• Energy Research
• 2019 close

The transition to a low carbon economy needs to achieve multiple aims: competitiveness, protection of the environment, creation of quality jobs, and social welfare. Thus policy-makers and other key stakeholders require tools that need to focus beyond the energy sector by including these other domains of economy, society and the environment. Currently, most available tools lack integration of these important areas despite being tightly connected to the energy sector. Moreover, current energy modelling tools often lack documentation, transparency and have been developed for a specialized insider audience, which makes validation and comparison of results as well as independent review impossible. Our project aims to solve the current needs of integration and transparency by developing a leading-edge policy modelling tool based on WoLiM, TIMES and LEAP models and incorporating Input-Output Analysis, that allows for accounting of environmental, social and economic impacts. The modular design of the tool will take into account the necessary flexibility to deal with different levels and interests of stakeholders at great sectorial and spatial detail. Finally, transparency will be achieved through an open access freeware distribution of the model based on the open access programming language (Python), providing a detailed user manual, addressed to a wider non-specialist audience, and including free internet courses and learning materials.

Doctoral Training Partnerships: a range of postgraduate training is funded by the Research Councils. For information on current funding routes, see the common terminology at www.rcuk.ac.uk/StudentshipTerminology. Training grants may be to one organisation or to a consortia of research organisations. This portal will show the lead organisation only.

The EU promotes the use of renewable energy for the reduction of CO2 emissions as part of the EU’s effort to protect the natural environment. It aims to reduce carbon emissions by 60% relative to the 1990 level by 2050 and increase the use of renewable energy to 20% by 2020. Buildings account for about 40% energy consumption in the EU and the use of renewable energy for heating and cooling of buildings will be important in achieving this goal. Transformation of the EU new-existing building stock towards low/zero energy buildings requires effective integration and full use of the potential yield of intermittent renewable energy sources. Thermochemical heat storage (THS) can play a pivotal role in synchronizing energy demand and supply, on both short and long term basis. The proposed solar powered thermochemical heat storage (Solar-Store) system will integrate solar collector, evaporative humidifier and heat pipe technology with a novel THS reactor design for seasonal storage of solar energy. The proposed system will deliver efficient, low-cost THS that can be fitted in the limited space in dwellings. The fellowship aims to benefit from Prof. Yijun Yuan’s recent work in energy storage systems, making use of sorption materials and solar thermal technology. Professor Yuan's considerable industrial and academic experience will make valuable contribution to the EU host organisation in terms of technology/knowledge transfer, PhD student/young researcher training and IP/commercialisation of new technologies. The partner organisations will also involve to this interaction (secondments) to enhance the effectiveness of the fellowship. Combining the skills and experience of UNOTT, Prof. Yuan and partner organisations and presenting them to the next generation of researchers and professionals in industry through the comprehensive programme of knowledge transfer activities proposed in this project will lead to a step change in the development of future products in this area.

"Offshore wind is an attractive option for operators, primarily due to higher yields and less resistance from onshore homeowners and stakeholders. Within the UK the exploitable resource is especially attractive, at 6200TWhpa, ~18 times present UK electricity consumption and hence could provide all of the UK's electricity requirement with minimal emission and visual impacts. More than 5GW of installed capacity has been achieved in UK waters, enabled by government subsidies. The major barrier to further exploitation is that the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) from offshore wind is £140/MWhr. 2-3 times higher than other key renewable sources: onshore wind, solar and nuclear (a large non-renewable but low emission source). The high LCOE is caused by the severe environment which results in high operational, reliability and maintenance (O&M) costs. Seabed turbine foundations (largely monopile structures) O&M accounts for at least than 25% of all life cycle O&M costs, mostly caused by marine biofouling amounts to 10% of the LCOE. Even with the deployment of state of the art fouling prevention technology, the fouling thickness deposited on foundations grows continuously, eventually causing stress induced corrosion and crack defects. Fouling remediation treatment consists of deploying cleaning tools such as brushes and power jets by divers (which is dangerous) or ROVs with annual costs ~ £30k/MW. The project will develop a fouling management system consisting of a mobile survey robot leading a cleaning robot team that will eliminate be need for divers and ROVs. The team will be placed on the turbine structure at sea level and will journey down below sea level to the work place. The lead robot will travel autonomously over the entire subsea monopile surface, imaging the fouling and measuring its thickness in real time at every location where it occurs. Simultaneously the leader will instruct one or more cleaning robots to every fouled location and remove the fouling with an innovative guided power ultrasound technique. On returning to the sea surface the team would simply be transported to the next turbine scheduled for treatment and the cycle repeated. Overall O&M costs will be reduced by at least 50% compared with present diver/ROV techniques. This would mean a £7/MW (5%) reduction in LCOE. This is a significant contribution to the overall LCOE reduction required to make offshore wind competitive with other energy sources and thus reap the full environmental advantages of offshore wind."

Dirt on solar panels causes losses of more than €40bn p.a. and over 100Mtonnes of CO2 emission. Cleaning is expensive (up to €100/m2 depending on accessibility) and wastes water. Current self-cleaning coatings suffer from short lifetime (2-3 years), poor transparency, and high cost (over €20/m2). They are usually not cost-effective, are not widely used, and losses are accepted as part of the operation of the plant. The objective of this action is to bring to market a new product, SolarSharc, which will provide, for the first time, a transparent, durable, cost-effective and permanent self-cleaning solution for solar panels. This patented coating technology uses multi-functionalised silica nano-particles bonded strongly to the coating polymer matrix to provide a highly transparent, low cost, durable and robust self-cleaning coating. Target markets are utility scale solar and the rapidly growing (18% CAGR €26bn by 2022) Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) markets. The objectives of this 24 month action are to commercialise the SolarSharc coating and new self-cleaning BIPV modules from the current TRL6 prototype to operational demonstration (TRL9) in BIPV, certification, commercialisation and supply chain measures to deliver rapid growth. The action will be delivered by a consortium of SMEs (Opus, Onyx, Millidyne) representing the supply chain from materials to application together with specialist coatings technologists from London South Bank University and solar testing expertise from CEA. We are requesting a grant of €2.78m to bring SolarSharc to market, securing €2m of post-action financing for sales growth. Commercialisation of SolarSharc will develop new revenues for the consortium of €71m with profits of €45m cumulative over 5 years of sales, creating 243 new jobs within the consortium and providing a return on EU investment in this action of 19:1. These sales will increase output from new solar installation by 9000GWh, saving 5Mtonne of CO2 emission.