University of Sheffield and Boeing join forces as Energy Innovation Centre opens

Global aerospace company Boeing is one of the founding members and is set to work with the university to help develop sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).

Boeing has access to the university’s Translational Energy Research Centre (TERC) and Sustainable Aviation Fuels Innovation Centre (SAF-IC) – two “world leading research facilities, both of which are UK firsts,” says the university.

Boeing will use these with the aim of advancing the development of SAFs and support new SAF producers in the UK, including Bicester-based Zero Petroleum.

They have achieved this level of capability with £7m previously awarded to the Translational Energy Research Centre by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, £19.3m from the European Regional Development Fund and further funding from the University of Sheffield.

Steven Gillard, Sustainability Regional Director for UK and Middle East, Boeing, said: “We are committed to working with our partners across the globe on our journey to more sustainable aviation, including efforts to develop and scale SAF – our industry’s biggest lever in reducing emissions today and into the future.

"Building on our longstanding presence in South Yorkshire, being founding members of the EIC further solidifies the region's pivotal role in our industry's pursuit of net zero emissions.”

TERC allows businesses to test new low-carbon energy ideas at pilot scale, while SAF-IC provides state-of-the-art facilities to rigorously test, certify and deploy new sustainable aviation fuels all in one place.

Both facilities, under the new Energy Innovation Centre, are helping put South Yorkshire and the UK at the forefront of efforts to decarbonise the aviation industry and develop new low-carbon energy technologies.

Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance Lord Callanan, was joined at the event by Steven Gillard, Sustainability Regional Director for UK and Middle East at Boeing.

Lord Callanan said: “Having awarded £7m to the Translational Energy Research Centre, I’m thrilled that they’re combining their strengths with the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Innovation Centre, in the search for new and creative solutions to help us hit net zero.

“This includes working on four carbon capture projects – backed by the government’s £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, to help bring down the cost of this technology as we make the UK a pioneer in this area.”

Boeing was a founding member of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and chose to open its first European manufacturing facility in Sheffield in 2018.

Professor Mohamed Pourkashanian, Managing Director of the Energy Innovation Centre at the University of Sheffield, said: “The official launch of the Energy Innovation Centre is the result of many years of hard work to both build TERC and the environment at the University of Sheffield which allows their success to flourish.

"We are grateful for the many years of support from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, and the European Regional Development Fund which enabled the existence of these world-leading research facilities.

“I’d also like to once again welcome Boeing, the founding member of the EIC, and our new member DRAX.

"We look forward to working with many more industrial partners in the future to drive forward decarbonisation technology and meet the net zero goals of the UK and beyond.”

The Energy Innovation Centre is open to industrial partners of all sizes and research and academic groups. Membership includes access to both TERC and SAF-IC.

The opening of the Energy Innovation Centre showcased a new plaque celebrating the occasion, and included speeches by Lord Callanan, Professor Koen Lamberts, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, Professor Pourkashanian and Mr Gillard.