Newcastle Science City

Areas of ExcellenceEnergy & Environment

Never has the need to conserve energy and reduce wastage been higher on the agenda - and for Newcastle that brings things full circle. Newcastle and North East England has deeper roots in energy science and engineering than any other region in the world.

The region is famous the world over as the birthplace of ‘Carboniferous Capitalism’, home to the first industrial-scale coal mines anywhere in the world in the late 16th Century.  However, the use of fossil fuel, while revolutionising the world’s economy, also brought problems, not least the emission of greenhouse gases widely blamed for the speeding up of climate change.

Four centuries later, the North East is becoming a global leader in the shift to a low-carbon energy economy and Newcastle Science City is supporting many of the breakthroughs. Building on internationally-leading strengths of the region, the focus of the Science City’s Energy and Environment theme is supporting five key areas:

  • Photovoltaics (PV) - to increase the take-up of solar energy and exploring the potential for the new flexible polymer PV
  • Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Technologies: increasing the use of hydrogen fuel cells and ensuring the safe storage of hydrogen
  • Energy Biosciences: promoting sustainable energy through biofuels, without damaging food crops or destroying wildlife habitats, and backing work to develop biofuel extraction from municipal waste. The work also includes investigating ways of removing CO2 from the atmosphere and permanently trapping it in organic sediments
  • Clean Energy from the Geosphere: the globally unique GREAT Institute (Geothermal Research Education and Training) is raising the technical level and skills base of the geothermal heat pump sector, which uses naturally occurring heat within the earth to generate energy. It is also investigating underground coal gasification, which means fossil fuel can still be used but the resultant gases are stored instead of being released into the atmosphere
  • Carbon Neutral Culture: developing tools for determining the carbon footprints of businesses and cities, and using a pioneering Carbon Neutral Agency to help towns and cities reduce their carbon usage.

First Class Facilities

The region has capitalised upon it's strength in this sector by building an excellent infrastructure which links public sector, private sector and the region's universities. Among organisations supporting the work are the Universities of Newcastle, Durham and Northumbria, the New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC), the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), including the Plastic Electronics Centre (PeTEC) and numerous innovative private sector companies, from start-up businesses to global players.

The New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) capitalises on the region’s world-class science and industrial base to deliver an internationally recognised facility for fast-tracking new and renewable energy R&D through to commercialisation.  NaREC’s activities directly address the key economic and performance drivers of wind, wave, current, solar, biomass and clean fuel energies in order to accelerate and exploit future markets.

The Centre for Process Innovation  (CPI) develops products, solutions, services and businesses in the process and manufacturing sectors.  It was brought together in April 2008 by the merger of two UK government-backed Centres of Excellence, both formed in 2004: the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) on Teesside and the Centre for Nanotechnology, Microtechnology and Photonics (Cenamps) in Newcastle.  Across its specialist technology areas, CPI delivers a unique portfolio of services to the global business community: process innovation; consultancy and research; and the formation and management of development partnerships and joint ventures.

The Sir Joseph Swan Institute is an interdisciplinary research institute within Newcastle University. It provides the focus for energy related research across the University and incorporates researchers from 11 academic schools specialising in:

  • natural science
  • social science
  • engineering

The researchers involved with the Institute already have extensive industrial collaborations and the close integration of the research team enhances the industrial offering.

The Institute provides the vehicle for inter-institution collaboration and bridges academia, other centres such as NaREC and CPI, the regional development agency and industry.

