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University of Central Lancashire
A three year, £1m partnership between BAE Systems and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is being launched at the House of Commons today.
The project aims to improve energy management in the defence sector, which will cut emissions, reduce overall cost and secure supply. It supports the MOD’s Sustainable Procurement Charter, which asks businesses to address their impact on the environment.
The project will look at intelligent energy management systems for use in the defence sector, initially at BAE Systems sites across the UK, but with potential for wider use in the defence industry and at military sites. In the long term, the research could help enhance the competitiveness of British industry by extending the systems to other sectors.
The partnership will also look at new energy technologies that could allow unmanned aircraft systems to operate more efficiently, helping them stay in the air for longer.
We are committed to supporting education and skills development, and UCLan is the university closest to our largest sites in the UK (Warton and Samlesbury). We employ around 15,000 people in the North West of England and supporting the communities in which we operate has always been important to us.
The work also supports our environmental strategy to reduce resource use and minimise our environmental impact. And it is part of a wider sustainable development strategy across UCLan, helping towards the university’s long-term objective to establish itself as a centre of excellence for engineering research in this area.
Malcolm McVicar, Vice-Chancellor at UCLan, said he hoped the initiative would lead to “a revolution in energy and sustainable development”.
“This is a fantastic project and we are grateful to BAE Systems for investing this essential funding. Against the backdrop of climate change there is a pressing need to undertake intelligent research that identifies how energy systems should be planned, designed and operated in a sustainable fashion,” he added.
In 2008 BAE Systems became the first major supplier to sign the MOD’s Sustainable Procurement Charter and we are working on a range of environmental initiatives across our business. One example of where we’re working with the MOD in this way is the Green Commander Fleet Radar Programme, which is incorporating eco-design principles in radar development.
Globally we’re also committed to minimising our impact on the environment. Our HybriDrive® technology is installed in nearly 2,000 buses across the world, and increases fuel economy by approximately 30%. It has helped prevent more than
50,000 tons of carbon emissions.
