Continuing its inquiry into the role batteries and fuel cells in achieving net-zero emissions, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee will hear from experts on advanced battery manufacturing and scaling up to industrial manufacturing.
The evidence session can be followed live at www.parliamentlive.tv from 10am tomorrow (Tuesday 20 April 2021).
The move to electrifying automotive vehicles continues to push forward the research and development of batteries. However, the committee have heard in recent evidence that much more manufacturing capacity is needed to reach net-zero targets.
These sessions will focus on understanding the stages of battery technology development, the challenges to scaling up and how UK battery manufacturing compares to other countries.
As part of the Committee’s evidence-gathering, it will hear from the following:
10am
- Professor Patrick Grant, Vesuvius Chair of Materials and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research), University of Oxford
- Professor Emma Kendrick, Chair of Energy Materials & Professor of Energy Materials, University of Birmingham
- Jeff Pratt, Managing Director, UK Battery Industrialisation Centre
11am
- Professor Philip Taylor, Director at EPSRC Supergen Energy Networks Hub, and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at University of Bristol
- Professor David Greenwood, CEO, High Value Manufacturing Catapult at Warwick Manufacturing Group, Director, Industrial Engagement at Warwick Manufacturing Group, and Professor of Advanced Propulsion Systems at University of Warwick
- Professor Paul Dodds, Professor of Energy Systems at University College London
Questions likely to be posed by the Committee’s members include:
- What are the stages of development of battery technologies, from the lab stage to mass production?
- How much activity is occurring at the different stages of development in the UK?
- What equipment, facilities and skillsets are needed for each stage of scaling up? Are these available at the scale needed in the UK?
- Which sectors are currently funding the scale-up of battery technologies in the UK?
- What innovations are there to be made in battery engineering?
- How much battery manufacturing activity is currently occurring in the UK, and how does this compare to other countries?
- What is the focus of UK manufacturing up to 2030, and will this remain appropriate and sustainable out to and beyond 2050?
This is part of the committee’s new inquiry into batteries and fuel cells. For further information please see the Committee Website
