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David MacKay, Chief Scientific Advisor to DECC, in Croatia

David MacKay, Chief Scientific Advisor to DECC, presenting the UK’s energy strategy on a visit to Croatia.

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Professor David Mackay and Ambassador David Slinn accompanied by the dean professor Nedjeljko Perić and his colleagues during the tour of the faculty of electrical engineering and computing, University of Zagreb

David MacKay, Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), spoke about the UK’s energy strategy at a lecture he held during a visit to Zagreb last week. MacKay, a member of the Royal Society, is also a leading world expert on sustainable energy. His book, ‘‘Sustainable energy – without the hot air,’’ has been praised by The Economist and The Guardian. Bill Gates described it as ‘‘one of the best books on energy that has been written.” An Information theorist and computer scientist, MacKay uses hard mathematics to assess renewable energy options. His book is available for free online.

During the lecture at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, attended by more than 150 energy experts, Croatian ministry officials, high-level business people and students, MacKay said that the UK uses ‘’high-level science and technology to make decisions in the energy strategy that are important for today’s but also future generations.’’ The panel discussion that followed included Željko Tomšić, a professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, Kristina Čelić from the Croatian Ministry of Economy and Mladen Zeljko from the Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar. MacKay was in Croatia as part of a regional tour, which also included Slovenia and Hungary. MacKay’s role as Chief Scientific Advisor is to ensure the policies and operations of the Department for Energy and Climate Change, as well as its contributions to wider Government issues, are underpinned by the best science and engineering advice available.

Published 14 November 2013