Powering the future. Research excellence in sustainable energy
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Energy and its use is an integral part of our lives. According to current figures just over 1.5 per cent of the UK’s energy use is from renewable sources. As part of the UK Renewable Energy Strategy we need to raise the amount of energy generated by renewable sources to 15 per cent by 2020. The University of Southampton is leading the way with extensive expertise in the field of sustainable energy research – from tidal energy to photovoltaics, bioenergy and energy efficiency in the built environment to name but a few. As one of the top ten UK research Universities, our academic and research credentials are internationally recognised, and added to this is a strong industrial focus which sees us collaborating with business through the provision of research, consultancy, licensing of cutting-edge technology and graduate and student placements. The strength and breadth of our research in the field of energy, as demonstrated in this brochure, make us an ideal business partner. www.sunrise.soton.ac.uk sunrise@soton.ac.uk
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© University of Southampton 2010 Cocoon Silk 50 contains 50% post-consumer recycled fibre and 50% FSC Virgin Fibre. Cocoon Silk 50 is FSC Certified, age-resistant and produced in mills credited with the ISO 14001 environmental accreditation. When finished with this document please recycle it.
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Contents
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Introduction
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Energy in transport
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Fuel cells
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Energy in the built environment
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Energy and communities
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Photovoltaics
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Electricity transmission and distribution
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Wet renewables
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Bioenergy
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Energy and climate change
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Electric powered cars were oered to Winchester businesses to aid understanding of cleaner energy solutions.
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Energy in transport Innovative energy use on the road What does Winchester have in common with Barcelona, Rome and Cork? All these cities took part in CIVITAS MIRACLES (Multi Initiatives for Rationalised Accessibility and Clean, Liveable Environments), a pioneering clean-energy initiative partly funded by the EU, to keep traffic moving while protecting the environment. The role of the University of Southampton’s Transport Research Group in the 15 partner European project involved working with Hampshire County Council in Winchester, focusing on projects to improve life on the move. Trials included strategies to reduce the impact of high-polluting vehicles, environmentally linked parking charges, a cycle pooling scheme, improving bus service quality and information, and the loan of cleaner energy cars and vans to local businesses. Whilst cleaner energy vehicles have been available on the market for some time, it was apparent at the start of the project that local and national businesses were not purchasing them as part of company fleets.
To understand the barriers to their use, Winchester businesses were offered a choice of vehicles on loan for a month, including dual-fuel petrol/LPG, petrol/electric and completely electric-powered. These loans were free, provided users filled out questionnaires on their use of and attitudes towards the vehicles on trial. The three most important factors in businesses’ choice of vehicle were operating costs, reliability and purchase cost – clearly the environmental benefits alone were not sufficient to persuade the businesses to switch. After the trial, 82 per cent of businesses rated their trial vehicle as generally good; 55 per cent thought it was generally better than their usual fleet vehicle; and 65 per cent stated that they were likely to buy such a vehicle for company use in the future. The trials not only changed the attitudes of businesses to these types of vehicles, but also resulted in fuel and emissions savings.
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Solar-powered refrigeration units transport chilled vegetables.
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Keeping cool on the move
Urban transport of the FUTURES
High efficiency aircraft rotors
University of Southampton researchers have developed what is believed to be the world’s first solar-powered refrigeration unit installed on a working lorry, for J Sainsbury plc.
Future transport planning has to take account of the information age and technological advances to make effective use of energy.
The inevitable counterpart to the need for better energy extraction is the need for more e cient energy usage.