Key Facts

  • North East England is recognised as having deeper roots in energy science and engineering than any other region in the world.
  • The region is home to the UK's most energy intensive industries in the Tees Valley, and hosts unique translational research and design facilities, most notably, NaREC, CPI and Northumbria Design School. All of these elements provide a unique UK test bed for new energy technologies and services.
  • Already estimated to be worth around £900m, the energy sector is also one of the most productive sectors in the region, employing around 30,000 people and with more than £6bn currently being invested in novel energy projects over the next few years.
  • The sector has the potential to generate around £2bn of new economic growth for the region's economy.
  • The Newcastle University, Sir Joseph Swan Institute for Energy Research, is housed in the award winning Devonshire Building, a flagship environmental building, adopting the highest standards of sustainable design, which since its completion has won several prestigious awards for environmental architecture and construction.
  • 2009 saw the mass production of electric cars in the UK take a giant stride forward with Nissan’s announcement that it will build its new electric battery plant in North East England.
  • North East England is to play a key part in the largest programme of real-world trials ever seen of electric and low-carbon cars. 35 cars developed in the region will be trialled with Nissan, Smith Electric Vehicles in partnership with LTI, AVID Vehicles, Liberty Electric Cars, Newcastle University and One North East all involved. The project will include 15 Nissan cars, 10 Smith electric taxis, five Smith people carriers, a Smith executive minibus, two AVID saloon cars and two Liberty urban Range Rovers, alongside a network of charging points. Newcastle University’s Transport Operations Research Group will monitor and model the performance and use of the vehicles.

Case Studies

Carbon Capture Technology - How coal could be king once more

A team of North-East scientists has embarked on a major study of a technology that could help reduce the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.

The work by the Newcastle University-led project team links expertise developed in the region’s coalmining industry with cutting-edge modern research.

At the heart of the project is Underground Coal Gasification with Carbon Capture and Storage (UCG-CSS).

The process involves the gasification of coal in the seam through the introduction of hot steam and oxygen. The resultant gas mixture, syngas, can be used as chemical feedstock for products ranging from plastics to liquid transport fuels or for driving turbines to generate electricity.

Under the leadership of the Sir Joseph Swan Institute of Energy Research, the university team brought together leading UK specialists to investigate the potential, funded by One North East.

Find out more at www.ncl.ac.uk/ihg.

New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) powers the future

Technology experts from the UK’s leading renewable energy R&D centre, which is based in the North-East, are working on ways that communities can generate and distribute their own energy.

The New and Reneweable Energy Centre (NaREC), based in Blyth, Northumberland, has been working with its counterpart at the National Renewable Energy Centre of Spain (CENER) to create new ways of generating and distributing power from small-scale renewables.

NAREC also works with major industrial players with a major speciality developing more efficient ways of harnessing wind energy.

Find out more at www.narec.co.uk.

Acceleration of electric vehicle trials

North East England is to play a key part in the largest programme of real-world trials ever seen of electric and low-carbon cars. 35 cars developed in the region will be trialled with Nissan, Smith Electric Vehicles in partnership with LTI, AVID Vehicles, Liberty Electric Cars, Newcastle University and One North East all involved.

The project will include 15 Nissan cars, 10 Smith electric taxis, five Smith people carriers, a Smith executive minibus, two AVID saloon cars and two Liberty urban Range Rovers, alongside a network of charging points.

Newcastle University’s Transport Operations Research Group will monitor and model the performance and use of the vehicles.

Robotics system set to revolutionise cleaning of ships

An automated robotic cleaning system that removes marine growth from the hull of a ship is being pioneered at Newcastle University.

Set to revolutionise the cleaning and management of ships the robot offers a solution to high fuel costs and marine related pollution while removing harmful, non-indigenous species that could be transferred to local waters.

Operating like an automatic carpet cleaner, the robot has been developed out of an EU-funded project called HISMAR (Hull Indentification System for Marine Autonomous Robotics) and is able to navigate its own way across the ship's hull.

Newcastle University's Jonathan Heslop a researcher on the project, said: "All other developed cleaning or inspection systems currently available are remotely controlled during their operation, requiring highly skilled and experienced operators to effectively clean the hull, while the ship is out of operation and usually out of water.

The advantage of the HISMAR robot is that it is an autonomous system so it can continue cleaning with the ship remaining in service - feeding back hull information as it does so - resulting in very little build of growth, reduced fuel costs and much less pollution."