Sustainability Technology and Research (STAR) Lab
Department of Engineering, King's College London
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The KCL-STAR Lab develops sustainable technologies and nexus systems powered by renewable energy, assessing their system-wide impact, performance, and costs to address global challenges and support just transitions. By combining fundamental science with impact-driven applications, we create innovations that enhance renewable energy and storage systems, optimizing their performance across energy, water, food, and climate systems, with a focus on equitable and cost-effective decarbonization.
We believe that sustainable technological solutions must be holistically designed and implemented, taking into account the interconnectedness of technologies, systems, and people. By effectively blending these three elements, we can develop solutions that are not only effective in addressing global challenges but also equitable and inclusive, ensuring a just transition for all.
Please check out vacant positions in our group. We currently have several funded positions for visiting RA and part-time (undergraduate, postgraduate, and postdoctoral) RA. If you're interested in these positions, please contact Dr He at wei.4.he@kcl.ac.uk (Oct 2024)
Current topics
Energy storage and renewable system integration
Electrochemical carbon dioxide removal
Domestic energy decarbonisation
Engineering for development: energy, water, and food
Please feel free to visit our Research page for more information about current projects.
Recent publications
Assess space-based solar power for European-scale power system decarbonization (energy system, decarbonization)
Accelerating solar-powered desalinationdeployment through transferable learning (solar desalination)
Flexible batch electrodialysis for low-cost solarpowered brackish water desalination (solar desalination)
Synergies and potential of hybrid solar photovoltaic-thermal desalination technologies (solar desalination)
Domestic thermal energy storage applications: What parameters should they focus on? (energy storage, heating)
Impacts of Battery Degradation Modelling on the Battery Controller Design for Grid Arbitrage (energy storage)
Technologies and economics of electric energy storages in power systems: Review and perspective (energy storage)
Recent news
08.25 The paper on space based solar power has been published on Joule. The work has been feastured by BBC, The Guardian, The Indepedent, etc.
07.25 We have a new pre-print about compressed air energy storage Renewable-Powered High-Temperature Compressed Air Energy Storage to Accelerate Grid Decarbonization
04.25 We recently have two pre-prints on the impact space-based solar power on EU-scale energy system decarbonisation and cost reduciton potential of electrodialysis-based carbon dioxide removal technologies.
02.25 We orgainised the first "FlexNET" workshop on creating energy storage like negative emission technologies, discussing with stakeholders including DESNZ, CO2-RE, and industrial leaders (e.g., Mission Zero, Carbon Engineering).
09.24 Ruoqing's first paper online in Communications Materials on accelerating solar desalination tech deployment. We analyzed 40 years of data to show water cost reduction rates and explored lessons from solar/battery tech to speed up learning. Way to go!
09.24 Dr He was invited to give a keynote in the CSCST-SCI Conference 2024.
09/24 A new industrial funded project by Mission Zero Technologies has kicked off. The project studies flexibility of direct air capture.
08.24 Hange, Liang, Aaron & Ruoqing gave four oral presentations on food, EVs, energy (heat) poverty, and carbon dixode removal respectively, at MIT A+B conference 2024. Dr He was invited to give a keynote talk. We got a best paper award
03.24 Our solar desalination work published in Nature Water that demonstrated on the field a solar powered electrodialysis brackish water desalination - cheapter than current on-grid reverse osmosis solutions. A much clean water solution for rural areas also at a lower cost
08.23 A fruitful research and field visit to Abuja Nigeria featured by King's news
08.23 Dr He was invited to join the Shiming Yang's Heat Transfer seminar series at XJTU.
07.23 Dr He gave an invited talk on grid-scale compressed air energy storage in CEBE2023 Shanghai.
07.23 A new project featured by King's news.
06.23 Hange attended the UKERC summer school.
06.23 Welcome Liang and Aaron to join the group and start their PhD projects.
01.23 Welcome Hange to join the group and start her PhD project.
10.22 The group moved to Engineering department at King's College London.
09.22 A new EPSRC project Hi-CAES has started and a vacant postdoc position needs to fill asap. Please find details in Positions.
04.22 HeatMyHome.ninja is live! Great work developed by the MEng group and Michael. Details can be found in Codes and Tools.
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