FUTURES (Future Urban Technologies: Understanding Power for the refrigeration unit is Research to Enhance Sustainability) generated by photovoltaic panels is a five year research programme mounted on the trailer’s roof. involving a team from the University An on-board battery stores the excess of Southampton’s Transportation power for use by the refrigeration Research Group. It is part of the system during the hours of darkness. Sustainable Urban Environment At present, most chilling equipment Programme from the Engineering is powered by diesel generators. and Physical Sciences Research These have high energy demands Council (EPSRC). Researchers and maintenance costs, as well as are examining the role of new environmental impacts, both in terms technologies as communities move of emissions, which contribute to the towards a state of sustainable greenhouse effect, and noise levels. urban transport, by focusing on the interactions between people, The team demonstrated that by systems and vehicles. improving the insulation and evaporator design, the solar-powered The programme involves academic refrigeration used considerably less expertise drawn from six research energy than a normal diesel-driven groupings in three universities, unit. It enables the trailer to keep spanning engineering, new technology, environmental science work has led to several awards for the and social science. It also involves group, including: a number of leading stakeholder partners drawn from central • I.Mech.E. and local government, transport • Automobile Division, operators, service providers and Engineering Applied to other organisations. Agriculture, 1997 The FUTURES team has identified • World Renewable Energy priority areas, developed new Congress V, Best Scientific fundamental understanding Paper, 1998 and explored options and • UK transport and logistics opportunities through trials awards finalist, 1998 and demonstrations.
New forms of fuel efficient transport devices, such as this Advanced Open Rotor for aircraft, are emerging but are bringing with them their own engineering challenges. The University of Southampton’s internationally recognised leadership in Sound and Vibration is helping industry to ensure that the next generation of green transport is as quiet as it is clean.
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the Schools of Engineering Sciences and Chemistry. There is already a strong body of opinion that vehicles of the future will be powered by energy sources such as hydrogen, methanol and glucose biofuel. Work at Southampton involves protein exchange membrane fuel cell construction, electrodes with new catalysts and diagnostic techniques for fuel cell operation.
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Work by the University of Materials Research Group aims to make hydrogen a realistic fuel of the future. Professors Ian Sinclair, Philippa Reed and Mark Spearing from the School of Engineering Sciences are exploring new ways of storing the
on an extended industrial placement at Luxfer’s plant in France. He will be developing and applying adaptive numeric modelling techniques to enhance the design, manufacture and performance of composite cylinders.
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Energy and communities In facing up to contemporary energy challenges, as well as investigating potential technological solutions, it is also important to consider the way that individuals and communities respond to these interventions.
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Sustainable power for small scale communities Technological solutions that fail to understand the behaviour of people and organisations are no solutions at all. At the University of Southampton we are actively fostering interdisciplinary research that aims to integrate the insights of technologists and engineers with developments at the forefront of social science. The Environment, Energy and Society Research Group, based in the internationally-recognised School of Social Sciences, draws together expertise from across different disciplines, including economics, politics and international relations, social policy and social statistics. Fundamental to the Group’s work is the analysis of the economic, social and political implications of the introduction of new technologies and policies aimed at reducing the energy footprint of communities. The Group is engaged in research in a number of areas, including: individual and collective environmental attitudes and behaviour, in particular resistance to pro-environmental action; the social impact of climate mitigation policies; and the determinants of success of public, private and voluntary initiatives to move to a low-carbon economy. The Group has a long-standing interest in the application of innovative social science methods, particularly involving communities, public authorities and other agencies in the design and implementation of research. At the core of the developing research agenda is a belief that collaboration between technologists and social scientists is essential in responding effectively to the contemporary energy challenges we face.
By 2016 all new homes built in England and Wales should be ‘zero carbon in operation’ as defined by the Code for Sustainable Homes. Small-scale systems to generate heat and power for individual houses are therefore attracting attention as designers strive to meet these challenging targets. Micro-generation could be a bold step towards decentralising power generation, reducing fuel poverty and increasing the percentage of power from renewable or low carbon sources. Technologies include solar thermal energy for hot water provision; photovoltaics/micro wind energy for electricity; combined heat and power units for heating and electricity; and ground-source heat pumps, utilising the earth as an energy source for summer cooling and winter heating. Aided by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Sustainable Energy Research Group at the University of Southampton has been involved in the development of a key policy document, Unlocking the Power House, which addresses micro-generation and includes an assessment of available micro-generation technologies and their current performance, as well as their integration into the UK energy network in terms of finance and policy. Unlocking the Power House: Policy and system change for domestic micro-generation in the UK can be downloaded from the Group’s website: www.energy.soton.ac.uk/publications/unlocking_the_ power_house_report.pdf The Sustainable Energy Research Group has conducted extensive research into modelling of micro wind turbine and photovoltaic installations. The Group has recently completed the performance analysis for the national micro wind trial commissioned by the Energy Saving Trust. The Energy Saving Trust report can be downloaded from the Group’s website: www.energy.soton.ac.uk
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More than half of the world’s population is now living in cities and the worldwide trend of urbanisation is still continuing, in particular in emerging economies such as China. A consortium of researchers from the UK and China is currently developing a deeper understanding of more sustainable forms of urban settlement. The Sustainable Energy Research Group at the University of Southampton is involved in research networks of UK and Chinese researchers to further develop eco-city concepts. These networks are funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and have been set up to enable the partners to identify research prospects. These activities form the basis for joint cross-cultural research projects on creating sustainable cities and communities. The EPSRC eco-networks span issues of: •
governance, culture and space
• economics, environment and regional context • sustainable infrastructure and behaviour adaptation Members of the Sustainable Energy Research Group are leading the framework co-ordination activities of the research networks.
