Green hydrogen manufacturing facility to open at Bristol & Bath Science Park
A green hydrogen manufacturing capability is to be established at the new IAAPS research & innovation facility at the Bristol and Bath Science Park as a result of a successful £2.5m bid to the UK Research Partnership Innovation Fund (RPIF). The new manufacturing capability will address several key objectives including decarbonising the energy used on the site by reducing the whole building carbon footprint, transitioning to net zero.
It will also support research and innovation into sustainable propulsion technologies and the use of hydrogen as an alternative green energy vector to achieve net zero targets, in particular in the hard to electrify sectors such as aviation, marine, off-highway and heavy-duty transport.
This is a key strategic step and major expansion for IAAPS, the applied automotive propulsion research team which grew out of the University of Bath. IAAPS takes real world problems from industry and applies the best academic minds with access to state-of-the-art facilities to solve those challenges.
This green hydrogen production and storage facility, set to be completed in spring 2023, will be the first of its kind in the South West of England and form the basis of a regional H2 and Sustainable Transport Acceleration Hub, working with over 30 cross-sector partners to stimulate green growth in the region and to provide an important link in the national H2 research infrastructure.
By delivering this new hydrogen production and research facility, IAAPS not only directly supports an important outcome of COP 26, the Breakthrough Agenda, and its ambitious goals to dramatically fast-track the deployment of clean technologies in order to meet climate change targets, but also the UK Government’s hydrogen strategy to ensure affordable, low-carbon hydrogen is broadly available by 2030.
Professor Chris Brace, Academic Director at IAAPS, said: “IAAPS is already widely recognised as a collaborative hub for research and innovation, and a partner of choice for both private and public sector clients covering the breadth of the transport industry. In working with a diverse range of organisations, including industry leaders, innovators, academics, legislators and SMEs, we are setting the pace in the adoption of net zero technology by a much broader range of stakeholders.
"The IAAPS team boasts a strong track record of delivering impactful research with real-world application, and I am confident that the green hydrogen facility is not only an important expansion of our remit and R&I portfolio, but also brings value to the industry as a whole and significantly advances the technologies needed to transition to a net zero society and economy.”
The implementation of the hydrogen facility has been funded by a £2.5m grant by Research England’s UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF) as part of its Net Zero pilot funding scheme, an £18.9m initiative designed to support capital activities which will reduce the carbon emissions of UKRPIF-funded research facilities, making the research processes they deliver more environmentally sustainable. Funded activity will also support the core aims of the wider UKRPIF programme, including enhancing HE facilities to champion world-class research and strengthening partnerships between providers and other organisations active in research."
