Faculty of Science and Technology

The LEC Best Postgraduate Project with Business prize this year was completed by LEC graduate Andy Beanland. As part of his studies, Andy completed a feasibility study for Barbon Parish Council focusing on renewable energy opportunities for the village.

Prior to the project, the parish council was discussing the possibility of installing a number of renewable energy technologies. These included solar PV, small scale wind turbines, hydropower devices such as a possible installation of an Archimedes screw in Barbon Beck, and geothermal energy technologies.

Lancaster University provided a feasibility study to investigate these options and the associated issues of cost, payback periods, installation and maintenance requirements and any legislative constraints.

Andy commented, "The project was a fantastic opportunity for me to work with a local organisation and a great chance to put some of the theoretical knowledge gained from my MSc into practice. My project had two elements - firstly, there was an investigation into the technical feasibility of renewable energy technologies within the Barbon context. The second part involved getting immersed in the local community to research the attitudes and knowledge of the local people. Combining these two elements enabled me to provide some really sound recommendations to the Parish Council on the technical viability and social acceptability of various renewable technologies."

The council could then take a view on applying the technologies to the public facilities of the village, for example, the village hall and possibly the surrounding area, such as household dwellings, the church, local pub and even other neighbouring villages as well.

Parish Clerk Mike Kingsbury explained, "The report gave us the ability to learn about the different technologies open to us and will help us to decide the best course of action. We will be focusing our attentions on the options to reduce the heating and lighting costs of the village hall, as power is its most expensive cost, and we need to reduce its costs to make it more sustainable in the future."

Andy explained, "I've no doubt that this experience, particularly the community engagement side, helped me secure a job working for Nurture Lakeland, an award winning environment and conservation charity, within days of completing my MSc."

Sue Savege, Director, Nurture Lakeland, concurred, "Andy's very real experience of working within a local community together with his technical understanding on renewable technologies and climate change made him a very strong candidate for his role with us at Nurture Lakeland. It's very important to us that we employ people who not only have a high level of technical knowledge but who also have a proper empathy and understanding of the challenges facing small businesses and local communities when it comes to implementing measures to protect against climate change. His research placement really helped him to stand out from the crowd."

To find out more about accessing student resources, contact Student Employability Manager Pam Pickles +44 (0)1524 510193 p.pickles@lancaster.ac.uk

http://www.lancs.ac.uk/sci-tech/internships/

Fri 15 March 2013