Energy and Sustainability

World-leading research on a range of novel materials for energy technologies, including hydrogen storage materials, nano-tubes for PV applications, nano-structured membranes, and catalysts for fuel cells. Research is supported by excellent characterisation facilities and the Group’s wide network of international collaborations.

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The Faculty of Engineering has a reputation for excellence across a broad range of technologies encompassing bioenergy, fossil energy, energy storage, the built environment and grids. The strategic priority given to energy and to coordinate research across the range of disciplines led to the Energy Technologies Research Institute being founded in 2006. Indeed since then, the portfolio value of energy grants has more than doubled, including a number of notable successes including the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre and the EngD Centre in Efficient Fossil Energy Technologies. As part of the strategy to further grow our internationally leading research programme, the University is investing £7M in new energy technologies and bioenergy buildings. The funding comes from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) as part of the Capital Investment Fund (CIF). Nottingham is one of three universities (with Birmingham and Loughborough) comprising the Midlands Energy Consortium (MEC) which hosts the Energy Technologies Institute and where we have established the Midlands Energy Graduate School (MEGS) with £3M HEFCE funding to provide a unique shared platform to improve the quality of postgraduate research training in energy research. In conjunction with MEGS, the new DTC (Doctoral Training Centre) in Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and their Applications (funded by EPSRC) provides a four year PhD programme.

The IBT undertakes high-quality, strategic and applied research related to building services and energy conservation (e.g., CHP systems, heat pumps, lighting, acoustics, ventilation and indoor air quality). The Institute has developed into a leading centre for research and teaching in building services engineering/building technology. The ISET carries out research and teaching into renewable/sustainable technologies in the built environment, attracts external funding, runs training programmes and short courses and participates in network and public awareness activities. The Institutes offer excellent and extensive research facilities including the Marmont Centre for Renewable Energy, the Sustainable Research Building, the Eco-Experimental House, and Creative Energy Homes project.

The Marmont Centre for Renewable Energy contains research laboratories which are equipped with a variety of technologies and state-of-the-art facilities for research into passive cooling, heat recovery, solar/wind/ground energy systems, absorption technology, ejector refrigeration, heat pump systems, ventilation systems, indoor air quality and thermal comfort. The Sustainable Research Building (SRB) is designed to serve as an exemplar building, demonstrating state-of-the-art techniques for environmentally responsible, sustainable construction. The SRB incorporates a flexible envelope to permit field-testing and integration of new and sustainable technologies.

The flagship Creative Energy Homes Project is a showcase of innovative state-of-the-art energy efficient homes of the future. Six homes constructed on University Park have been designed to various degrees of innovation and flexibility to allow the testing of different aspects of modern methods of construction. The project aims to stimulate sustainable design ideas and promote new ways of providing affordable, environmentally sustainable housing that are innovative in their design. Several companies including Stoneguard, Roger Bullivant Ltd, EOn and BASF have funded the project.

Pioneering research into carbon capture, transport, storage and utilisation and leads on a number of groundbreaking projects to reduce CO2 atmospheric levels and mitigate global warming. Research is cross-disciplinary and multiagency, uniting the expertise of engineers, mathematicians, bio-scientists, geographers and geologists from within academia, industry and government organisations across the globe.

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The Thermofluids Research Group is recognised internationally for fundamental and applied research on the performance of machines including reciprocating internal combustion engines, turbomachinery and motors; techniques of flow visualisation, flow control and drag reduction; and CFD models, applications and mathematical techniques. The group has extensive, modern facilities for experimental work and is a major user of the University’s high performance computing facility. The group works closely with the automotive, aero and power generation industries in collaboration with the Ford Motor Company, Rolls Royce and other long term partners.

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