University of Southampton researchers have developed an intelligent fuse box which could manage domestic energy needs from both the National Grid and local sustainable sources, resulting in significant daily energy savings. Dr Peter Wilson and his team from the School of Electronics and Computer Science have come up with a device which could be installed in homes in parallel with existing domestic wiring. A test project has begun where wireless sensors are being installed to monitor energy usage and collate this information centrally. The idea is that the fuse box will begin to adapt to the outside environment and become predictive. Researchers are also applying evolutionary algorithms so that the box begins to learn and respond to different scenarios, thus making the best use of energy. For example, the system would provide emergency power in the event of a local power outage, enabling essential appliances such as telephones and refrigerators to continue to operate.
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Photovoltaics Solar power can be simple and stylish. With Marley Roofing as an industrial partner, the Sustainable Energy Research Group at the University of Southampton has been involved in the design of a photovoltaic (PV) roof tile system which can be integrated with most types of tiled roofs. It can be manufactured with a variety of different photovoltaic elements, to allow a harmonious blend with surrounding tiles. The solar roof tiles consist of a robust plastic base, which can be laid on the roof by conventional roofers, and a separate PV glass element, which slides on top once the roofing work has been completed. This reduces the specialist time required for the installation of the electrical PV components, facilitates easy maintenance and allows for the replacement of individual tiles in case of damage or failure. On-site testing of the latest-generation designs is undertaken on a PV roof tile test roof at the University. This facility is also being used as a test bed for an investigation into the behaviour of electrical connectors within PV shingle roofs.
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If students at the University of Southampton enquiring about accommodation and grants look up, they will see an impressive array of photovoltaics on the roof of the Student Services Centre. The George Thomas Building at the University, which was completed in 2005, produces about 12,000 kWh of electricity annually – enough to supply three to four houses with electricity for an entire year. The performance of the PV system of semi-transparent modules, planned with the help of the Sustainable Energy Research Group, is constantly monitored and the electricity generation displayed on a screen in the atrium. Traditionally, builders install solar shading to combat overheating in summer. Whilst shading systems are cheaper to install when compared to a PV solution, they have a high maintenance burden for cleaning and repair, which is not the case for a PV laminate. For example, if an external tracked shading system had been applied to the atrium in place of PV, when income through electricity generation is taken into account and the cost of a shading system deducted, the PV system recovers the additional capital cost after five years of operation. The wider building performance in terms of environmental and utility demand (heat, water and electricity) has been assessed as part of an EU project ‘SARA’, Sustainable Architecture Applied to Replicable Public Access Buildings. See www.sara-project.net
The roof of the George Thomas building produces 12,000kWh of electricity annually using photovoltaics.
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Harnessing the sun to power social housing Nine low energy houses have been built in Hampshire with a photovoltaic and solar thermal system on each roof. The development in Havant, near Portsmouth, was undertaken in 2004 by social housing landlord Parchment Housing Group, in partnership with Havant Borough Council.
Low cost flexible solar cells Silicon wafer solar cells are formed by the cutting of a cast silicon ingot. This process is akin to the slicing of bread in that: •
there is a minimum thickness of wafer that can be achieved
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the cutting process produces waste
All nine houses featured a photovoltaic array as part of the Department of Trade and Industry’s domestic field trial programme. The systems were designed by the University of Southampton’s Sustainable Energy Research Group and monitored fully for two years. Results highlighted the importance of matching energy generation and consumption within a house in order to achieve the maximum financial benefit from the PV array. Different user behaviour patterns were seen to have a strong impact on the system’s revenue to the user.
