The goal of the proposed EngD Centre is to produce research leaders to tackle the major national and international challenges over the next 15 years in implementing new power plant to generate electricity more efficiently using fossil energy with near zero emissions, involving the successful demonstration of CO2 capture, and also in reducing CO2 emissions generally from coal utilisation, including iron making. These leaders will be part of the new breed of engineers that will be thoroughly versed in cutting edge energy research and capable of operating in multi-disciplinary teams, covering a range of knowledge transfer, deployment and policy roles and with the skills to analyse the overall economic context of their projects and to be aware of the social and ethical implications. This proposal has involved wide consultation with the power generation sector which has indicated that the number of doctoral researchers required in the UK for the major developments in large-scale fossil energy power generation involving efficiency improvements and CO2 capture can be estimated conservatively as 150-200 over the next ten years. The Centre will play a vital role in meeting this demand by providing training in highly relevant technological areas to the companies concerned, as well as the broader portfolio of skills required for future research leaders. Further, Doosan Babcock, Alstom, E.ON, Rolls Royce, EDF, RWE, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), Welsh Power and Drax Power all support this bid and are willing to participate in the proposed Centre from 2009 onwards. Further, in terms of reducing CO2 emissions generally from coal utilisation, including iron making and smokeless fuel, this has drawn in other industrial partners, Corus and CPL. The innovative training programme involves a number of unique elements based around the social sciences and activities with China and is designed to ensure that the research engineers are not only thoroughly versed in cutting edge energy research but capable of operating in multi-disciplinary teams covering a range of knowledge transfer, deployment and policy roles and the ability to analyse the overall economic context of projects and to be aware of the social and ethical implications. The academic team draws upon the internationally leading fossil energy programme at Nottingham but also on colleagues at Birmingham and Loughborough for their complementary research in high temperature materials, plant life monitoring and energy economics. Given that virtually all of the research projects will benefit from using pilot-scale equipment in industry linked to the advanced analytical capabilities in the MEC and our overseas partners, together with the Group activities undertaken by the yearly cohorts, the training programme is considered to offer considerable added value over DTA project and CASE awards, as testified by the extremely high level of industrial interest in the proposed Centre across the power generation section, together with other industries involved in reducing CO2 emissions from coal utilisation.

There are major challenges inherent in meeting the goals of the UK national energy policy, including, climate change mitigation and adaption, security of supply, asset renewal, supply infrastructure etc. Additionally, there is a recognized shortage of high quality scientists and engineers with energy-related training to tackle these challenges, and to support the UK's future research and development and innovation performance as evidenced by several recent reports;Doosan Babcock (Energy Brief, Issue 3, June 2007, Doosan Babcock); UK Energy Institute (conducted by Deloitte/Norman Broadbent, 'Skills Needs in the Energy Industry' 2008); The Institution of Engineering and Technology, (evidence to the House of Commons, Select Committee on Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Fifth Report (19th June 2008); The Energy Research Partnership (Investigation into High-level Skills Shortages in the Energy Sector, March 2007). Here we present a proposal to host a Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) focusing on the development of technologies for a low carbon future, providing a challenging, exciting and inspiring research environment for the development of tomorrow's research leaders. This DTC will bring together a cohort of postgraduate research students and their supervisors to develop innovative technologies for a low carbon future based around the key interlinking themes: [1] Low Carbon Enabling Technologies; [2] Transport & Energy; [3] Carbon Storage, underpinned by [4] Climate Change & Energy Systems Research. Thereby each student will develop high level expertise in a particular topic but with excitement of working in a multidisciplinary environment. The DTC will be integrated within a campus wide Interdisciplinary Institute which coordinates energy research to tackle the 'Grand Challenge' of developing technologies for a low carbon future, our DTC students therefore working in a transformational research environment. The DTC will be housed in a NEW 14.8M Energy Research Building and administered by the established (2005) cross campus Earth, Energy & Environment (EEE) University Interdisciplinary Institute

Hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels 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 policy. These are technical barriers, organisational barriers, regulatory and societal barriers, and financial barriers. The vision as Co-ordinator of the Centre for Systems Integration of Hydrogen and Alternative Fuels (CSI-HALF) is to deliver a fundamental shift in critical analysis of the role of hydrogen in the context of the overall energy landscape, through the creation of 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. This 6-month proposal is to deliver key stakeholder engagement, to develop a comprehensive, co-created research programme for the Centre. The Centre is led by Prof Sara Walker, currently Director of the EPSRC National Centre for Energy Systems Integration, supported by Prof David Flynn of Heriot Watt University and Prof Jianzhong Wu of Cardiff University. The team have extensive experience of large energy research projects and strong networks of stakeholders across England, Wales and Scotland. They bring to the Centre major hydrogen demonstrators through support from partners involved in InTEGReL in Gateshead, ReFLEX in Orkney, and FLEXIS Demonstration in South Wales for example. This 6-month phase is an engagement exercise. It is our responsibility to engage with the community in a manner which respects and supports their motivations. Our philosophy in undertaking this engagement work is based around principles of inclusion, authenticity and tailoring. We will de-risk the integration of HALF into the UK energy system, through full representation of the hydrogen spectrum with open and integrated analysis of top-down and ground-up perspectives, including representation of the immediate and wider stakeholder group e.g. financial markets. We shall engage with this broad section of stakeholders with the support of experts in citizen and community engagement. These expert partners will enable us to produce the highest possible quality of engagement in the 6-month period. Our initial approaches to key stakeholders have been extremely positive. We have already engaged with, and have support from representatives of: pink, green and blue hydrogen production; hydrogen transportation stakeholders; hydrogen end users; policy makers and community groups; financial and consultation organisations; and key academics. 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 (HALF) within that. We shall do so in a way which embeds EDI 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. This builds on accredited practices and inclusive key performance indicators. The network created as a result of the engagement activity will be consulted on with respect to key research questions for the Centre, to co-create a research programme. Through relationship building, webinars and focus groups, we shall deliver an expertise map for hydrogen integration, an information pack containing the state of the art "commons", and a full proposal with comprehensive research programme which has extensive community buy-in.

Energy Storage (ES) has a key role to play as a part of whole UK and global energy systems, by providing flexibility, enhancing affordability, security and resilience against supply uncertainties, and addressing the huge challenges related to the climate change. Following UKRI investment over the last decade, the UK is in a strong position internationally in ES research and innovation. Although areas of UK expertise are world leading, there is little interaction between these areas and interplaying disciplines e.g. artificial intelligence, data and social sciences. This fragmentation limits the community's ability to deliver significant societal impact and threatens the continuity of delivering research excellence, missing opportunities as a result. Consequently, there is now an urgent need for the ES community to connect, convene and communicate more effectively. The proposed Supergen Storage Network Plus 2019 project (ES-Network+) responds to this need by bringing together 19 leading academics at different career stages across 12 UK institutions, with complementary energy storage (ES) related expertise and the necessary multidisciplinary balance to deliver the proposed programme. The aim of the ES-Network+ is to create a dynamic, forward-looking and sustainable platform, connecting and serving people from diverse backgrounds across the whole ES value chain including industry, academia and policymakers. As a focal point for the ES community, we will create, exchange and disseminate ES knowledge with our stakeholders. We will nurture early career researchers (ECR) in ES and establish ambitious, measurable goals for equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). We will complement existing activities (e.g. Faraday Institution, UKERC, Energy Systems Catapult, CREDS, other Supergen Hubs) to serve the UK's needs, delivering impact nationally and internationally. The ES-Network+ will convene and support the ES community to deliver societal impact through technological breakthroughs, generating further value from the UKRI ES portfolio. It will be a secure and inclusive eco-system for researchers in ES & related fields to access, innovate, build and grow their UK and international networks. It is distinctive from the current Supergen Storage Hub: We have a PI with non-electrochemical background, an expanded investigator team with complementary expertise in energy network integration, mechanical and inter-seasonal thermal ES, hybrid storage with digital knowledge, cold storage, transport with ES integration, ES materials measurement & imaging and social science with policy implications. Early career researchers will hold key positions within the ES-Network+ and we will underpin all of our work with EDI values. We will develop an authoritative whitepaper for steering ES related decision-making, giving an overview of the ES community and a technical view on how ES research should be steered going forward. The team is extremely well-connected to the ES industry and the wider energy community and has secured 57 supporting organisations, including energy production, transmission, distribution & network operation, specialist aggregators of heat & power, storage technology developers and integrators; ES related manufacturers, ES related recycling; and research institutes/centres/hubs/networks/associations both nationally and internationally. The supporting organisations also bring in a significant amount of extra resources to ensure a successful delivery of the ES-Network+.

