In his address to the IIEA, Professor Chris Llewellyn Smith discusses the need to complement wind and solar-generated electricity with the ability to store such electricity. He argues that as many countries replace fossil fuels with electricity generated from wind and solar, the volatility of these sources of energy will require storage solutions to be developed to meet a variable demand. Finally, his remarks explore the potential options available to various countries to meet these storage requirements.

About the speaker:

Chris Llewellyn Smith, who is a theoretical physicist, is currently interested in all aspects of energy supply and demand, especially electricity storage. He led the recently launched study by the Royal Society on Large-Scale Energy Storage. Chris has, inter alia, served as Director of Energy Research, University of Oxford (2011-17); President of the Council of Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (2008-17); and Director General of CERN (1994-1998), when the Large Hadron Collider was approved and construction started. He has written and spoken widely on science funding, international scientific collaboration and energy issues, and served on many advisory bodies nationally and internationally, including the UK Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on Science and Technology (1989-92). Professor Llewellyn Smith’s contributions to theoretical particle physics and leadership have been recognised by awards and honours worldwide, including election to the Royal Society (1984), which awarded him a Royal Medal in 2015.