develop an open-source version of the UK TIMES (UKTM) energy model. UKTM is a state-of-the-art ...

Professor Goran Strbac gives evidence to House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology

On Tuesday 2nd December 2014, wholeSEM's Co-Investigator Professor Goran Strbac gave evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology. As part of an inquiry examining the resilience of ...

Members of wholeSEM's Cambridge team discuss the importance of managing food demand to tackle climate change

wholeSEM's Co-Investigators Dr Julian Allwood and Professor Keith Richards have published a new study with colleagues at the University of Cambridge and the University of Aberdeen looking at the impacts of global ...

Professor Neil Strachan delivers keynote at 3rd Nordic international conference on climate change adaption

On 25th August 2014, wholeSEM's Principal Investigator Professor Neil Strachan delivered a keynote on “Climate change mitigation 2014: insights from IPCC WGIII” at the Third Nordic International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation ...

Professor Neil Strachan delivers workshop on Climate Change Mitigation and Leadership at LIFE 2014 Conference

On August 8th 2014, wholeSEM's Principal Investigator Professor Neil Strachan delivered a workshop at the LIFE 2014 conference – Leadership Initiative for Excellence. The workshop 'Climate Change Mitigation and Leadership' aimed to get ...

wholeSEM's Surrey Team conduct 'walking interviews' to investigate domestic energy using practices

wholeSEM's Surrey team recently conducted 'walking interviews' to study domestic social practices. 'Walking interviews' are a useful tool for investigating people’s relationship with space and allows the researcher to explore issues ...

Professor Chen Wenying visits UCL Energy to discuss China energy and policy

On 18 July 2014, Professor Chen Wenying from Tsinghua University (China) visited UCL Energy to meet with the UCL wholeSEM team and to deliver a seminar titled 'Modelling of the Coupled Energy- Environment ...

PhD studentship in Whole Systems Energy Modelling

The UCL Energy Institute invites applications for a fully funded (UK/EU fees plus stipend) 4-year PhD studentship funded under the EPSRC’s DTG programme. The thesis topics are to be linked to ...

Dr Tina Balke presents ideas from wholeSEM at Dagstuhl seminar on Multi-agent systems and their role in future energy grids

Tina Balke (wholeSEM Research Associate at the University of Surrey) gave a presentation on modelling household energy practices at the Dagstuhl seminar on Multi-agent systems and their role in future energy grids this ...

wholeSEM models presented at European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) workshop in Brussels

On 8th April 2014, Marianne Zeyringer (wholeSEM Research Associate at UCL) attended a meeting of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) in Brussels. Marianne presented the energy models used at UCL and wholeSEM ...

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases third and final part of the fifth Assessment report: Mitigation of Climate Change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) today released the 3rd and final part of the 5th Assessment report: Mitigation of Climate Change. The full report, Summary for Policy Makers, and supporting materials ...

Dr Julian Allwood delivers TEDx talk for 'One World' Conference