Energy supply for the UK, and for the world, will experience major changes during the next 20 years. Many nations seek secure energy supplies, combined with low costs, and sustainable environmental impacts. Most of world energy currently derives from combustion of fossil fuel. The UK is no exception.In the UK, fossil fuel (oil) dominates transport use, and is difficult to change in the near future. Electricity and heat generation is dominated by gas (41%) and coal (34%), with 20% from nuclear, only 3% from renewables, and 2% imported electricity. This gas and coal will from now onwards largely be imported, paying costs to suppliers outside the UK. This also means security of supply is not guaranteed. Can improvements be made to the use of these energy sources?A key environmental problem is that fossil fuel combustion releases fossil CO2 to the atmosphere. This is now, beyond reasonable doubt, linked to global warming and climate change. Atmospheric CO2 also dissolves in ocean water, forcing an increased acidity greater than any time in the past 20 Million years. Even those who still do not believe in climate change cannot escape the inevitability of ocean acidification / with as yet un-predicted consequences. For this reason alone, atmospheric CO2 must be reduced.To enable continued use of fossil fuels, whilst renewable sources are developed, it is an urgent requirement to de-carbonise their combustion. The Stern Review of Climate Change Economics in 2006 clearly re-stated that significant progress must be made during the ten years until 2017.This research proposition addresses the fossil fuel issues in two ways: Firstly, to create a UK Centre of university expertise in the capture of CO2 from power plant. Current industrial systems rely on chemical absorption by solvents, but require a very high energy input, which reduces the environmental gain. The Centre will focus on new technologies of CO2 separation by adsorption onto nanoporous materials materials, by filtration of CO2 from power plant flue gases by newly created semi-permeable membranes, and by membrane separation of oxygen from air, to enable oxy-fuel combustion and efficient CO2 separation.Secondly, we acknowledge that there is, and will be, a need to remove existing CO2 emissions from the atmosphere. The reductions proposed from power plant emissions do not reduce existing CO2, they just make the increase slower. To control the earth atmosphere and produce a sustainable climate requires extraction of CO2 already emitted. This is routinely achieved, at low cost, by vegetation. We will create an entirely new centre of university expertise which will focus on using bio-mass from agriculture, forestry and waste. This can firstly make bio-fuel to replace fossil sources, and the residues can be pyrolised to form charcoal. Such charcoal has been used in traditional cultures to enhance soil fertility, and locks up carbon for thousands of years. Improvements in land use in the EU, USA, and developing world can achieve this, by an integration of engineering, soil science, and social benefit to cultivators.The University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University already host the UK's largest academic centre investigating the geological burial of CO2 captured from power plant. There are existing multi-skilled networks in Edinburgh linking land use, agriculture, social, legal and economic analysis, chemical engineering and petroleum geoscience. Creation of the Carbon Capture Centre will be an ideal complementary activity, and the range of expertise, from atmospheric capture, to power-plant capture to cultivation and geological burial will be unique.Outputs from the Centre can help the UK to combust coal and gas with environmentally clean methods, to enhance energy security by diversifying away from fossil fuel sources, and to commence the direct clean-up of CO2 from the atmosphere in a energy efficient, and financially efficient, sustainable way.