How Yorkshire can lead hydrogen revolution – Dave Petley

THE Government has set out its vision for a hydrogen economy to help us make a green recovery from the pandemic and meet our net zero greenhouse gas emissions targets.
How can hydrogen power be best developed?How can hydrogen power be best developed?
How can hydrogen power be best developed?

Hydrogen can replace fossil fuels in powering heavy industries, heating homes, generating electricity and fuelling transport systems without emitting the levels of greenhouse gases that are fuelling the climate crisis and hampering efforts to reduce our emissions.

However, our challenge is to establish hydrogen supplies at a large enough scale to meet the nation’s energy needs and solve the technical challenges associated with using hydrogen to decarbonise industry and the systems we use to heat our homes.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Research and innovation are key to tackling these challenges. We need a place where the very best engineers and scientists can conduct fundamental hydrogen research, and somewhere they can work with manufacturers to develop new hydrogen technologies, test them in cutting-edge facilities and bring them to market.

Professor Dave Petley is Vice-President for Innovation at the University of Sheffield.Professor Dave Petley is Vice-President for Innovation at the University of Sheffield.
Professor Dave Petley is Vice-President for Innovation at the University of Sheffield.

We have that place in South Yorkshire, and if the Government is to achieve its plan for a world-leading hydrogen economy, then it must leverage the region’s hydrogen R&D capabilities. There is enormous potential, but without the right focus, the UK may lose ground to international competitors.

The wider region is already home to industry leaders in hydrogen. Sheffield-based ITM Power has the largest electrolyser manufacturing facility in the world for low-carbon hydrogen generation, and the Zero Carbon Humber Partnership is a nationally significant focal point for hydrogen infrastructure, in turn critically helping UK manufacturers win work in emerging low-carbon sectors.

But with the added collective strength of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), Nuclear AMRC, University’s Faculty of Engineering and the world-leading, pilot-scale testing facilities at Sheffield’s new Translational Energy Research Centre, the region can drive the research and innovation needed to support the UK’s hydrogen infrastructure. 

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

This is the strongest academic partnership linked to industry, where hydrogen research can be conducted from the fundamental stage right through to pilot-scale testing and commercialisation. 

The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre  can be at the forefront of a hydrogen economy, writes Professor Dave Petley.The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre  can be at the forefront of a hydrogen economy, writes Professor Dave Petley.
The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre can be at the forefront of a hydrogen economy, writes Professor Dave Petley.

The University of Sheffield AMRC is a globally-leading centre for research and innovation. It works with manufacturers of all sizes – from global giants like Boeing, Rolls-Royce, McLaren Automotive, BAE Systems and Airbus to SMEs throughout the UK. Its network of research and development facilities extends to the North West and Wales. 

The AMRC can play a crucial role in addressing the manufacturing challenges that the UK faces in developing the equipment and infrastructure needed to establish a hydrogen supply. The centre will soon open a hydrogen fuel cell assembly test bed facility and will work with major manufacturers to develop new technologies for the aerospace, heavy automotive, energy generation and public transport industries. 

The Government must leverage the AMRC’s hydrogen capabilities. It can help maximise the amount of UK manufactured content we use to build our hydrogen economy and avoid a repeat of the off-shore wind industry, where we are world leaders in the deployment of wind turbines, but the majority of the components are manufactured abroad.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

If we are to establish a hydrogen supply that is low-carbon, we need to use methods that produce zero greenhouse gas emissions. These methods can only be powered by low-carbon or renewable energy sources.

Nuclear energy is the only low-carbon energy source capable of providing both electricity and heat simultaneously, without interruption, in any location – all of the things we need to enable electrolysis, the technology used to make low-carbon hydrogen.

The next generation of advanced modular nuclear reactors are also capable of producing low-carbon hydrogen through a process known as thermochemical water splitting. This uses high temperatures (500–2,000°C) to drive a series of chemical reactions that produce low-carbon hydrogen.

South Yorkshire played a huge role in the Industrial Revolution. Now it’s time for the region to lead the Green Industrial Revolution through hydrogen R&D.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Professor Dave Petley is Vice-President for Innovation at the University of Sheffield.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click here to subscribe.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.