Water, food and energy are the basic requirements for humankind's existence on planet Earth. As the global population grows there is an ever-increasing demand for these resources and, as nations develop, the demand on energy is magnified. The world has become dependent upon fossil fuels, energy dense materials such as coal, oil and gas. Not only is their continued use unsustainable in the long term but the consequences of their use potentially devastating in terms of climate change and other pollution. Maintaining the status quo is not an option. To address research in the complex fields of energy and sustainability, cross-discipline projects are required that bring together leading specialists in individual technology and application areas. As this is a rapidly growing field, it is a natural space for young, early career researchers to shine, and one way of facilitating these early careers researchers is to bring them together to share new equipment, to enable training in new methods and to grow their research equipment base. We will use the funding provided by this EPSRC small equipment proposal to create a Small Equipment Fund for Energy and Sustainability (SEFES).
Research at Durham University, and especially the Durham Energy Institute (DEI), in these areas of national importance delivers sustainable socio-technological solutions including optimum, clean use of non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels, including carbon capture and storage, development of sustainable materials for energy (e.g. solar-cells based upon Earth-abundant minerals), the design of novel oil rich crops, and new algal strains for bioenergy production. In order to rationally rewire biological networks for biomass and oil production, our research develops systems approaches, combining experimental measurements with computational analysis. Harmonising energy supply to demand is also a key area of our research on smart (electricity) grids. Research into maximising the yield of recovered hydrocarbons for energy and chemical feedstocks has grown in both unconventional and conventional hydrocarbon sectors. Unconventional hydrocarbons are oil/gas resources present in matrixes that are challenging to extract from, or may have low yields. As such, these sources have previously been overlooked as too risky, or uneconomic, and include shale oil, heavy oil, shale gas, tight gas etc. Shale gas has resulted in the US meeting domestic use, with potential surplus for export. However, certain of the technologies employed, for example hydraulic fracturing have been controversial, resulting in moratoriums and bans in certain countries. Durham University is presently leading research to establish safe working practices for the sector.
The instrumentation accessible following the award of the 'Small Items of Research Equipment' grant will enable Durham University, and the Durham Energy Institute, to accelerate is work in these key areas, delivered by early career researchers, as well as provide the capability to enhance our already keen focus on developing the next generation of researchers through our multi-disciplinary Energy Doctoral Training Centre.
|