The Sustainable Energy Research Group in collaboration with Plasma Quest Limited, have been looking at a new low cost deposition process for thin film photovoltaics which does not have these problems. A sputtered silicon process using Plasma Quest’s HITUS technology has been successfully demonstrated at the A4 scale. This has opened up numerous commercial applications for high quality, high deposition rate films.
Professor AbuBakr Bahaj, who leads the group, commented: ‘A wider uptake of renewable energy technologies within domestic housing needs to be linked to ways of further improving energy efficiency of electrical appliances. Users also need to understand how to match their individual energy consumption to the generation of renewable energy.’
Moths inspire new nanoscale solar cell technology
This work has now been extended to incorporate user behaviour and real time feedback through a collaboration with Virgin Media.
Copying the properties of moths’ eyes could improve the efficiency of solar cells. Professor Darren Bagnall of the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton is aiming to create silicon surfaces that do not reflect light. Professor Bagnall has demonstrated that it is possible to pattern silicon wafers with accuracies of a few tenths of nanometres. The patterns are based on the structures on the eye surface of night-flying moths. ‘Current solar cells tend to reflect light when the sun is low in the sky, but applying patterns like those on the moths’ eyes would increase light collection by around 10 per cent,’ said Professor Bagnall. The project is supported by the Supergen (Sustainable Power Generation and Supply) initiative, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
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Photovoltaic and solar thermal systems aid social housing in Hampshire.
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Electricity transmission and distribution
Generating power worldwide
A unique resource for high-voltage research
The University of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science is a world leader in several aspects of new technologies relevant to the power industry.
Academics, researchers and commercial companies can all benefit from the University of Southampton’s Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory.* This unique resource plays a major part in enabling the electricity power supply industry to undertake the research and consultancy on which it depends for the continued successful transmission of electricity.
Research by Professor Jan Sykulski and his team in electrical power engineering is focused on industrial needs. Advanced experimental work is carried out in both the High Voltage Laboratory and the Advanced Dielectrics and Novel Materials Laboratory, as well as through modelling and simulation tools. Work is under way on developing high-temperature semiconductors, materials that offer no resistance to electric current at the temperature of liquid nitrogen. Researchers are also working with the National Grid to ensure reliable and efficient transmission of power plus identifying the fundamental physics of the behaviour of electric charge within solids and liquids.
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* The laboratory is named after Tony Davies, who was Professor of Electrical Power Engineering from 1994 until 2002.
New approaches to electricity generation Scientists at Southampton are leading a national consortium of researchers looking at ways of making the burning of fossil fuels cleaner and more efficient. Although sustainable energy sources are becoming increasingly important, fossil fuels still provide some 90 per cent of the world’s energy needs today and this is unlikely to change in the near future.
Project leader, Professor Kai Luo of the University of Southampton’s School of Engineering Sciences, said: ‘Due to the dominant position of combustion in power generation, any improvement in energy efficiency and reduction in carbon emissions obtained in research laboratories has the potential to dramatically reduce the global demand for primary energy and contribute significantly to meeting carbon emission targets.’ Eleven universities are pooling their expertise in this field, backed by a portfolio of grants worth around £5million from the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC). In 2009, the University’s Iridis3 supercomputer which supports this work, was ranked 74th worldwide in terms of computing power. Professor Luo is working on combining a conventional gas turbine combustor with fuel cell technology. Typically, a gas turbine and a fuel cell have an energy efficiency of 30 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively. Yet the hybrid technology can achieve an efficiency
level of around 70 per cent. This efficiency exceeds even that of latest-generation combined cycle gas turbines for large scale power plants. In essence, exhaust gases and excess heat produced by the electrochemical processes of the fuel cells are recycled by the turbine to produce energy. Such hybrid systems are ideally suited for small power plants that provide energy for small communities. ‘Smaller power plants provide distributed power sources that increase energy security. They could also be linked together in microgrids to form a larger energy pool,’ explained Professor Luo. His research, involving collaboration with three US universities, has already attracted interest from major energy companies such as Siemens Westinghouse.
