Head, Energy and Power GroupUniversity of Oxford
In 1993 Malcolm moved to Oxford University to start up the Electrical Power Group.
Climate change, resource depletion and social inequity are the big challenges facing our civilisation. The group’s focus is to develop, and commercialise, sustainable energy technologies. Malcolm has active research programmes in the four sectors of developing world, domestic, transport and renewable generation. He is the Co-Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Integrating Renewables. (http://www.renewableenergy.ox.ac.uk)
A key challenge is to develop new technologies to meet the need of providing sustainable electricity to the 1.3 billion people without access to electricity. This provides a triple benefit – the end users benefit from the provision of the service, lack of large incumbents means rapid deployment and many of the core ideas are relevant to developing world. Malcolm’s approach is to deeply understand the end users current and future needs and their capabilities and to develop an energy system that grows with the end-user. Specific projects include the battery as distribution grid, the weak hybrid grid, the dual use of DC and AC in the home, and the use of effective thermal energy stores.
Malcolm has spun out four for profit companies and two not for profit enterprise. He has over 120 publications and over 20 patent and patent applications.
Eastern and Southern Africa, Southeast Asia