Hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels (HALF) have an essential role in the net-zero transition by providing connectivity and flexibility across the energy system. Despite advancements in the field of hydrogen research both in the physical sciences and engineering, significant barriers remain to the scalable adoption of hydrogen and alternative liquid fuel technologies, and energy services, into the UK's local and national whole system infrastructure. These are technical barriers, organisational barriers, regulatory and societal barriers, and financial barriers. There are, therefore, significant gaps between current levels of hydrogen production, transportation, storage, conversion, and usage, and the estimated requirement for achieving net-zero by 2050. To address this, our proposed research programme has four interlinked work packages. WP1 will develop forward-thinking HALF technology roadmaps. We will assess supply chain availability and security. Selected representative HALF use cases will be used to identify and quantify any opportunities, risks and dependencies within a whole systems analysis. We will also develop an overarching roadmap for HALF system integration in order to inform technology advancement, industry and business development, as well as policy making and social interventions. WP2 will improve HALF characterisation and explore urgent new perspectives on the energy transition, including those related to ensuring resilience and security while also achieving net-zero. We will contrast the energy transition delivered by real incentives/behaviour versus those projected by widely-used optimisation models. The WP provides the whole systems modelling engine of the HI-ACT Hub, with a diverse array of state-of-the-art tools to explore HALF integration. WP 3 will explore the vital coupling of data and information relating to whole system planning and operational decision support, through the creation of a cyber physical architecture (CPA). This will generate new learning on current and future opportunities and risks, from a data and information perspective, which will lead to a whole system ontology for accelerated integration of hydrogen technologies. WP 4 considers options for a future energy system with HALF from a number of perspectives. The first is to consider expert views on HALF energy futures, and the public perceptions of those views. The second perspective considers place-based options for social benefit in HALF energy futures. The third perspective is to consider regulatory and policy options which would better enable HALF futures. Embedded across the research programme is the intent to create robust tools which are investment-oriented in their analysis. A Whole Systems and Energy Systems Integration approach is needed here, in order to better understand the interconnected and interdependent nature of complex energy systems from a technical, social, environmental and economic perspective. The Hub is led by Prof Sara Walker, Director of the EPSRC National Centre for Energy Systems Integration, supported by a team of 16 academics at a range of career stages. The team have extensive experience of large energy research projects and strong networks of stakeholders across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They bring to the Hub major hydrogen demonstrators through support from partners involved in InTEGReL in Gateshead, ReFLEX in Orkney, and FLEXIS Demonstration in South Wales for example. We shall engage to create a vibrant, diverse, and open community that has a deeper understanding of whole systems approaches and the role of hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels within that. We shall do so in a way which embeds Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the approach. We shall do so in a way which is a hybrid of virtual and in-person field work consultation and develop appropriate digital tools for engagement.

The terahertz (THz) region of the electromagnetic spectrum (radiation with frequencies around 10^12 Hertz) has traditionally been considered a difficult region to work in because it falls into a technology gap, with electronic, microwave sources at lower frequencies and photonic, infrared devices at higher frequencies. In recent decades, considerable efforts have been made to develop technologies that operate in the THz range in order to take advantage of the unique combination of properties exhibited by terahertz waves. For example, many everyday materials, such as plastics, paper, cloth etc. are transparent to THz waves, meaning that we can penetrate deeply into samples. However, unlike the more familiar X-rays, THz waves are safe to use because they are low energy and non-ionising. For this reason, terahertz imaging techniques are proposed for applications as broad as medical scanning, non-destructive testing, security, production line testing and medicine quality scanning. However, despite considerable efforts, terahertz cameras are still far slower and less sensitive than their optical counterparts and THz imaging applications are limited as a result. At Durham we have recently developed a novel approach to THz imaging that uses atomic vapour to convert difficult to detect terahertz waves into easy to detect optical frequencies. The atomic vapour is excited to high-lying (Rydberg) states using laser beams and once in these Rydberg states the atoms are very sensitive to perturbation by terahertz waves and emit optical light. This efficient THz to optical conversion process allows us to effectively capture terahertz images using standard optical cameras and observe frames rates exceeding 3000 frames per second, far exceeding the capabilities of other THz imaging techniques. This proposal intends to develop further our atom-based THz camera by using Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCLs) to provide the illumination. QCLs are semiconductor lasers capable of emitting high power in the terahertz frequency band - using QCLs will result in sharper spatial resolution and the ability to image larger areas and/or probe thicker samples in our imaging applications. In order to improve the image quality of our technique, we will also develop adaptive optics technology for the terahertz range. OA technologies are used extensively in the optical and infrared range to correct for aberrations in an imaging system. Previous attempts to perform AO in the THz range have been limited by the small range of movement of deformable mirrors and the slow image acquisition rates of THz cameras. We will develop large-stroke deformable mirrors to allow effective AO correction in the THz range. This will enable depth-selection in our THz imaging process and the removal of imaging artefacts and aberrations. Furthermore, we will add spectral (frequency dependent) functionality to out imager by adding a second atomic species (Rb87 + Cs133) thereby offering spectral sensitivity analogous to colour photography, expanding the capability of our THz imager to include material distinction by spectral response. Once we have constructed and characterised our QCL illuminated, AO corrected, 2-colour THz imager, we will apply it to a range of industrially relevant applications inspired and guided by our industrial project partners.