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Wet renewables Capturing energy from marine currents has always been an exciting prospect. Now, progress in wind turbine technology and offshore oil exploitation has made this concept more of an economic reality.
Energy converters extract energy from tidal flows.
Although the marine environment is harsh, the energy available is more predictable and far denser than that available from wind. The Sustainable Energy Research Group at the University of Southampton is at the forefront of the development and design of marine current energy converters that extract energy from tidal flows. To understand the potential of this new technology, detailed assessment of the available tidal resource in UK waters has been conducted. The results highlight that between 5 and 10 per cent of the UK’s present electricity demand could be generated by tidal energy. Several of the Group’s research projects have dealt with issues of designing marine current energy converters, which essentially look like underwater wind turbines.
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The performance of such devices has been tested on scale models at the University and in external laboratories. Tests have included the performance of rotor blade designs and models of full devices. Funding for the work on marine energy has come from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the University’s School of Civil Engineering and the Environment. Further research is ongoing into the development of tidal energy converter farms and their economic viability, as well as how to optimise the potential for both marine current energy converters and tidal energy farms.
Turning tide to energy What happens if you run an electric motor backwards? That is the question which was posed by researchers Dr Stephen Turnock and Dr Suleiman AbuSharkh of the University of Southampton’s School of Engineering Sciences, after they had successfully built a novel integrated electric thruster for tethered underwater vehicles, with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The well-known answer to this question is that it stops being a motor and becomes a generator. Instead of using electricity to turn a propeller and drive the vehicle along, the flow of water turns the propeller, generating electricity. What is new about the Southampton design is its simplicity. ‘This is a compact design that does away with many of the moving parts found in current marine turbines,’ says Dr Turnock. Most existing tidal-stream generators look like wind turbines turned upside down and made to work underwater. They often include gearboxes and mechanisms that move the entire assembly to face the flow of the water as the tidal direction reverses. Underwater systems with gears and moving parts require expensive maintenance.
Such systems increase the initial capital cost and drive up the cost of running the turbines – a cost that is passed on to the consumers of the generated electricity. The Southampton design does not need to turn round as the turbine blades work equally well regardless of which way the water flows past them. The blades are placed in a specially shaped housing, and this helps to channel the water smoothly through the turbine. Another advantage of the design is that everything is wrapped in a single package which can be prefabricated to minimise on-site construction costs. ‘Just drop it into flowing water and it will start generating electricity. It will work best in fast-flowing, shallow water,’ says Dr Turnock, who foresees rows of these devices secured to seafloors and riverbeds. Hampshire-based company TSL Ltd is licensed to develop the technology that combines advanced hydrodynamics, electric generator and power electronics. Plans are being made to market a range of devices, from the micro-scale suitable for battery charging on boats, to coastal community systems with power capacities up to 200kW.
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The world’s first commercial wave device
Research and industry working together
Pioneering research on wave power from the University of Southampton is being developed and tested with a commercial partner in the seas north of Scotland and off the coast of Portugal. The result will be the world’s first commercial wave energy farm.
The development of future Pelamis wave farm projects is being aided by a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), backed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). KTPs provide academic know-how to commercial enterprises.
The Edinburgh-based company Pelamis Wave Power (PWP) was set up in January 1998 to develop the Pelamis wave energy converter. Building on technology developed for the offshore industry, the 750 kW Pelamis has a similar output to a small onshore modern wind turbine. The first full-scale pre-production prototype has been built and is being tested at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney. It is anticipated that future wave farms would consist of an arrangement of interlinked machines, connected to shore by a single sub-sea cable. A typical 30MW installation would occupy a square kilometre of ocean and provide sufficient electricity for 20,000 homes. Twenty of these farms could power a city such as Edinburgh.
The ability to accurately measure the wave energy resource at a given site is essential for the successful development of wave farms. The amount of energy which will be generated must be known before a project goes ahead to support the financing and electrical grid design.
Malcolm Wicks, the former energy minister said ‘Marine technology has the potential to make a significant contribution to Britain’s future energy needs and it is vital that we develop the technology that can harness the potential in our seas.’
Within this KTP project, software has been developed to assess the wave energy resource at potential sites for Pelamis wave energy farms anywhere in the world.
