Hydrogen Sandpit Winners – Sub-H2 research project receives £30k in funding
Hydrogen Sandpit participants during the introductory sessions at Loughborough University
The hydrogen research sandpit organised by C-DICE in partnership with HyDEX concluded with presentations from participating teams and a peer review process to determine the winner. This sandpit encouraged multidisciplinary teams to explore the role of hydrogen in energy systems, and a number of proposals were created.
The winning proposal came from team Sub-H2 comprising:
Dr Elizabeth Ashton, Senior Research Associate at Loughborough University,
Dr Humera Ansari, Doctoral Prize Fellow at Loughborough University,
Dr Fatima Abi Ghaida, Research Fellow (AMBHER) at the University of Birmingham.
Their project, titled – Energy Storage Utilising Battolyser-generated Hydrogen (Sub-H2) aims to investigate the viability of integrating a hydrogen-storage system with a hydrogen generating system. This involves utilising a battolyser, which combines battery and electrolysis technology for zero emissions energy production, to produce a self-contained, controlled energy source. The team has been awarded £30k in seed corn funding to work on this project for a period of 10 months. This proposal brings together two universities (three different departments) and researchers with different expertise – Dr Ashton is a chemist, with expertise in materials characterisation, green growth economics, and electrochemistry, Dr Abi Ghaida has experience in the synthesis of precursors and materials, and Dr Ansari brings engineering expertise to translate theoretical research to practical environments.
C-DICE will continue to run research sandpits with themes to progress towards a net zero carbon society around infrastructure, cities and energy sectors. Two new sandpit opportunities are currently available for January 2024, find out more below.