The ModConFlex consortium comprises a group of 10 academics and 4 senior researchers in industry (ORE Catapult) with expertise in control theory, artificial intelligence, complex dynamical systems, distributed parameter systems, fluid dynamics, aeroelasticity, power electronics, power systems, swimming theory and marine engineering. Our aim is to train the next generation of researchers on the modelling and control of flexible structures interacting with fluids (water and air), contributing to the latest advances in control theory, artificial intelligence and energy-based modelling. Our main applications are in the control of floating wind turbines (the prime renewable energy source of the future), and in the control of highly flexible aircraft, aircraft with very high aspect ratio. Our research plans are organized into three scientific work packages, which cover mathematical systems theory (modelling and model reduction, boundary control systems, port-Hamiltonian systems, exact beam theory), relevant aspects of control theory (internal model controllers with anti-windup, nonlinear model predictive control, robust control), reinforcement learning, aeroelasticity, stochastic algorithms. We believe that science and technology in Europe will greatly benefit from this research, and from the education and knowledge that we will impart to a new generation of researchers. Key strengths of this consortium include a research environment that brings together mathematicians and engineers to provide the project's young researchers with a unique training environment, and a network of associated industrial partners that will allow all the young researchers to participate in industrial secondments. We have the critical mass to cover all aspects of training, and we have an excellent track record of past collaboration and of training young researchers.

The decarbonisation of industrial clusters is of critical importance to the UK's ambitions of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. The UK Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDC) of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) aims to establish the world's first net-zero carbon industrial cluster by 2040 and at least one low-carbon cluster by 2030. The Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) has been formed to support this Challenge through funding a multidisciplinary research and innovation centre, which currently does not exist at the scale, to accelerate decarbonisation of industrial clusters. IDRIC works with academia, industry, government and other stakeholders to deliver the multidisciplinary research and innovation agenda needed to decarbonise the UK's industrial clusters. IDRIC's research and innovation programme is delivered through a range of activities that enable industry-led, multidisciplinary research in cross-cutting areas of technology, policy, economics and regulation. IDRIC connects and empowers the UK industrial decarbonisation community to deliver an impactful innovation hub for industrial decarbonisation. The establishment of IDRIC as the "one stop shop" for research and innovation, as well as knowledge exchange, regulation, policy and key skills will be beneficial across the industry sectors and clusters. In summary, IDRIC will connect stakeholders, inspire and deliver innovation and maximise impact to help the UK industrial clusters to grow our existing energy intensive industrial sectors, and to attract new, advanced manufacturing industries of the future.

Marine (or offshore) renewable energy has a large potential to deliver clean, secure and predictable energy. The United Kingdom has some of the largest natural resources (large waves, strong tidal currents and high winds) of any country in the world. The exploitation of these resources is critical to addressing the energy trilemma (of producing secure, cost affordable, low carbon energy). Indeed, it is likely that without marine energy the UK's ambitious 2050 carbon reduction targets cannot be met. However, Marine energy has significant challenges to overcome. Wave, tidal and wind turbines must be installed and operated in remote locations, where the water is deep and the ocean, weather and tides are highly energetic. To provide cost effective electricity, renewable energy devices must be inexpensive to manufacture, simple to install, reliable, easy to service and produce large quantities of energy. Achieving all of this within the hostile marine environment is quite a challenge, however the prize is significant, providing not only clean energy, but significant employment and export opportunities. The United Kingdom Centre for Marine Renewable Energy (UKCMER) is a virtual centre, funded under RCUK's Energy Programmes SUPERGEN initiative. UKCMER seeks to coordinate research in renewable electricity generation using the power of the waves, tidal currents and floating wind turbines. The UKCMER core comprises of The University of Edinburgh (who coordinate the programme), Cranfield University, Exeter University, Strathclyde University and Swansea University. In addition to conducting a core research programme UKCMER acts as a hub to coordinate the activities of four additional Grand Challenge projects (EP/N021452/1, EP/N021487/1, EP/N020782/1 and EP/N02057X/1) looking at specific challenges for the marine energy sector. Research in the fourth phase of UKCMER will focus on: methods to enhance the performance of tidal turbines that recognise that arrays of machines are affected by both the interactions of the water flowing passed the devices and the electrical infrastructure which collects the energy generated and sends it to the grid. The development of design tools to assist in the optimal design of wave energy converters, tidal turbines and floating wind turbines that account for the random nature of both the waves and turbulence in the marine environment. Methods to explore the response of wave energy converters, tidal turbines and floating wind turbines to extreme loading events, recognising that such events arise from a combination of steep (rather than large waves) and the state of the device when the waves reach it. Examining how the wakes of tidal turbines deployed in farms interact with each other so that the power production from the farm can be optimised. And finally, how new designs and materials can improve the structural integrity of offshore renewable energy converters. The research programme has been designed to be complementary to the existing grand challenge projects and will make use of early results from these projects. UKCMER leads the UK's international outreach activities and has developed strong links to programmes in Chile, Japan, Korea, Mexico and the USA which will be further strengthened under this grant. UKCMER staff continue to contribute to standardisation activities of the IEC helping to develop the 62600 series of international standards and contributing to the work of the International Towing Tank Conference (ITTC) and the International Ships and Offshore Structures Congress (ISSC).