ABSTRACT: The talk will cover actions required to help address climate change and present a review of renewable and low-carbon energy technologies that offer the route to decarbonising our energy system. The current policy position in the UK and commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2050 - and a decarbonised electricity system by 2030 - will be discussed, and the need for a focused delivery plan presented. The necessity for a “whole systems” approach will be covered that integrates policy, technology, economics, regulation and societal engagement. All of this will be underpinned by case studies and details of projects that are now in place.

Bio: Sir Jim McDonald is one of Scotland’s most accomplished engineers, and co-chairs the Scottish Government’s Energy Advisory Board with the First Minister. He is Chair of the Independent Glasgow Economic Leadership Board and holds senior business appointments with the Weir Group, Scottish Power, the UK Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, and the National Physical Laboratory. Originally from Glasgow, Sir Jim studied for his electrical engineering at the University of Strathclyde. He worked in the electrical utility sector for seven years and returned to the University of Strathclyde in 1984 as a Lecturer in Electrical Engineering. He was appointed to the Rolls-Royce Chair in Electrical Power Systems in 1993 and became Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde in March 2009.

In HM The Queen’s Jubilee Birthday Honours List in June 2012, Sir Jim was awarded a knighthood for services to education, engineering, and the economy. He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross (the highest class of knighthood) in the 2024 New Year Honours list for services to engineering, to education and to energy.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Institute of Physics, and the Energy Institute, of which he has also been President. He chairs two of the pan-Scotland research pools in energy and engineering and chaired the Royal Academy of Engineering Research Committee for three years.