Description

The presentation will discuss the status of wind energy including a brief look back over 40 years of development and corresponding shift in research priorities. The bulk of the presentation will focus on the opportunities, difficulties, expectations and research challenges ahead as we move towards 2050. The possible developments will be depicted by the animation '2050 - an Energetic Discovery', created by TU-D em. HL Dirk Sijmons for the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam in 2016. Offshore wind has fallen sharply in cost and is expected to be able to go without subsidies very soon. This opens up opportunities for new applications of wind energy such as making synthetic fuel, and new ways of fitting it into the grid. Some examples of research challenges will also be reviewed. These challenges were published in 2016 by European Academy of Wind Energy in 11 fields, from new materials for the blades to aspects such as long-term social embedding.

Speaker(s)

Gijs van Kuik studied Aerospace Engineering at TU-Delft and started at this faculty in 1977 as one of the first researchers in the field of wind energy. After 7 years at TU-D and 4 years at TU/e for the PhD, 14 years at Stork followed, always in wind energy. The last 2 years at Stork were part-time with TU-D where in 1998 he became Professor of Wind Energy. Besides leading his own research group, he set up the interfaculty institute DUWIND, to which some 40 PhD students are now attached across 5 faculties. He has been involved in all national wind energy R&D consortia and programmes and has been closely involved in establishing and leading the European Academy of Wind Energy in which all European universities with a serious wind energy programme participate. As of December 2016, he is retired.

Location

Science Centre

Mijnbouwstraat 120, 2628 RX Delft

Organiser

History of Technology

Histechnica

Name and contact details for information

Further information from Dr Paul van Woerkom (tel. 070 - 3070275 in the evening) or via the e-mail address below

pthlmvanwoerkom@gmail.com

Route description