Iain Todd Email and Phone Number

I'm an engineer who has extensive experience in both the private sector and in Government. As a young consultant engineer I designed and built hydro power schemes, mostly abroad (1974 to 1984). As a civil servant, I worked as an engineer on nuclear safety and mining safety, then as the DTI's Director of Oil and Gas Development in Aberdeen. In 2002 came my return to renewable energy, being appointed as the DTI's Director of Renewable Energy in London. From 2004 until 2014, I worked as Renewables Champion for the Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG). In this role much of my time was devoted to the Aberdeen offshore wind farm, latterly as project spokesperson. This national demo centre for offshore wind technology was consented in March 2013.I also assisted the creation and development of the Aberdeen Hydrogen Project, which has seen the arrival of Europe’s largest fleet of hydrogen buses in Aberdeen in 2014.From 2007 to 2014 I acted as chair of the Grampian Biomass Working Group.From 2014 to 2017 I returned to independent consultancy in renewable energy, based near my home in Fife. I'm working on a range of new projects through the East Coast Renewables group, and in Fife. These include: the potential for using renewable hydrogen in the rural and community sector; dual-fuel vehicle conversions to renewables; and geothermal energy.I have a particular interest in the part that renewables can play in delivering global social equality, especially in Africa. Between 2017 and 2020 I completed a PhD on societal barriers to solar energy in South Africa, at the University of St Andrews. This allowed me also to carry out tutoring and teaching duties there. From mid-2020, I have been conducting research on the impact of COVID-19 on the energy transition, at the Erasmus University Rotterdam.