Anaconda wave energy converter Anaconda is a new approach to wave energy conversion being developed by Checkmate Seaenergy. The principle of the Anaconda is that a fluid filled rubber tube floating just beneath the surface of the sea will become distended as waves pass overhead. The bulge waves created in the rubber tube will travel along its length developing the power to drive a turbine in the stern. Such a device has the potential to be manufactured at low cost and applied in wave rich climates worldwide. The School of Civil Engineering & Environment and the School of Engineering Sciences are being funded by an EPSRC grant ‘Hydrodynamics of a Distensible Wave Energy Converter’ to understand the fundamental physics and model the behaviour of the Anaconda device.
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Waterwheels play a part in increasing the use of sustainable energy.
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Revisiting waterwheels and their part in sustainable energy
Marine technology and industrial aerodynamics
Waterwheels could play a part in increasing the use of sustainable energy. Dr Gerald Müller from the University of Southampton’s School of Civil Engineering and the Environment is convinced that micro hydropower can be relevant to the twenty-first century. He believes that waterwheel designs can be refined to increase their efficiency significantly, to approach that of modern turbines used in large scale hydroelectric projects.
The Wolfson Unit operates a consultancy service in ship design, yacht design, small craft design, naval architecture, marine technology and industrial aerodynamics, providing tank testing, wind tunnel testing, consultancy, design software, onboard systems and innovative research to a world-wide customer base. In the field of renewable energy we work with clients to develop new ideas or optimise tried technologies.
Dr Gerald Müller is also leading a European Commission FP7 hydropower project ‘Development of hydro power converter for very low head differences.’ Across the EU, the majority of potential high head, large scale dam sites, have already been utilised. There exists a further potential for low head sites such as weirs on rivers. In Germany for example, low head hydropower has an estimated potential of 500 MW. This study is looking at the application of new converter technologies across three sectors: (1) Hydropower with very low head differences between 0.5 and 2.5 m (2) The energy of currents (river or tidal currents) (3) Small pressure differences in pipelines (< 25 – 30 kPa) Further details of this hydropower work can be found at: www.energy.soton.ac.uk
The Wolfson Unit engineers, who are employed full time on consulting work, have built up a wealth of experience in overcoming aerodynamic and hydrodynamic problems for their clients. This experience helps them to adapt test techniques or design special tests to match the specifications and budgets of the client. All work is carried out in secure conditions and full confidentiality is maintained at all times. No details of, or results from, any test programme are ever published without the express permission of the client. The towing tank and wind tunnel are only two of the many research facilities available to the designer. We can also offer design analysis, innovative research, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and numerical simulations. In addition, by working through the Wolfson Unit, the designer has access to the wide range of academic staff within the University specialising in such disciplines as mechanical engineering, aerodynamics, electronics, materials and structures. The point in the design cycle where the Wolfson Unit can provide assistance varies according to the project, but can be: • proof of concept • production design • installation • full scale trials • design and operational software www.wolfsonunit.com
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Bioenergy The University of Southampton’s Bioenergy group includes scientists from across several disciplines working towards the development of sustainability bioenergy, harnessing the power of single-celled algae to fast growing trees.
Professor Gail Taylor is working on the potential offered by trees as a source of renewable energy. This theme is being investigated in several funded projects, from ecosystems to genes. Current interest includes using fast-growing poplar and willow, where research is undertaken to identify cell wall genes that allow sugars in the cell wall to be more readily accessible for fermentation to fuels such as ethanol. Several areas of the poplar genome are being studied intensively and this has revealed a whole suite of genes for future analysis. ‘ We are investigating how these genes occur naturally in slightly different forms, within a very large population of native black poplar collected from across Europe, where we hope that we can identify variants that can later be incorporated into breeding programmes.’ This research is part of a European project ENERGYPOPLAR, that is also investigating the whole life cycle carbon cost of poplars for fuel, to ensure that the carbon
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footprint is significantly improved compared to the use of fossil fuels. Professor Taylor explains: ‘These trees will have an increasing role in the development of second generation biofuels. Poplars grow extremely fast, are long-lived, with limited chemical and agricultural inputs. They also provide additional ecosystem services, including improved biodiversity. An area where our understanding is still limited, however, is determining how these crops will influence soil processes and the ability of soils to sequester carbon under long-term energy crop cultivation. In a new UK consortium led by Southampton, Carb-BioCrop, the impacts of second generation non-food crops (trees and grasses) on soil carbon sequestration compared to food crops is under investigation, so that ‘Carbon Opportunity Maps’ can be developed for optimised land use for carbon in the UK.’
