Cambridge University’s BP Institute officially renamed

Having committed to the change in July of this year, Cambridge University’s BP Institute has today (18/10) officially changed its name to the Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows.

In a statement, Professor Andy Neely, Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and Business Relations, emphasised the institute’s independence from BP, while highlighting their continuing partnership: “The decision to rename the Institute was made to better reflect the research carried out at the IEEF and be clear about its independence.

“Presently, the world’s energy system is dominated by fossil fuels, and while an energy transition is urgent, it is not possible at the pace and scale required without the current industry’s involvement and willingness to transition.

“Working with carefully chosen partners from the energy sector on energy transition projects is necessary to develop replacements at a scale that can generate the energy the world needs without a sudden disruption to the global economy that would plunge billions of people into darkness and disrupt vital networks of trade and humanitarian support.”

The institute’s research projects now “support both the energy transition and environmental sustainability” according to a University Statement.  Professor Andy Woods, for instance, Director of the Institute, chaired the working group that produced the latest report from the Royal Society on carbon storage, which he recently discussed on the Today programme.

Zak Coleman, former undergraduate president of the Student Union, has accused the institute of greenwashing, saying that it continues to “accept research cash built on fossil fuel expansion, environmental racism and science denialism.”

The university had been under increasing pressure to take action to loosen its ties to the fossil fuel company before the intention of a name change was made public.

In May, for example, student members of Fossil Free Research (FFR) occupied the institute for 63 minutes, to signify each year since “oil companies were first alerted to the environmental dangers posed by their business model”.

FFR, responding to the intention to rename in July, stated that they were “thrilled”, but expressed concern regarding the university’s persisting connections with BP: “To truly divorce themselves from the reputational and material support that their research lends to the fossil fuel industry’s […] business model, universities must officially ban research partnerships with and reject funding from this industry.”

When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for BP responded with the following: “The research funded by BP moved focus a few years ago to support the energy transition which reflects the greening of BP. Over the last three years BP has supported research into battery technology, CCS, hydrogen and even ventilation of convenience stores through the institute.

“As for the name change itself, we are fully supportive. The institute was established in 2000 and is a wholly independent institute, managed by the University of Cambridge. Discussions have been underway for a few months regarding changing the name of the institute to better reflect the nature of the research it undertakes.”

Featured image credits: Fossil Free Research