I've just got back from the World Renewable Energy Congress in Linköping, Sweden. I have to say, it didn't start particularly well. I thought I had printed everything I needed to, but found I hadn't so on the Saturday morning had to go back into the office and print out my ticket. That was where I noticed that my flight was in fact 3 hours earlier than I thought it was going to be. Dope. Then, in the evening, Hannah pointed out that I was coming back on the Saturday instead of the Friday I thought I was. Not a great start.
The aircraft lined up in Schiphol airport, Amsterdam (for those aircraft spotters I flew on a KLM cityhopper Fokker 70)
However, I got to Linköping and after an extortionate taxi ride of nearly £18 for just a 5 minute ride I found my hotel and collapsed on the bed as it was almost midnight. However, I forgot that Sweden is very far north. So far north in fact that the sun rose around 3am. Argh. I'm never very good at sleeping when the sun is up. I headed the next morning for the conference centre. Looking at the map I had been given, I thought it was a good 30 minute walk, however, it was only 10 minute walk. Apparently I walked through the city centre as well, it was quite small but very clean, green and friendly.
The conference centre, with the conference banner outside
I registered and received my obligatory bag which was really rather ugly - a black laptop case with a orange flap. I had looked at the program for the talks during my stop-over in Amsterdam and so worked out what I was going to do for the first day at least. I went into the main hall to get a seat for the opening presentations. There, was a long haired man playing a violin type instrument on its side. It was really quite pleasant folk music and relaxed me. The conference began with the entrance of Princess Victoria, the Crown Princess of Sweden. Then there were several really interesting talks from some high level politicians and policy makers. The most memorable for me was from Alan AtKisson who was advocating that the richest 10% of the world should donate $100 a month to provide the investment for environmental projects that would keep global warming within a 2 degree temperature rise. It gave me a lot to think about - would I donate £60 to save the world? Would you?
A man playing some Swedish Folk Music
A blurry shot of the Swedish Crown Princess (the one with the red circle around her)
For the next few days I attended several talks - ranging from wave and tidal generators to photovoltaics, energy efficiency to policy issues. Julian, one of my supervisors, was presenting a paper on powering rope pumps using renewable energy. It was a final year research project he had supervised and was now being implemented in Tanzania. For me, these type of talks were the most interesting, those that were more than just an academic exercise.
Julian presenting about rope pumps
On the third day of the conference there were industrial visits we could go on to local projects and plants. I went to a Tekniska Verken site that incinerated waste and provided electricity and heat for Linköping and the surrounding villages. It was really interesting to see what Swedes did, how they provided district heating so people didn't need individual boilers in their houses. It seemed a really good solution to some tricky problems. I also visited the Linköping Biogas site, where they were producing biogas from the local sewage works and food waste. This was used then to give compressed natural gas - methane - for cars. I really enjoyed listening to how the Swedes were dealing with the environmental issues that were facing the planet. By 2030, they hope that all of Sweden will be totally renewable, quite a challenge, but they seem to be well on the way.
Tekniska Verken Incinerator plant
Linköping Biogas Anaerobic Digesters
The next day was my presentation. I had spent the previous night practising, and I had it down to 12 minutes. However, when I started I found it taking a lot longer. By the time I was half way through the talk, my time was almost up. So, I rushed through the last few slides, focussing on the testing that we are doing currently. I had some questions on the efficiency, the size, but none were that taxing or trying to catch me out, which was great. I sat through the other hydropower presentations, breathed a sigh of relief that mine was all over. After our session had finished, I started to chat with several people that had been listening and presenting. I found that there were several people that were interested in the technology we were developing. I hope that some of the contacts I've made will be useful, and I can be useful to them, in the future.
Presenting at WREC
The final days were great and relaxing. In all I went to 47 presentations and many keynote talks from experts, policy makers and industrialists and made a large number of really good contacts.
Lawrence Kazmerski from NREL talking about PV with a US Army Mobile PV panel
As I had an extra day in Linköping I decided to explore. I went to the museum just next to the conference centre which showed Swedish life a few hundred years ago. The highlight of the museum for me was the chance to try on an old warrior helmet, I felt just like a Rohan warrior!
Me in a Rohan-esque helmet (notice how big the williamson nose looks...)
Here are a few more photos from around Linköping:
The cathedral
Rowing along the canal
Eating an ice-cream outside the cathedral in Linköping
I had a great time at the conference, it was fantastic to talk to people and find that they'd been coming across similar problems to me. Sweden was a very beautiful and relaxing place. The journey home was a lot less eventful than the one out fortunately.
Flying over Sweden
SAM
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