Research Challenge online showcase
21st October 2022
Showcase Objective
To present the structure of the hub and co-develop the details of the projects within it.
On Friday the 21st October we held our rescheduled interactive and participatory workshop. There was an amazing response from across the hydrogen community with over 90 participants. Facilitated by The Collective, we first heard from Prof Tim Mays, who welcomed all attendees, before Prof Rachael Rothman introduced our vision for the Hub.
Dr Derek Craig, delivered the opening address at the event. Derek is Deputy Director Cross-Council Programmes within the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Derek is responsible for strategic leadership and oversight of EPSRC’s environmental sustainability and decarbonisation research and innovation agenda working closely with colleagues across UKRI and the external academic, business and policy communities. He set out EPSRCs vision and the funding landscape, as well as the objectives of EPSRC. This included the imperative to create added value to the UK industrial strategy, widely collaborate and to champion EPSRCs place-based agenda.
Through four different breakout sessions, we collectively examined some of the research challenges identified through our previous workshops. Primers were delivered, that discussed the technical theme challenges, from the UK-HyRES investigators, Tim Mays, Rachael Rothman and Shanwen Tao. These challenges are highlighted in the attached slide deck an in the image below. While they represent priorities, these lists are by no means exhaustive. If there are more ideas, thoughts, or key priorities that weren’t discussed, please do get in touch and speak to one of the team.
Thanks to all that attended, your participation and engagement is vital to allow us to shape a successful hub.
Read more about the Storage workshop >>
Theme 4 – Alternative Liquid Fuels
20th July 2022
Alternative liquid fuels (ALFs) such as ammonia are increasingly regarded as a key component of the future energy mix towards the net zero imperative. Through our launch workshop, you also told us that alternative liquid fuels was one of the major areas that you wanted to discuss. On the 20th July UK-HyRES held the fourth themed workshop focused on the research challenges, future vision and opportunities surrounding ammonia and alternative liquid fuels to answer that call.
Discussion focused not only around ammonia but also of some other alternatives such as ethanol, methanol and formic acid. In the workshop we first watched an insight talk by Josh Makepeace (University of Birmingham) who set out the background of ammonia and why it is so promising, including how the related fuel cell technologies might look. We also heard from Laura Torrente-Murciano (University of Cambridge) who explored the reasons why ALFs are needed, remarking “We need novel integrated energy systems taking into consideration energy supply and demand profiles”.
With safety a common discussion throughout all of our workshops, we later heard from Stuart Hawksworth (Head, Centre for Energy and Major Hazards, Health & Safety Executive & President, International Association for Hydrogen Safety). He reminded us that “safety can not be an afterthought” and that we need to think smarter about safety and develop new evidence based standards. John Irvine (University of St Andrews) gave the final insight talk, with his perspective on the future vision for alternative liquid fuels and green ammonia, highlighting the particular industrial interest in ammonia for shipping.
The Collective expertly facilitated the session to allow attendees to debate key questions designed to determine the research challenges and the opportunities, framed around the Theory of Change.
The UK-HyRES team would like to particularly thank our invited speakers for their insightful contributions as well as all attendees. Developing a UK Centre of Excellence would not be possible without this fantastic engagement.
The research team will now start work analysing the comments and outputs, with the final outcomes published on our website in the coming weeks.
Thanks again for all participation, don’t forget our next event takes place on the 15th September, in-person, at the University of Warwick. A Research Challenges Showcase, we plan to discuss the steps forward, present our findings and continue the conversation. Registration details will available on our Events page in due course.
A recording of the workshop is available below, you can also download the workshop slide deck and view all the insight talks.
Read more about the Production workshop >>
Read more about the Storage workshop >>
THEME 3 – END USE
5th July 2022
Hydrogen is often discussed from the perspective of fuel cells, but many other end users rely on hydrogen, from ammonia, methanol and steel production, to power generation, oil and metal refining, and synthetic fuels. On the 5th July 2022 UK-HyRES held the third themed workshop, focused on the challenges, opportunities and future vision for the end use of hydrogen.
The end use of hydrogen is crucial to accelerating the uptake of hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels in pursuit of net zero. In the workshop we watched an enlightening video, recommended by Nigel Holmes (Scottish Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association) and produced by Ben Burman, summarising the motivation and challenges in hydrogen uptake.
Later in the workshop, Anthony Kurcernak (Imperial College London) delivered an insight talk on the strategic drivers for change, highlighting the many end users with a stake in the hydrogen economy. Qiong Cai (University of Surrey) gave the final insight talk, with her perspective on the future vision for hydrogen fuel cell technology, such as cheaper and more durable catalysts.
Facilitated by The Collective, attendees debated key questions designed to determine the research challenges and the opportunities, framed around the Theory of Change.
The UK-HyRES team would like to particularly thank our invited speakers for their insightful contributions as well as all attendees. Developing a UK Centre of Excellence would not be possible without this fantastic engagement.
The research team will now start work analysing the comments and outputs, with the final outcomes published on our website in the coming weeks.