Generating energy through waste is often hailed as the solution to our energy needs in the future. Yet there are many challenges before waste agricultural products, or biomass, can be transformed into usable power. Professor Charles Banks and Dr Nazmul Haq of the School of Civil Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton are leading a 16-strong team, looking at ways to make biomass energy reliable, affordable and safe. Dr. Haq’s research also includes the efficient culture of plants for biomass and the identification of plants for low-input production of ethanol and diesel as biofuels. Their research involves the generation of energy from a wide range of materials, including industrial, commercial and household waste; their aim is the eventual development of an integrated system, linking farming, agricultural processing industries and waste management, to provide a sustainable energy source. Work is under way in the laboratory and in the field. At its heart is an examination of the use of anaerobic digestion as a means of producing methane from energy crops and agricultural residues. The biogas produced can then be used directly as a vehicle fuel or for power generation and heat recovery in CHP (combined heat and power). Although this technology is already well established, the breakthrough to a cost-effective and competitive energy supply will come from engineering and technical improvements to increase conversion efficiencies and reduce costs. ‘To date, anaerobic digestion has not received the attention it deserves,’ says Professor Banks. ‘But it is recognised that biogas from crops has advantages over many other forms of bioenergy, and predictions from the European Environment Agency show considerable potential for expansion in this area.’
The University of Southampton is part of the global race to develop algal biofuels. Professor Charles Banks and Dr Tom Bibby are leading two projects that contribute to The Carbon Trust’s ‘Dream Team’ to find world-beating formula for algae biofuel. The research aims to find a winning formula for cultivating 70 billion litres of algae biofuel a year by 2030. This will provide the equivalent of six per cent of global road transport diesel and a saving of over 160 million tonnes of CO2 every year. The teams were selected from over 80 initial proposals following an extensive competition and detailed assessment process. Starting from first principles of agriculture, thousands of strains of algae will be screened to find the winning few that can produce large quantities of a substance similar to vegetable oil. Additional research will develop methods for enabling large-scale production in algae ponds and the Carbon Trust plans to start construction of a pilot demonstration plant in an equatorial region where algae are most productive.
Professor Banks’ team is also involved in jointworking with 11 partners in six countries, including universities in Finland, Austria, Italy and Spain, and several commercial organisations, as part of the European Union-funded CROPGEN project. It is working to establish which crop types are the most efficient and worth exploring further.
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Energy and climate change
Climate change is one of the most significant threats at the scale of both the global economy and the local community. It is predicted that, by 2100, average global temperatures could rise by as much as 6 degrees Celsius. The UK is anticipated to become hotter and drier in summer, and milder and wetter in winter, even under low carbon emissions scenarios.
Current research is focusing on evaluating buildings in terms of their vulnerability to climate change, in particular to summer overheating. Assessments show that many buildings are at risk of being uninhabitable in future, without additional energy-intensive cooling devices. Within this work, transformation strategies for buildings, their facades and services are being explored.
The Sustainable Energy Research Group at the University of Southampton is assessing the impacts of climate change on the urban environment, looking at the future performance of buildings.
Two tools which generate hourly climate change weather data for building simulation have been developed by the group for the UK and worldwide locations. These can be downloaded from: www.energy.soton.ac.uk
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Sea level rise will have a potentially significant impact on the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s energy infrastructure. Many power stations are located on the coast in the UK and these, along with other energy assets such as gas pipeline landing points need ongoing assessment of sea defence requirements and appraisal of the long term viability of the sites. Professor Robert Nicholls from the School of Civil Engineering and the Environment leads this work and is also a co-author of the 4th Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) report which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Aspects of the work of Coastal Engineering and Management can be viewed at: www.civil.soton.ac.uk/research/researchcentre
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www.sunrise.soton.ac.uk sunrise@soton.ac.uk