ERDF Project Accelerating a Low Carbon Economy Colin
ERDF Project: Accelerating a Low Carbon Economy Colin Snape Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
ALCE builds upon the University of Nottingham’s Energy Technologies Research Institute (ETRI) • Major international centre for energy RD&D across a range of themes • £ 50 M current portfolio • > tripled in 3 years University of Nottingham Innovation Park Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
Energy Technologies Research Institute (ETRI) • 60 researchers as PIs or Co-Is on current grants • 3 Faculties, over 13 disciplines Engineering: electrical, mechanical, chemical, civil, buildings Science: chemistry, biosciences, physics, maths, computing Social science: geography, economics, business David Wilson Millennium Eco-House Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
ETRI R&D Themes 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Cleaner fossil energy Renewable energy generation and storage Flexible electrical systems Bio-fuels Hydrogen storage Low energy buildings Environment and social management ASGARD facility: underground CO 2 release Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
Midlands Energy Consortium (MEC) Partnership • Nottingham, Birmingham, Loughborough, • Wide collaboration on energy research and teaching • Unrivalled concentration of energy related RD&D within the UK • Hosts Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) • Midlands Energy Graduate School (MEGS) – training next generation of highly skilled personnel for energy industry and academia Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future MEC - Aachen University Mo. U signing
Novel Adsorbents for CO 2 Capture (ii) (iii) (v) (iv) § Pre and post-combustion capture application. § One of best performing materials in independent worldwide study § § ADA-ES (US-DOE DE-NT 0005649) Novel regeneration techniques and mechanisms published Leading large R&D activity to develop and scale-up technology (i) Drage T. C. Blackman J. M. Pevida C. and Snape C. E. 2009. Energy & Fuels, 23, 2790– 2796. (ii) Drage T. C. , Arenillas A. , Smith K. M. And Snape C. E. Micropor. & Mesopor. Mats. 2008, 116, 504 -512. (iii) Drage T. C. , Pevida C. and Snape C. E. Carbon, 2008, 46, 1464 -1474. (iv) Drage T. C. , Arenillas A. , Smith K. M. , Pevida C. , Piippo S. and Snape C. E. , 2007. Fuel 86, 22 -31. (v) Arenillas A. , Drage T. C. , Smith K. and Snape C. E. , 2005. J. Anal. and Appl. Pyrolysis, 74, 298 -306. Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
Cleaner fossil energy and CO 2 capture • Programme encompasses whole spectrum of cleaner coal and CO 2 capture technologies, oil, biomass conversion and pollutant control and involves 10 academics. • EPSRC - E. ON awards covering adsorbents, oxyfuel combustion and CO 2 transport (Snape and Drage, £ 2 M). • China links – EPSRC collaborative projects and ICUK commercialisation award on adsorbents (£ 1. 7 M) • Maroto-Valer - £ 1 M EPSRC Challenging Engineering Award. • Engineering Doctoral Centre (£ 9 M), EPSRC - over 10 industrial partners producing 60 Ph. Ds. Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
Integrated Compressed Air Renewable Energy Systems • Ultra-large direct-compression wind turbines have much lower costs per k. W(e) output than conventional direct-gen. machines • Energy can then be stored directly at very low costs (<£ 10 K/MWh) • Marginal energy loss of energy through storage <15%. Garvey, S. D. ‘Structural Capacity and the 20 MW Wind Turbine’. IMech. E Part A: Journal of Power and Energy, Dec 2009. Accepted subject to modifications. (Preprint http: //www. box. net/shared/48817911 dh) Pimm, A. J. and Garvey, S. D. . ‘Analysis of Flexible Structures for Large-Scale Subsea Compressed Air Energy Storage’. 7 th Int. Conf. on Modern Practice in Stress and Vibration Analysis. (Io. P). Cambridge Sept 7 -9 2009. http: //www. iop. org/EJ/article/1742 -6596/181/1/012049/jpconf 9_181_012049. pdf? request-id=ef 0 dfb 98 -a 730 -43 ae-afe 3 -924573568998 Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future 8 Patents filed and several other papers
Highlight: UNIFLEX • Major EU project led by Nottingham to research a cellular electrical power flow controller • Paradigm shift in network control – – Instantaneous power control Asynchronous networks Flexible protection Reconfigurable • Prototype (built at Nottingham) will be the control hub of the 0. 5 MW Smart Grid research laboratory 8 journal papers from Nottingham are included in the Issue 4 Dec 2009 Journal of EPE “Special Issue on Power Electronics for the Future Energy Networks” Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
Bioenergy: Lignocellulosic Conversion To Ethanol • Aim: Sustainable conversion of waste lignocellulosic biomass into ethanol Farm Adapt (Nottingham) • Collaborations: Life Cycle Analysis (Bath, Nottingham) Digestion Screen Chemical/Physical Disruption Fungal Enzyme Discovery Novel Yeast Strains Fermentation Social and Ethical Dimensions Nottingham) – Industrial - Bioethanol Ltd, Briggs, BP British Sugar, Coors Ltd, DSM, HGCA, Lallemand, Pusuit Dynamics, SABMiller, SWRI – International: EBI (USA), JBEI (USA), Embrapa (Brazil), Tsinghua (China), VTT (Finland) Patents and Publications: T. imasalena, S. Nicholls and K. A. Smart. (2009) Patent PCT/GB 2009/050928, Yeast Strain Discrimination. 9 publications since 2007 covering gene transcription, petite mutants and oxidative stresses of yeast including: (i) B. R. Gibson, C. A. Boulton, W. G. Box, N. S. Graham, S. J. Lawrence, R. S. T. Linforth and K. A. Smart. Differential yeast gene transcription during brewery propagation. J. of the American Society of Brewing Chemists, 2010, doi: 10. 1094 /ASBCJ-2009 -1123 -01; (ii) B. R. Gibson, C. A. Boulton, W. G. Box, N. S. Graham, S. J. Lawrence, R. S. T. Linforth and K. A. Smart. Amino acid uptake and yeast gene transcription during industrial brewery fermentation. J. of the American Society of Brewing Chemists, 2009, 67(3), 157 -165; (iii) C. L. Jenkins, S. J. Lawrence, A. I. Kennedy, P. Thurston, J. A. Hodgson and K. A. Smart. Incidence and formation of petite mutants in lager brewing yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (syn S. p a sto ria n u s) populations. J. of the American Society of Brewing Chemists, 2009, 67(2), 72 -80. Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
