Professor Tim Mays, Department of Chemical Engineering, leads this interdisciplinary Beacon with the vision to build research capacity, facilities, and expertise across the University in the production, storage, distribution and end use of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers such as ammonia. These future fuels will eventually displace oil-based transport fuels and natural gas for heating and electricity, which together make up over half of global CO2 emissions.
The central vision of this Beacon is for the University of Bath to be a multi-disciplinary hub of research excellence, impact and stakeholder engagement in future, zero-carbon fuels. This aligns especially with the UK’s 2050 Net Zero target and with the recent Hydrogen and Net Zero Government Strategies.
The primary technical questions and challenges this Beacon seeks to address involve the production, storage, distribution and end use of hydrogen and its carriers. Other research challenges under the remit of this Beacon include energy systems, safety, industry, public and policy engagement, behaviour changes, education and training, regulation and standards, economic and business models, and engagement from local to international levels.
The first steps are for facilitated workshops to allow for internal networking and to identify a broad-based collaborative community on campus, building on existing research strengths and the core team. The Beacon will also network with related local, regional and national programmes, industry, funders and policymakers.
