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Department of Computer Science and Technology

 

Energy and Environment Group (EEG)

The Energy and Environment Research Group applies computer science to address renewable energy integration, energy demand reduction, and the assessment and management of environmental impact (e.g. climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation) from anthropogenic activities.

We operate in an interdisciplinary manner, collaborating with climate scientists, ecologists, engineers, lawyers, regulators, and economists, and conducting wide engagement with external partners to effect evidence-based outcomes.

Goal

Our primary goal is to have a measurable impact on tools and techniques for de-risking our future. To do so, we share recent advances at the intersection of computer science, energy, and the environment through seminars, workshops, and scientific publications. We also help form collaborations between group members to coordinate interdisciplinary initiatives across University departments. 

Membership

EEG members are, in the first instance, faculty members in the Department for Computer Science and Technology and their students. We also invite membership from Postdocs, PhDs, Lab Visitors and Master’s students primarily from other departments, as appropriate.

Seminars

A list of talks for the current term can be found below; talks from prior terms are linked to this page. Seminar details can also be found at Talks.cam. Recordings from the EEG seminar series are available to watch online. We thank the Institute of Computing for Climate Science for their sponsorship of this series.


Partners


Upcoming seminars

Michaelmas term

  • 11Oct
    Wojciech Palubicki, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland

    Methods developed by the computer graphics community allow for the photorealistic rendering of complex geometry. In this talk we explore how such mathematical procedures can be leveraged to describe the growth, biomechanics, and combustion of trees at a detailed spatial level. These models facilitate a realistic 3D visualization of these processes at forest scale which allows exploring illustratively a variety of hypothetical environmental scenarios. Potential applications of such methods include the educational dissemination of environmental concepts, the generation of synthetic image data for training vision-based AI models, and the evaluation of ecological hypotheses expressed at plant organ scale.

    Bio:
    Wojtek Palubicki is a Professor at Adam Mickiewicz University where he leads the Natural Phenomena Modelling Group. The research group uses methods from computer graphics and AI to describe and investigate natural pattern genesis. Before that he held a post-doctoral research scientist post at the SLCU developing mathematical models of plant developmental biology.

  • 18Oct
    Astrid Nieße, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg

    Abstract not available

  • 25Oct
    Femke Nijsse, University of Exeter

    Abstract:
    The energy system is becoming increasingly intertwined due to electrification in heating and transport. This carries risks and opportunities for speeding up the transition. Opportunities involve lowered electricity costs, V2G applications, repurposed EV batteries for grid applications and cross-sectoral induced innovation. On the other hand, fast electrification can pose spatial constraints in densely populated regions and lock-in of fossil fuel assets. Here, we model climate policies in four sectors: power, residential heating, transport and freight. We find that phase-outs and mandates are most effective in bringing down costs and creating cross-sectoral opportunities. A coal phase-out can bring forward the cost-parity point by up to 4 years in other sectors in some countries, whereas a zero-emission vehicle mandate can bring this point forward by up to two years in other sectors in some countries. Our results demonstrate that targeted and coordinated deployment goals can play a key role in policy design for the low-carbon transition.

    Bio:
    Femke Nijsse specializes in modelling energy systems and the economy. With a background in climate physics, she earned a Ph.D. in mathematics, focusing on multi-model comparisons and statistical techniques related to decadal variability, historical warming, and climate sensitivity. In energy research, Dr. Nijsse contributed to the Economics of Energy Innovation and System Transition project, informing energy policies in China, Brazil, India, the UK, and the EU. She has worked on E3ME-FTT model's power sector representation, using evolutionary economics for technology diffusion. In addition, she has been studying sectoral interactions and possible tipping cascades in electrifying sectors.

  • 01Nov
    Prashant Shenoy, University of Massachusetts

    Abstract not available

  • 08Nov
    Yidi Xu, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement

    Abstract not available

  • 15Nov
    Josh Millar, Imperial College

    Abstract not available

  • 22Nov
    Charles Emogor, University of Cambridge

    Abstract not available

  • 29Nov
    Shrey Biswas / Radhika Iyer / Kacper Michalik, University of Cambridge

    Abstract not available

  • 06Dec
    Sebastian Lehnhoff, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg

    Abstract not available