Power-grids will become enormous networks of consumers and generators, consumers wishing power at random times, and generators, partially producing power from renewables at random times. To maintain a more reliable, smooth, and cost effective deliver of energy, we from the University of Aberdeen are working on the design of a grid that is: 

 

• Stable and can have at any time consumers and generators being added or excluded, and still can  supply the demand, without needing any intelligent control.
• Smart and predicts the variations in power generation and demand, and allows us to use that information in a dynamic and interactive way to get optimally deliver the necessary demand. 
• Multi-layered and transmits not only energy but also information, reliably and effectivelly. 
• Robust and if power load exceeds a threshold, grid automatically redistributes power loads over the network to prevent cascade failure (blackout) [1].  

 

Click in the following hyperlinks to be redirected to Solar Power or Nuclear Energy. 

Energy storage is essential for the creation of the Smart Grid [1,2]. If storage devices were used to supply energy at peak electricity requirements (typically in the morning and evening), it should be possible to lower peak demand. As a consequence, fewer carbon-intensive and expensive “peaking plant” generators would be required, thus reducing both energy cost and carbon emissions [1]. Furthermore, storage devices could be used to compensate for the variability of typical renewable electricity generation (e.g., wind, wave, solar), thus making the integration of such generation facilities into the existing grid more viable in practice [2].

[1] P. Vytelingum, et al. Agent-based Micro-Storage Management for the Smart Grid, Proc. of 9th Int. Conf. on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2010), van der Hoek, Kaminka, Lespérance, Luck and Sen (eds.), May, 10–14, 2010, Toronto,Canada.

[2] D. MacKay. Sustainable energy: without the hot air. UIT, Cambridge, 2009.

 

 

Energy management aims at monitoring, controlling, and optimising the performance of the generation and/or transmission systems. Conservation is a key point for optimisation, allowing generation to match demand. Those topics are essential for the maintenance of an ideal power system which manages the generation of energy depending on a timely demand, charging the users actual market prices for the electricity usage and not allowing for black outs due to failures and variations in the demand. A robust production and distribution system should be able to predict both the amount of energy being generated from various sources, including those coming from the usually unsteady renewable energy sources, and the local and global demand, allowing for an efficiently distribution not only of energy but also of data. This optimal generation and distribution energy system is called "Smart Grid" in United Kingdom. It monitors and predicts the variations in energy generation and demand, and it allows for the use of information in a dynamic and interactive way to maximising the performance of the system -[Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)].

The creation of the ideal energy system as the Smart Grid one entails:

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Potentially the most exciting discoveries in physical science are expected in the fields of astronomy, astro-particle physics, and particle physics over the next ten years. Gravitational waves from violent astrophysical systems in the Universe are on the point of discovery, particle physics promises to gives us new insights into the fundamentals of matter and what happened in the early Universe, and astronomy could well produce evidence of life in other planetary systems in the Universe. Scottish research groups are playing world-leading roles in these areas and are extending their influence by closer collaboration.

The TEOPS (Technology for Experimental and Observational Physics in Scotland) initiative brings together the Institute for Gravitational Research (IGR), the Experimental Particle Physics (PPE) group (both at the University of Glasgow) and the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (ATC) in Edinburgh. This initiative spans the areas of particle physics, astrophysics and astronomy with a common theme of leading edge technology. More details are available at http://teops.lowtemp.org.

One of the most important and topical areas of astrophysics at the present time is the dynamic nature of the Sun and its effects on the Earth. The magnetic field of the Sun is a major cause of variations on timescales from seconds to centuries, including the 11-year sunspot cycle, in both the total solar luminosity and in its specific constituents, especially at high energies - UV, X-ray and particles. It is the driving force behind huge solar eruptions, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and the smaller but more explosive energy releases known as solar flares, the latter producing copious high energy particles. All of these solar events produce `space weather' which affects the Earth and human activities but their origins are as yet only crudely understood. The physics of solar variations in general, and of flares and CMEs in particular, is consequently a hot topic of current research in which the St Andrews Solar Physics Group and the Glasgow Astrophysics Group are playing pivotal international roles. Indeed, we are at present in a golden age of discovery for Solar Physics, stimulated by remarkable observations from a series of recent major space missions.

Astrobiology, the study of Life in the Universe, is one of the broadest and fastest emerging disciplines in science today. It has a wide public appeal because the questions addressed are profound but readily understandable:

• What is life and how did it start?
• What conditions are necessary for life to emerge and thrive?
• Is Earth unique in supporting life?
• Are we alone in the Universe?

The breadth of the subject requires an inter-disciplinary approach, spanning Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, Biology, Climatology, Geophysics, and Information Technology. The SUPA Exo-Planets Initiative sponsors interdisciplinary meetings to foster links across these fields, both within and beyond Scotland.

It’s a pretty difficult thing to realise that each one of us is just made from the same stuff stars are made of, and even more mind boggling to find out that the regions of space that are rich in molecules just happen to be those same regions where new stars and planets are forming and the possibilities exist for the emergence of new life.

But what is the science behind such claims, and how do we even know there are molecules in space?

Astrochemistry is the study of these molecules in space -

Glasgow's Institute for Gravitational Research, the UK centre for experimental gravitational wave detection, has a world class reputation, and is a major collaborator on several large global projects ( GEO 600, LIGO and LISA). The IGR has been a world leader in the field of gravitational wave detection since its inception. It continues to innovate and invent with the aim of creating a viable global detection network of kilometre scale laser interferometers, capable of probing the emergent field of gravitational astronomy and opening a new window on the cosmos.

SUPA physicists played a significant role as part of the international LIGO consortium in achieving the first observation of gravitational waves. This is an immense scientific breakthrough with a huge technical challenge which opens a new window on the universe.   Projects

 The IGR collaborates in the following projects: