Manchester Energy and Electrical Power Systems (MEEPS) Symposium | Women in Power Session: Building a Resilient and Sustainable Future
The Manchester Energy and Electrical Power Systems (MEEPS) symposium is a prestigious student-led event that has been held annually since 2013. Over these years, MEEPS has been noted for providing a platform for students, researchers and young professionals to publicise their research works and discuss the latest developments and trends in the Power and Energy Sector.
IEEE PES WiP is pleased to announce its participation in the MEEPS 2024 Symposium with two engaging talks by Dr Laiz Souto and Dr Xinfang Wang.
Talk 1: Improving power grid preparedness to severe weather events now and in the future by Dr Laiz Souto.
Climate change is posing unprecedented challenges for power grids worldwide. On one hand, climate change mitigation must be promoted by increasing uptake of renewable energy sources towards net zero emissions. On the other hand, climate change adaptation is crucial to maintain or improve power grid resilience to severe weather events now and in the future. To effectively address these challenges, efforts to promote climate change mitigation and adaptation in power grids must be combined.
This presentation will provide an overview of three key aspects to improve power grid preparedness to severe weather events now and in the future: (1) identifying where the risks associated with different severe weather event categories are; (2) evaluating those risks over different spatiotemporal scales; (3) mitigating those risks over different spatiotemporal scales using low carbon technologies. It will mostly cover current and projected risks identified in the United Kingdom and feature holistic impact assessment and mitigation strategies derived from my recent works within the EPSRC Supergen Energy Networks Hub.
Talk 2: A whole-systems approach for sustainable cooling and the cold chain by Dr Xinfang Wang.
Cooling accounts for over 7% of global GHG emissions and is the fastest growing GHG contributor in the world. Globally, 12% of the total food produced is lost due to the lack of cold chain. Likewise, 20% of temperature-sensitive vaccine products are damaged due to broken cold chains. Cold chain is also a key player in ensuring food quality and safety.
Temperature-controlled processing, distribution and storage, often based on inefficient equipment and protocols, have a significant environmental impact. Conventional cold chains are energy intensive and often use high-GWP refrigerants. To achieve climate change mitigation and adaptation globally, a resilient and low-carbon food and pharma cold chain is needed. How it could be achieved has significant implication for the economy, industry, social wellbeing, and energy system resilience. It is essential to combine techno-economic, environmental, social and policy aspects in an integrated approach for the design and evaluation of decarbonisation solutions for the cold chain for food (from farm to fork) and vaccine (from manufacture to arm).
In this talk, Dr Xinfang Wang will present a whole-systems approach to assess the demand of food and pharm cold chains and the challenges to climate mitigation and adaptation. This considers the technology, infrastructure, environment, policy, behaviour, finance and business model aspects.
About the Speakers
Dr Laiz Souto is an electrical engineer specialised in electrical power systems and academic researcher with over 10 years of international experience across 8 different countries in Europe and Americas. Currently. She is a Lecturer in Power Systems Engineering at the University of Bath with the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering. I am also a Visiting Professor at the Northeast Electric Power University in China.
Her research proposes to develop innovative approaches to enhance power grid resilience to severe weather events and ensure security of supply now and in the future. Application domains include large-scale interconnected transmission and distribution systems at national and regional levels as well as smart grids over different long-term planning and short-term operational timescales. Her work has covered a considerably wide range of aspects involved in resilience assessment and enhancement decisions in power grids with strong interdisciplinary and intersectoral contributions.
She is currently co-investigator on the EPSRC Supergen Energy Networks Hub and on the D-RES project funded by DAFNI through UKRI STFC. She is also an active member of the IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES) and European Public Policy Committee (EPPC), CIGRE Working Group D2.52 on artificial intelligence application in power systems, RMetS Energy Special Interest Group, and ESIG Integrated Strategic System Planning. She often participates in calls for evidence and consultations for energy companies and governments.
Dr Xinfang Wang is an Associate Professor and Group Leader of Resilient Systems for Energy and Cooling at the Birmingham Energy Institute, University of Birmingham. She is an interdisciplinary academic with a PhD in Sustainable Consumption from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester, and an MSc Distinction in Finance and Economics from the University of Southampton. She has published in top scientific journals in the fields of energy and cooling.
Dr Wang has a strong background in whole systems research, energy policy, economics and social practices on energy resilience, sustainable cooling and cold chains. Her research covers both developed and developing countries including UK, Europe, Rwanda, Kenya, India, Bangladesh, Mexico, Nepal and China.
Dr Wang has been a co-Investigator/Principle Investigator on a list of projects with a total value of over £20 million that are funded by the World Bank, EU H2020, UK Research and Innovation, UK Energy Research Centre, and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the UK. She has experience working with policymakers, charities, business and industrial leaders, as well as academics internationally.