Powering Britain's
Battery Revolution
Powering Britain's
Battery Revolution
Professor Martin Freer joins the Faraday Institution as Chief Executive Officer in September 2024. We talked to him about his motivations, his thoughts on research directions and the future of the organisation.
Delivering technologies to help us collectively reach net zero are some of the most fundamental and urgent science and innovation needs of our time. Energy storage will play a huge role in the future technology mix that will enable everything from low carbon transport – on land, air and sea – to high penetration of renewable generation on the grid. A large component of my personal motivation is to play my part in society’s drive to reach net zero.
I’m excited at the prospect of leading the Faraday Institution team and working as part of its talented community – one of the best in the world in energy storage research – and to be part of that intellectual swirl. The organisation has achieved so much to-date but there’s huge scope to build, including as a trusted, independent partner for government in the shaping of future policy, and to further develop its research programme, delivering impact to industry and society.
Quite simply, getting out there and meeting and understanding this established, talented and diverse community – from industry partners, to PhDs, to seasoned academics who have the research in their blood. For me, leadership of an organisation is all about getting the best out of people. Creating an environment where people feel liberated and supported, where personal successes are being actively facilitated. That’s at the heart of delivery of any mission.
The Faraday Institution is the focus of the UK’s national effort to conduct battery research to industry-defined goals to ensure the country can fully seize its potential to maximise the societal, economic and environmental impact that energy storage can bring. That sounded like an organisation I wanted to work in – and an opportunity that was too good to pass up.
The challenges of battery research, innovation and scale up are far from complete. There are many remaining research questions that need to be overcome to underpin economic, mass-manufacture of safe, sustainable, recyclable batteries, which meet the performance and cost requirements of all consumers, and which create high-value green jobs in multiple regions. I will bring attributes and contacts developed in my previous roles, including at the Birmingham Energy Institute and Energy Research Accelerator, which will help the Faraday Institution deliver against its mission in these areas.
As the energy economy becomes increasingly dominated by renewable methods of electricity generation, energy storage in general, and batteries in particular, will be key enabling technologies to achieve net zero ambitions and energy security goals. There will be always be the need for a base load, for steady state electricity generation, for example from nuclear. But alongside other technologies, energy storage will be needed at a significant scale. This will include exploiting the storage capacity associated with the nation’s fleet of electric vehicles. I see the design and build of a future energy system as a series of extremely interesting, interconnected challenges. This will include delivering the underpinning science and engineering, commercialising technologies, deployment at scale, and incentivising consumers to go on this journey for the benefit of society.
Intellectually-driven research that grows from academics’ personal research interests is an extremely valuable and noble pursuit that can deliver impact to society and industry, though generally in the longer term. We mustn’t stifle that creativity. But in a world where we’re funded through the public purse we need to deliver value back on tax payers investment, including in the short- and mid-term. The Faraday Institution is, and needs to continue to be, cognisant of the real-world challenges in energy storage commercialisation, and set its research directions accordingly.
How do we do that? Through deepening dialogues and closer alignment with UK industry partners, at all career levels. By understanding the barriers their R&D teams are facing and what they’re looking to develop. And by using that as one input to frequently revisit research priorities.
I’m very much looking forward to attending the Faraday Institution 2024 Conference in what will be my second week as CEO. There, I’d encourage all delegates from industry and academic institutions to actively network with people they don’t know. By understanding people personally, by understanding their mindsets, trust can grow – and those relationships can be leaned upon and formalised into the academic-industry partnerships of the future. I’d really like industry delegates at the conference to take away a better understanding of the community’s expertise and capabilities – and the view that it is an engine they can tap into to solve technical challenges they’re facing in the near- and mid-term.
Balancing that, I’m also highly attracted to the idea of the setting transformational challenges for the Faraday Institution community – research challenges that capture the imagination – that feel aspirational and inspiring – the moonshot of the electrochemical energy storage world. I know the team is keen to develop these; the success of which would depend on maintaining a long-term perspective and securing long-term funding. Early career researchers in particular are drawn to such ideas – they provide a sense of direction, ambition, and focus people on seeking goal-oriented solutions – an idea that I’m keen to instil in the community. The organisation has created a credible platform from which to launch such transformational challenges. And in some areas of battery research the underpinning science is at a stage to make a major breakthrough feasible.
The Faraday Institution’s research programmes sit within the UK’s international context. The UK can’t compete with high volume manufacturing environments and must play to its strengths, to focus on those areas where it can generate distinctive IP. I see that developments in electrode manufacturing and next-generation batteries – such as solid-state, lithium-sulfur and sodium-ion technologies – offer the UK an opportunity to take a market-leading position globally in applications beyond automotive. By building on the UK’s advantages – cutting edge, creative research and world-leading companies – the country could establish a large-scale domestic manufacturing capability. But we must act quickly and decisively to do so.
Research excellence is an international pursuit and almost half of Faraday Institution scientific papers include international collaborators. Collaboration with international research groups helps ensure research directions remain commercially relevant and the likelihood of success is maximised. Now that the UK is back in Horizon Europe I’d like the Faraday Institution to seek to unlock funding opportunities there, and to play a role in helping academics rebuild partnerships into battery research groups in mainland Europe.
Countries around the world have been looking at the Faraday Institution’s model as one to replicate when setting up national mission-driven R&D programmes. I therefore think it’s only fitting that the organisation seeks to continue to extend the influence it has on the world stage. Through its leadership of the Ayrton Challenge on Energy Storage, the UK is taking a leading role in the energy transition in emerging economies. Under my leadership, the organisation will be seeking out other opportunities to effect global change.
UK companies in the battery sector are already facing considerable recruitment challenges in securing highly skilled scientists and engineers. This will only be exacerbated as the predicted number of new roles are created by these organisations. The Faraday Institution has developed an extremely successful PhD training programme. But there’s a need to grow the PhD provision for the UK battery energy storage sector. I therefore see securing long-term funding for the Faraday Institution to directly fund PhDs as a high priority.
There’s also an opportunity for the Faraday Institution to work further with universities and other organisations to excite undergraduates and other young people around the opportunities in the battery sector. Battery technology is often overlooked on undergraduate curricula, so sharing that knowledge widely would be a powerful vehicle for change. I’m a great proponent for growing the talent pool to meet the national skills need, recognising that efforts need to appeal to people from every demographic.
Martin will be at Cenex LCV on the morning of 5 September and the Faraday Institution Conference, 10-12 September. Please reach out to him, introduce yourselves and start a conversation …
Posted on September 2, 2024