THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
Recruitment Role Profile Form

Job Title:Research Fellow (fixed-term)

School/Department:School of Geography

Salary:£28,695 to £31,342 per annum, depending on skills and experience.

Job Family and Level:Research & Teaching Level 4

Contract Status:Available immediately on a fixed term basis until 29 July 2016

Hours of Work:21.75 hours per week

Location:Energy Technologies Building, Jubilee Campus with additional work at study sites on University Park and Sutton Bonington Campus

Reporting to:Professor Michèle Clarke

Purpose of the New Role:

The successful candidate will join a multi-disciplinary research team funded by EPSRC concerned with developing rural hybrid energy enterprise systems (RHEES) applicable to the UK and India. Working with other members of the project team, the role holder will deploy a 10 kWe capacity downdraught type gasifier with a biomass-fuelled combined heat and power (CHP) system. The use of solar energy by means of Compound Parabolic Collectors (CPC) and Parabolic Dish Reflectors (PDR) will be explored to efficiently provide steam to the gasifier, creating a novel hybrid system. This novel hybrid gasifier will significantly increase the calorific value of the fuel gas (increased H2 and reduced N2 content). Evaluation and testing of the novel small-scale biomass gasification-based CHP system will be undertaken, with various kinds of UK biomass feedstocks including woody biomass, non-woody biomass and residual biomass.

Close monitoring and modelling of the whole system will be evaluated in order to provide solid evidence for optimisation and future deployment of the system in the UK. Both work in the UK and India will focus on the national and regional regulatory requirements during the design stage of the main components (i.e. gasifier and gas engine) and the integrated system so that the CHP system can be deployed at other sites in the future. By embedding and subsequently testing RHEES in existing communities we can problem-solve and analyse the potential benefits that rural renewable hybrid energy enterprises can bring to rural livelihoods, including life cycle analysis of feedstocks for, and value-added outputs from, the hybrid technologies. The role holder will work with the RHEES project team to focus on designing the energy system package to meet the needs of the community. Our objective is to significantly improve energy access in the area. This Post-doctoral position is required to achieve these objectives as defined by grant application.

Main Responsibilities / % time per year
1. / Undertake literature reviews and conduct analysis of various documents including reports and websites. / 5%
2. / Deploy hybrid energy systems at RHEES study sites including modifications, source and store fuels, manage wastes and residues, log costs and services and monitoring of operations / 50%
3. / Coordinate site testing of all aspects of the project both individually and in collaboration with other project members / 10%
4. / Develop, attend and deliver talks, presentations and outreach events as required including workshop and conference papers. / 5%
5. / Draft progress reports, project reports and articles for publication / 15%
6. / Attend regular project meetings and study site visits including travel to partner organisations in the UK and India / 5%
7. / Contribute to knowledge transfer and project dissemination / 5%
8. / Communicate with other project members and the RHEES Management Board to ensure timely delivery of outcomes according to the project work plan / 5%
9. / Any other duties appropriate to the grade and role

Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications & Experience

Essential / Desirable
Qualifications/ Education /
  • PhD, or equivalent, in chemical engineering, energy technologies or a closely related subject area

Skills/Training /
  • Highly developed analytical skills
  • Ability to design and conduct independent experiments andanalyse the findings quantitatively
  • High quality writing for academic & public audiences
  • Excellent communication skills and an ability to engage positively with a range of stakeholders
/
  • Evidence of ability to publish in peer reviewed journals
  • Time management and project delivery skills

Experience /
  • Research experience of biomass gasification
  • Experience of operating a 10kWe Power Pallet gasifier
  • Experience of renewable energy community engagementprojects
  • Experience of giving presentations
  • Experience of working in a team
/
  • Successful completion of qualitative research projects at post-doctoral level
  • Experience of marketing technologies to a range of stakeholders

Statutory/Legal /
  • Willing to travel and work for periods elsewhere in the UK and in India

Personal Attributes /
  • Good interpersonal skills with colleagues and members of the public.
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills.
  • Ability to work successfully in a collaborative and multi-disciplinary team.
  • Ability to make judgements involving complex facts that require evaluation and interpretation.
  • Ability to work to deadlines and prioritise tasks
  • Ability to communicate effectively with a broad range of individuals and organisations
/
  • Broad interest in community-focused energy systems
  • Ability to use initiative and creativity to identify and expand the research potential.
  • Ability to engage across disciplines including with social scientists, geographers, bioscientists and other physical scientists/engineers