Nanoporous Hydrogen Storage Materials Schroder, Chem; Walker, Eng. • Design and synthesis of MOFs and nanoporous carbons with controlled pore architecture. • High surface areas >3000 m 2 g-1. • High hydrogen capacities (10 wt. % @ 20 bar, 77 K). • Fast kinetics and excellent cyclability. • Neutron expts to probe H 2 interactions. • Collaborations: GM, EU, USA. • £ 3 M research funding. MOF cage architecture (Schroder, Chem) H 2 sorption sites (Walker, Eng. ) X Lin, I Telepeni, A J Blake, et al. , J. Am. Chem. Soc. , 131 (2009) 2159. X Lin, J Jia, X Zhao, et al. , Angewandte Chem. International Edition, 45 (2006) 7358. Y Xia, G S Walker, D M Grant, R Mokaya, J. Am. Chem. Soc. , 131 (2009) 16493). Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future Nanoporous carbons (Walker, Eng; Mokaya, Chem)
Ventilation/Air Quality • Mop Fan Technology • A flexible mop fan for removing particles and gases pollutants • A photocatalyst, titanium dioxide, is immobilised on the fibres (polymers/optics) • The mop is bathed in ultraviolet light by a UV lamp • BIRNIE, M. , GILLOTT, M. and RIFFAT. S. , 2006. The immobilization of titanium dioxide on organic polymers, for a cost effective and energy efficient means of improving indoor air quality. International Journal of Green Energy, 3(1), 101 -114. • PATENT: A Photocatalytic Mop Fan for Air Cleaning, PCT/GB 03/003599 & Euro Patent 00969685. 7 Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
Environment and society • Alleviating energy poverty, CHP stove • Rural India – participation in renewable energy approaches • India networks – addressing both technology and societal issues. SCORE stove generating heat and electricity Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
Dedicated Buildings (> £ 20 M investment) Energy Technologies Building • • Energy RD&D, labs, knowledge exchange space Low carbon exemplar: BREEAM Outstanding 2100 m 2 on award winning Jubilee Campus Innovation Park c. £ 10 M investment: – £ 5 M Uo. N – £ 2. 8 M ERDF – £ 1 M Wolfson Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future Design for Energy Technologies Building (completion summer 2011)
Dedicated Buildings Bioenergy Centre • Laboratory Scale Conversion Plant • Liquid and Solid State Fermentation Suites • Analytical Laboratories • Molecular and Microbiology Laboratories Housing: BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre Programme LACE Food and Biofuel Innovation Centre Brewing Research Facility Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future Bioenergy Centre, Sutton Bonington Completion 2011
China • Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies (Ningbo Campus) • Collaborations: – Chinese Academy of Sciences – Tsinghua University – Southeast University – Shanghai Research Institute for Building Science – Sichuan University – Zhejiang University – Chongqing University … CSET building, Ningbo campus, China Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
ALCE: What will it do? • Accelerate the low carbon economy in the region • Showcase emerging low carbon technologies through unique R&D and demonstration facilities. • Providing focused postgraduate training to improve the regional knowledge and skills base • This will catalyze increased regional business innovation Pellets capturing CO 2 using amine polymer Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
Workpackage A: Outreach • Information and networking events • Annual conference • Topic workshops • Demonstration • Coordinating with others’ events • Referrals Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future Light pipe in university’s Eco House
B: New energy building • BREEAM Outstanding • Energy technologies e. g. : hydrogen refuelling station, electric vehicle charging, energy storage, H fuel cell, biomass CHP, pv… • 700 m 2 Labs, 600 m 2 prototyping hall, 500 m 2 offices (60 staff, 60 PGRs) and 300 m 2 amenities Creative Energy Homes, University Park Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
C: Enhancing energy RD&D capacity • New RD&D facilities, e. g. supercapacitor and bio-refining • Uo. N and business use • Graduate placements (KTP, dissertations, sponsored Ph. Ds, vacation) • Graduate Placement Fund (salary and travel) • 5 new Ph. Ds Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future Prototype supercapacitor
D: smart energy community • Smart networks RD&D • Initially energy building + creative energy homes • Expand after 2 -3 years • Industry: test devices in operating conditions • Government: showcase capability First virtual energy community? UNIFLEX Controller Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
Timescales months from April 2010: 1 -4: appointments 4+ : smart grid RD&D 6 : Launch event 7+ : events, placements 8 -21: energy building (Jan, 2012) 24+: energy community expansion MOF polymer for world-record H storage Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
Contact Melanie Watts Project Manager ALCE@nottingham. ac. uk Energy Technologies Research Institute towards a sustainable future
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