Thanks again for all participation, don’t forget our next workshop takes place on the 20th July (Alternative Liquid Fuels). Registration details will available on our Events page in due course.
A recording of the workshop and all insight talks are available below, catch up now if you missed the event.
Download the report:
Workshop 3 – Storage and distribution
16th June 2022
Workshops 3 took place on the 16th June 2022, 13:30-16:30. There was engagement from the full spectrum of stakeholders across the hydrogen economy.
Building on the success of the Launch event Workshop 3 centred around the research challenges of the Storage and Distribution of Hydrogen.
Engaging insight talks were delivered during the session.
David Book (University of Birmingham) and Chris Manson-Whitton (Progressive Energy) set the landscape with their strategic drivers for change talk. We also heard from Gavin Walker (University of Nottingham) and Shubi Mukherjee (Ceres Power), who also delivered their future vision for storage. All four storage insight talks are available to watch below, as well as the full workshop recording.
Facilitated by The Collective, attendees debated key questions designed to determine the research challenges and the opportunities, framed around the Theory of Change.
The UK-HyRES team would like to particularly thank our invited speakers for their insightful contributions as well as all attendees. Developing a UK Centre of Excellence would not be possible without this fantastic engagement.
The research team will now start work analysing the comments and outputs, with the final outcomes published on our website in the coming weeks.
Thanks again for all participation, don’t forget our next workshops take place on the 5th July (End Use of Hydrogen) and the 20th July (Alternative Liquid Fuels). Registration details are available on our Events page.
If you want to catch-up with what happened, you can view and download recordings for each workshop here.
Storage & Distribution of Hydrogen Workshop
Insight talks delivered during the Storage & Distribution workshop by David Book (University of Birmingham), Chris Manson-Whitton (Progressive Energy), Gavin Walker (University of Nottingham), and Shubi Mukherjee (Ceres Power).
Read more about the Production workshop >>
Workshop 2- Production
16th June 2022
Workshop 2 took place on the 16th June 2022, 09:30-12:30. There was engagement from the full spectrum of stakeholders across the hydrogen economy.
Building on the success of the Launch event, Workshop 2 focused on the challenges related to the Production of Hydrogen.
Engaging insight talks were delivered during the workshop from leading voices.
Anton Orpin-Massey (Senior Policy Advisor, Hydrogen Production Strategy, BEIS) and Richard Sulley (Net Zero project director at the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority) spoke about the strategic drivers for change. Marcus Newborough (Development Director at ITM Power) and Patricia Thornley (Director Supergen Bioenergy Hub) later discussed their future vision.
If you missed the event, or want to catch up, the workshop recordings are available to watch below.
Facilitated by The Collective, attendees debated key questions designed to determine the research challenges and the opportunities, with questions were framed around the Theory of Change.
The UK-HyRES team would like to particularly thank our invited speakers for their insightful contributions as well as all attendees. Developing a UK Centre of Excellence would not be possible without this fantastic engagement.
The research team will now start work analysing the comments and outputs, with the final outcomes published on our website in the coming weeks.
Thanks again for all participation, don’t forget our next workshops take place on the 5th July (End Use of Hydrogen) and the 20th July (Alternative Liquid Fuels). Registration details are available on our Events page.
If you want to catch-up with what happened, you can view and download recordings for each workshop here.
Production of Hydrogen Workshop
Read more about the Storage workshop >>
Coordination Phase (2022-23) Launch Workshop Outcomes
9th May 2022
The UK-HyRES launch workshop took place online with the project team present in person at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution following a Board meeting in the morning.
There was excellent engagement across academia, industry, government, consultancies, consortia and NGOs with over 130 attendees, many staying on for the full three hours.
The main focus was to introduce the team and establish a basis for the upcoming workshops. Key insights were generated following the Theory of Change framework.
Through a series of parallel breakout groups, attendees were asked to debate and distill key insights based on critical questions. Free and unhindered, the breakouts allowed diverse and open discussion. Outputs were recorded on a collaborative working environment. Initial results and analysis is presented below, this will guide and inform the potential development of the Centre of Excellence in Hydrogen and Alternative Liquid Fuels.
Initial ANALYSIS
Breakout #1
What do you think the opportunities are for the UK-HyRES project?
Breakout #2
What would you like the UK-HyRES project to achieve – what’s the impact and difference you would like to see in five years?
Note: Although “Large-scale testing / demonstrators” was one of the most mentioned themes in breakout #2, this is outside our research scope, although the Centre could play a coordinating role.
Breakout #3
What research might we do together to really make a difference?
What are the interesting and useful research questions we should be asking?
LAUNCH WORKSHOP – 9TH MAY 2022
The first workshop for our new UKRI Hydrogen Research Challenges Co-ordinator project will be livestreamed online from the BRLSI in Bath, 13:30 to 16:30, on Monday 9 May 2022. You will meet the project team & find out about plans for the next 6 months. Further details and joining instructions to come.