Decision Making

i)taken independently by the role holder

  • Direction of the research on a day-to-day basis
  • Plan and prioritise own workload, formulate and adjust plans as required
  • Design, maintain and operate one or more demonstration units consisting of combined heat and power units composed of a downdraught biomass gasifier and a gas engine equipment and one or more anaerobic digesters in compliance with all relevant health and safety requirements
  • Initiate, develop and design draft manuscripts for publication and project reporting
  • Perform appropriate analyses of research data using relevant software packages and interpret findings
  • Plan and deliver site visits and community engagement events to engage with interested members of the community, academics or other stakeholders

ii)taken in collaboration with others

  • Day-to-day processes and procedures, including quality assurance measures, data storage and archiving protocols
  • Develop research protocols and manuscripts, including all health and safety management requirements
  • Arrange public involvement in the research
  • Methods concerning data collection and analysis
  • Participation in conferences and training courses
  • Individual short-term requests to administrative and technical staff
  • Research activities undertaken with project collaborators

iii)referred to the appropriate line manager (Prof ML Clarke) by the role holder

  • Major publication decisions concerning conference abstracts, journal articles, book chapters etc
  • Longer-term project management and appropriate working methods
  • Development of research design
  • Development of proposals for follow-on or additional funding
  • Research strategy of the specific research area
  • Purchase decisions >£100

Additional Information

The successful candidate will join a dynamic team working on making rural living sustainable through new community-scale bioenergy solutions. This joint UK-India EPSRC-DST funded project involves staff from 6 UK Universities (Nottingham, Loughborough, Birmingham, Leicester, Liverpool Hope and Manchester Metropolitan) and 8 institutions in India (Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Madras School of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Tezpur University, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute Nagpur, The Energy and Resources Institute, Technology Informatics Design Endeavour Bangalore). About 20% of the UK population and 72% of the Indian population live in rural communities, where access to resources, amenities and services are inherently different to those of urban dwellers. Rural communities in both countries share similar challenges. Limited rural transport makes access to services difficult, time-consuming and expensive which disadvantage the poor, elderly and sick. Access to healthcare and affordable energy (for heating/cooling /cooking/refrigeration/lighting/household/IT use) is limited in rural areas and lack of employment opportunities continues to drive rural to urban migration, especially amongst young people.Universal access to clean and efficient energy sources has long been viewed as critical to global needs and expanding access to good quality, stable, energy options in rural areas is therefore essential. Not only does this help to address the problem of dependence on fossil fuels; it also enables rural areas in the UK and India to benefit from the multiplier effect of energy services on health, education, transport, telecommunications, water, sanitation as well as from investments in and the productivity of income-generating activities in agriculture, industry, and tertiary sectors.
In this project we aim to develop community-scale hybrid renewable energy systems to bridge the urban-rural divide and promote a new model of sustainable rural living. Through technological innovations in small-scale energy generation coupled with appropriately tailored rural enterprise/business models we will create Rural Hybrid Energy Enterprise Systems (RHEES) which can be adapted for local needs in the UK and India enabling communities to: tackle energy poverty; increase revenue generation to individuals and households; create new opportunities for rural industries; generate employment; decrease transport costs; improve socioeconomic status; and through using renewable energy technologies reduce environmental impact and promote natural resource conservation.
Different forms of energy may be crucial for increasing the range, quality and productivity of income-generating activity. In rural areas biomass is one of the most versatile energy-generating options, because of the diversity of feedstocks in rural areas, the range of conversion technologies available and the potential to provide a continuous and steady flow of energy services. We aim to develop innovative, low-carbon, sustainable biomass-fuelled hybrid energy systems that utilise wastes and residues and are designed at a scale suitable for rural community implementation to be affordable and to provide enterprise opportunities through value-added by-products. Through novel research the key technological challenges required for the wide scale deployment of anaerobic digestion and gasification in rural communities combined with fuel cell technology will be met whilst employing close integration with the resource and community aspects of the proposal. By engaging end-users in all stages of the development process, we aim to develop affordable and sustainable growth of our community-scale energy solutions to bridge the urban-rural divide.
Informal enquiries may be addressed to Professor Michèle Clarke, School of Geography (). Please note that applications sent directly to these email addresses will not be accepted. Further information about energy research at the University of Nottingham is available here