On Monday 26 November, the Energy Research Accelerator is holding its inaugural conference at the East Midlands Conference Centre.

ERA Vision – the Midlands energy conference, covers subjects including renewable energy, energy storage alternatives, energy funding, collaborations with industry, low emission vehicles and more.

The keynote speaker in the afternoon is Robert Llewellyn. Best known for his portrayal of Kryten in Red Dwarf, Robert Llewellyn is now a leading advocate for the use of electric vehicles, and his ‘Fully Charged’ show has over 350,000 subscribers on YouTube.

The aim of the conference is to bring together researchers, business people, policy makers and others, to explore new ideas and innovations, and to form new partnerships for the future.

Other speakers involved in the event include Steve Holiday, President of the Energy Institute and former CEO of National Grid; Rob Saunders, Director of Innovate’s £100m Prospering from the Energy Revolution fund; and many other senior representatives from ERA’s partner universities, plus the British Geological Survey and several industrial partners from across the region.

For those who are running CleanTech businesses, or are planning to start one up, there is a special seminar in the afternoon by Guy Pattison, founder of Clean + Cool, and Jon Card, business journalist. Their session Stronger Clean Innovation Stories teaches entrepreneurs how to tell the story of their business and how to pitch for investment.

Other seminar themes will be exploring the latest developments in energy technologies, and the ways in which academia and industry are working together to demonstrate potential real-world solutions to energy issues.

Some of ERA’s PhD students will also be presenting their cutting-edge research in the ‘pecha-kucha’ presentation style, and there will be an exhibition area for delegates to meet some of the universities and businesses involved in the ERA programme.

ERA Vision is free to attend, but places are limited. Register at www.era.ac.uk/Midlands-Energy-Conference.