An introduction to alternative energy

Ian Arbon (Visiting Professor): Engineered Solutions

Location: Room F16, first floor Stephenson Building
Time/Date: 4th October 2006, 11:00

This seminar sets out to answer the following questions:



  • What is Alternative Energy?
  • Is ‘energy’ the same as ‘electricity’?
  • Why do we need Alternative Energy?
  • What is ‘Climate Change’ and how is it affected by energy consumption?
  • What is ‘Sustainability’?
  • Does Alternative Energy meet the requirements of ‘Sustainability’?
  • Is Alternative Energy the same as Renewable Energy?




Ian Arbon is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and a Registered European Engineer, with an MSc in Renewable Energy and the Environment and an MBA. Having been MD of several engineering-sector companies (Howden Compressors, Caledonian Compressors, Peter Brotherhood), he now has his own consultancy, Engineered Solutions. Ian is a Fellow of IMechE, where he chairs the Energy, Environment & Sustainability Group, the Renewable Power Committee of the Power Industries Division and the Working Group on Global Sustainability and is Co-Chairman of the joint IMechE/ICE ‘Waste as Resource’ initiative with DTI/DEFRA. A Fellow of ASME, Ian lectures on “Renewable Energy & Sustainability” within its Distinguished Lecturers’ Program. He is a Fellow of the Energy Institute and of the Institute of Refrigeration.

Published: 4th October 2006