Manchester in £5m hydrogen technology drive

23 Oct 2008

The University of Manchester will play a major role in a new £5m drive to produce the technology for making clean, cheap and sustainable hydrogen energy.

Professor Christopher Whitehead from The School of Chemistry will lead Manchester’s involvement in the new UK initiative to deliver innovative technologies to make hydrogen energy.

Funded under the UK Research Councils’ SUPERGEN programme, the Delivery of Sustainable Hydrogen (H-Delivery) consortia has been awarded an initial grant of £5m over four years.

The collaboration brings together a world class interdisciplinary research team – spanning the physical sciences, engineering and social sciences – from 13 leading UK universities.

The consortium will undertake research into:

• Advanced methods for the chemical and electrical generation of sustainable hydrogen
• The conversion of hydrogen and associated by-products into alternative industrial feedstocks and fuels
• The socio-economic appraisal of novel hydrogen production technologies
• Policy measures to promote the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon, hydrogen economy

In Manchester, Professor Whitehead’s research group will investigate the use of non-thermal plasma technology combined with suitable catalysts to extract hydrogen from methane in natural gas and biogas.

Prof Whitehead said: “Hydrogen energy is believed to have a significant role to play in addressing the twin challenges of climate change and energy security. However, existing methods of hydrogen production are not currently cost-competitive with fossil fuels.”

“An important component of the H-Delivery consortia’s work will be to raise the public profile of hydrogen energy research through knowledge transfer and outreach activities.”

As well as the 13 major universities, 12 industrial partners will be initially working on the project, with further participants expected to join the consortia as the work develops.

Notes for editors

For more information please contact Alex Waddington, Media Relations Officer, The University of Manchester, Tel 0161 275 8387  / 07717 881569.

Prof Whitehead is available for comment by arrangement.

• The 13 Universities represented in the SUPERGEN H-Delivery consortia are: University of St Andrews, Newcastle University, The University of Manchester, Cambridge University, Strathclyde University, University of Birmingham, University of Warwick, Imperial College, Heriot-Watt University, Cardiff University, Oxford University, Brunel University, and Leeds University.
• The initial industrial partners are: Initial industrial partners include Johnson Matthey The Scottish Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, PURE, Scottish Enterprise, DSTL, The Hydrogen Office, Ravensrodd Consultants, CPI, IChemE, GKSS, Valeswood and Bryte Energy.
• For further details for the EPSRC H-delivery grant award see: http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/ViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/G01244X/1

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