Rony joins Element Energy as a consultant having recently graduated from the University of Cambridge with an MPhil in Environment Society and Development. Her research interests include political ecology, environmental ethics, and the interplay of economic, political and social factors in resource management and sustainability. Rony has a solid understanding of environmental modelling and three years of professional experience as a client-facing analyst specialising in complex data collection and problem solving.

Emrah joins Element Energy as an Energy Consultant. Having recently graduated from the University of Cambridge with an MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development, Emrah has two years’ experience in the energy sector. During his master’s programme, he focussed on the potential and viability of wind energy in Turkey, while considering the barriers and opportunities in the wind energy market. He has a good understanding of sustainable development, low-carbon power technologies and the technical and commercial challenges facing the low carbon energy sector.

In the summer of 2011, the Department for Transport commissioned Element Energy to provide a robust evidence base on the current and future costs of new van powertrains using the latest technology cost trends, to support their policymaking in this area. The study included detailed interviews with van fleet managers to understand their willingness to pay for these vehicles and how plug-in vans could be accommodated into their existing fleets and operations. The final report and supporting evidence will be published in the near future.

According to the LowCVP: “In the inaugural year of this category, the report was judged ahead of the curve in terms of influencing thinking in this area, and was congratulated for the way it had encouraged partnership working across industry sectors.”

Shane Slater, director of Element Energy, said “We are delighted that the LowCVP has recognised the strategic insights which our team brought to the work, and our widespread consultation which brought together diverse views in the automotive industry.”

• Bringing all partners together and defining the project scope and budget.
• Preparing the funding application.
• Supporting negotiations between the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (which is part funding the project) and the project partners.

Element Energy continues to support this multi-partner initiative, with responsibility for:

• Project managing the UK side of the project, with hands-on day-to-day involvement in every aspect of producing the UK deliverables on time and to specification.
• Supporting Air Products in the identification of a technically suitable, high-profile site for the new refuelling station in central London, as well as supporting the planning application.
• Undertaking detailed life cycle cost analyses to compare the current and future costs of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles with incumbent technologies and determining break-even points for future commercialisation of the technology.
• Producing a report into the attitudes of the general public, vehicle drivers and fleet managers before and after the project, to identify the key non-cost barriers to deployment of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
• Bringing together expertise from across Europe to share lessons learned in producing a plan for commercialising hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in the UK.
• Producing an infrastructure expansion study for London, and recommending next steps in building on the existing hydrogen infrastructure in London.

The full press release is available here. For further details please contact nick.asselin-miller@element-energy.co.uk.

The full report is available here and the Guardian article is available here.

The event will gather international leaders from business, NGOs, agencies and governments to share innovations and strategies for zero-based targets and transformative business solutions. Discussions will explore new technologies and business models, and the support and infrastructure needed to accelerate solutions towards the vision of a zero footprint future. The outcome of the Summit discussions will provide valuable input to COP 17, Rio+ and other global processes.

Element Energy directors Dr Shane Slater and Dr Ian Walker will be panellists in the Transport and Mobility and Buildings and Construction working groups respectively. Senior Consultant Tana Angelini will participate in the Renewable Energy working group.