SEEEP summer school in China help fighting climate change
Global change is a fact – partly thanks to the current energy systems based on oil and gas. What can we do to stop it? Send 43 young energy researchers from Europe and China to summer school! In August, Björn Laumert, Professor at KTH, was arranging the SEEEP Summer School together with two partner universities in China and Eindhoven University of Technology.
”The school is an opportunity to increase understanding of the ongoing climate change and how important it is to transform the energy system to meet the climate goals,” Professor Björn Laumert says.
”The students get to lift their gaze from their specific research topics and learn about the role of the energy system in society”, Björn says. “It gives them context and a deeper understanding of why their specific research is needed to solve the climate crisis”.
On the agenda:
- Energy systems in Europe and China, similarities and differences
- Electricity and heat production
- Distribution and consumption of energy
- Technical visits to hydropower plants and solar manufacturers
- Group work investigating various technical concepts to reduce the use of fossil fuels.
On top of that, they had the opportunity to visit the China Three Gorges Corporation, the owners of the world's largest power plant. They also had an exciting technical visit to one of their Pumped Storage Hydropower (PSH) facilities. This particular PSH facility boasts the world's largest pump-turbine unit, with a remarkable single-unit capacity of 350 MW and a rated speed of 600 rpm. The Zhejiang Changlongshan PSH Station is equipped with six units, each having a single-unit capacity of 350 MW and a rated head of 710 meters. Notably, this station is the first to feature two different rated speeds (500/600 rpm) for its pumped-storage units within the same powerhouse.
“Spending two weeks in China during the summer, with the enriching cultural exchanges fostered by the collaboration among eight different universities, was truly an amazing experience”, says Priscila Costa Nascimento , one of the doctoral students from KTH.
The SEEEP Summer School was arranged for the 8th time this summer as a collaboration with SEEEP and Cluster members, this year arranged by KTH, TUE, Zheijang University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
In 2024, the Chinese students are welcome to Europe for one week at KTH and one at TUE.