Assalamualaikum wbt / Salam Sejahtera,

Dear UTM researchers,

You are cordially invited to attend a talk by Prof. Ricardo Martinez-Botas. The details of the talk are as follows:

 

Topics              : Low Carbon Transport Technologies Towards 2050 : Checks and Balances

Date / Time      : 13th, September 2017 (Wednesday) / 10.00 am

Venue              : Dewan Seminar Menara Razak

Speaker           : Prof. Ricardo Martinez Botas

                        (Turbomachinery Professor, Imperial College London)

For UTM staff, your attendance will be recorded in UTMSmile system

For confirmation of attendance, kindly go to:

REGISTER HERE

Abstarct:

 

As we move towards a low carbon economy, this lecture will address the key issues in vehicle technologies attainable now, in 2020 and finally moving towards 2050. The transport sector is both a vital element of modern economies and a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In 2007, transport globally was responsible for 6.6 Gt of CO₂ emissions, around 23% of all energy-related CO₂ emissions. This could grow by about 40% by 2030 on the IEA’s “business as usual” scenario. Transport is a relatively costly area in which to achieve big CO₂ mitigation savings compared to some other sectors, such as power generation and buildings efficiency. But, given current understanding, transport emissions will have to be addressed to meet both the global and GHG emission reduction targets, which aim to “prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”. Improving the efficiency of vehicles with conventional powertrains is a clear target that cannot be underestimated. It is and relatively low cost option for transport carbon saving. A significant CO₂ reduction (perhaps 50% of the current fleet average), should be achievable with known technology and with less than perhaps 20% increment to vehicle costs. This is mainly through efficient, down-sized, light-weight engines, light-weight materials, and reduced vehicle size. Fleet efficiency standards – such as those being set for the EU – are a good way of driving this. Electrification of the powertrain, in the widest sense, is an attractive option for light duty vehicles because it can open the door to a family of very efficient and flexible vehicle options. These include ICE hybrids, plug-in ICE hybrids, fuel cell hybrids and electric vehicles. Between them they offer considerable flexibility in terms of consumer choice and of the national low carbon transition plan. Most of the savings from plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles will depend on the success of the Government’s strategy for de-carbonising power generation as well as investment on fueling/recharging strategies.

 

Focusing on Malaysia, the transportation sector contributes about 28% of the country-total CO₂ emission. Road transport alone is responsible for 85% of the total transport sector CO₂ emission. Malaysian population is approximately 5% of the whole ASEAN – but it has the highest greenhouse gas (GHG) emission-per-capita in ASEAN. Transport sector is one of the biggest contributors to this statistic, thus it is essential to have “checks and balances” in the implementation of vehicle technology options.

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About speaker

Ricardo is a Professor of Turbomachinery and Head of the Thermofluids Division in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. He has a MEng Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College London and obtained a doctorate from the University of Oxford University in 1993.

 

He is a member of the Science Advisory Council at the Department for Transport (UK). He undertook the independent overseer role in the UK on Vehicle Emission Program following the concerns over real emissions on the roads for Diesel engines.

The UK Vehicle Emissions program contributed directly to the much needed evidence of the emissions of diesel light duty vehicles, focusing on nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. The program produces emission testing report which was presented to the UK parliament in April 2016.

 

Ricardo leads a research group in the area of low carbon vehicles with particular emphasis on highly downsized engines, turbochargers and energy storage systems. He has developed the area of unsteady flow aerodynamics of small turbines, with particular application to the turbocharger industry. The contributions to this area centred on the application of unsteady fluid mechanics, instrumentation development and computational methods. The work has attracted support not only from government agencies but also from industry.

 

He is the currently the chair for UK University Internal Combustion Engines Group (UnICEG) and he is also vice-chair of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Turbomachinery Committee. He is a Visiting Professor in the Universiti Teknologi of Malaysia (UTM) and the Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU). He has published over 90 journal papers and he is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Turbomachinery (ASME) and the Journal of Mechanical
Engineering Science (IMechE).