Renewable energy company Drax has become the latest founder member of the University of Sheffield’s newly-launched Energy Innovation Centre. The new partnership will drive forward research into next generation carbon capture technology, including innovations in bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, or BECCS. Drax joins Boeing as the second founder member of the Energy Innovation Centre (EIC), launched by the University of Sheffield Energy Institute, which offers partners from industry access to two of the University’s newest world class research facilities. The first – the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Innovation Centre (SAF-IC) – is a first-of-its-kind facility in the UK that tests and certifies new sustainable aviation fuels. The second – the Translational Energy Research Centre (TERC) – contains pilot-scale production facilities suitable for investigating different methods of carbon capture, utilisation and storage. The partnership will use the first-of-their-kind technology available at TERC to carry out research and development into carbon capture and utilisation technologies, and to investigate the use of other routes to decarbonise and defossilise industry, including renewable natural gas, hydrogen, battery storage and new BECCS technologies. In particular, Drax will look at BECCS, a process in which carbon dioxide from using biomass as an energy source, such as wood pellets or agricultural residues, is captured and stored. Because plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the process results in negative emissions. Access to the equipment at TERC, including the first-of-its-kind Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell, and a grate-fired biomass boiler which enables studies into BECCS, will mean Drax can carry out pilot-scale testing on some of the most cutting-edge carbon capture rigs in the UK. Drax is the second largest producer of sustainable biomass globally, and its biomass power station in North Yorkshire is the UK’s single-largest source of renewable power by output. The new partnership with TERC aims to further demonstrate and understand the opportunities for new forms of energy and application of BECCS in the UK’s energy and industry landscapes. Professor Mohamed Pourkashanian, Managing Director of the University of Sheffield’s Energy Innovation Centre, said: “We are excited to welcome Drax as a founding member of the EIC. Drax’s commitment to furthering renewables and other low-carbon sources of energy make them an ideal partner for driving research and development in these areas. “Combined with the expertise of the researchers at TERC, we hope Drax’s work within the EIC will lead to impactful, practical applications of innovative processes and technology. We look forward to working with Drax and to the continued growth of the EIC.” Jason Shipstone, Drax’s Chief Innovation Officer, said: “This new partnership between Drax and the University of Sheffield is hugely exciting for the carbon removals sector. The incredible facilities, and the global academic excellence of TERC, will enable Drax to innovate further as we look to deploy BECCS technology at scale in the coming years. “Governments around the world are increasingly turning to BECCS in the fight against climate change as it is the only technology which can simultaneously remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while generating dispatchable renewable electricity.”

There is some reason for cautious winter economic cheer with the latest research from the UK’s insolvency and restructuring trade body, R3, showing that all regions and nations across the UK, including Yorkshire and the Humber, saw an increase in the number of new businesses launching in January 2024 compared with the previous month.

According to the research, based on an analysis of data provided by CreditSafe, the number of start-ups in Yorkshire and the Humber rose by 39% from December 2023 to January 2024, with another 5,405 new businesses setting up in the region last month – over 1,500 more than in the previous month.

Some other regions and nations performed even more strongly with the North East seeing a 61% rise month-on-month; the South East up by 54%; and the South West and Wales experienced a 50% uplift. The lowest increases were in Northern Ireland with a 33% rise; and in the West Midlands, up by 35%.

However, there was a less rosy picture in Yorkshire and the Humber in terms of insolvency-related activity last month. While this type of activity (which includes liquidator and administrator appointments and creditors’ meetings) fell in all 12 regions and nations, Yorkshire and the Humber saw the smallest drop with a decrease of just 4.8% since December.

This means that in January, 236 businesses in the region were affected. The North East also saw a single digit drop in insolvency-related activity (-9.5%); followed by Wales (-13.3%); and the North West (-19.6%).

In contrast, the greatest decreases in insolvency-related activity were in Northern Ireland (down by 58%); followed by the South East (-35%); the East Midlands (-34.5%); and the South West (-33%).

Eleanor Temple, chair of R3 in Yorkshire and a barrister at Kings Chambers in Leeds, said: “It is certainly encouraging to see so many brave entrepreneurs across the UK having the confidence to launch a new business as we head into 2024, and also fewer businesses last month being impacted by insolvency-related activity.

“It is perhaps a sign that the tide is turning and people are starting to feel that the worst is over as inflation steadies and there is talk of possible interest rate drops later in the year.

“However, the UK economy is continuing to disappoint with inflation proving to be sticky, operating costs rising and consumer spending remaining under pressure. In such a difficult landscape, many businesses may be heading towards insolvency and would be well-advised to seek professional advice as soon as possible to avoid financial problems spiralling out of control.”

A must-attend event for professionals in the construction sector and the built environment will take place on Wednesday 28 February 2024.

The H2H decarbonisation project at Saltend has been given planning permission by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, strengthening its case in forthcoming Government competitions.

Equinor’s H2H Saltend is a 600-megawatt low carbon hydrogen production plant with carbon capture, one of the first of its kind and scale to be granted planning permission in the UK, helping to establish the Humber as an international hub for low carbon hydrogen whilst significantly reducing carbon emissions. The decision comes as the project prepares for a potential application into the Government’s forthcoming ‘Cluster Sequencing Track-1 Expansion’ process, is expected to launch this year to select decarbonisation projects in both the Humber and Teesside that can connect to the East Coast Cluster’s carbon capture transport and storage infrastructure by around 2030. Due to be operational around the end of the decade and sited at the energy intensive Saltend Chemicals Park, to the east of Hull, H2H Saltend will help to reduce the park’s emissions by up to a third. To achieve this, low carbon hydrogen will be used in chemical processes by both Saltend-based and other nearby companies, as well as directly replacing natural gas in several industrial facilities reducing the carbon intensity of their products. The project also forms part of Equinor’s ‘Hydrogen to Humber’ ambition to deliver 1.8 gigawatts of low carbon hydrogen production within the region, nearly 20% of the UK’s national 2030 target. These proposals seek to develop a hydrogen transport and storage hub network linking key sites primarily on the north bank of the Humber including Saltend, Easington and the Aldbrough Storage facility, via dedicated hydrogen pipelines. The H2H Saltend planning application was submitted to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council in July 2023. There have been three public consultation events in East Yorkshire and Hull since 2021 to present the project throughout the planning process, in addition to regular dialogues with local authority and parish councillors. No objections to the application were raised by any statutory body. The UK Government is expected to launch the Track-1 Expansion competition from 2024. It is the next step of the Cluster Sequencing process, following selection of the East Coast Cluster as a Track-1 Cluster and subsequent selection of a first phase projects in March 2023, when Humber projects were unsuccessful. Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance Lord Callanan said: “CCUS clusters will be the starting point for a new industry in the UK, which is why we’ve committed up to £20 billion in early support and expect to bring forward 4GW of low carbon hydrogen production by 2030.” Derek Ho, H2H Saltend Project Director, said: “Receiving planning permission for this key project could help to kick-start multiple decarbonisation initiatives in the Humber, a vital region with a long-standing history for Equinor. It is an important first step in creating a low carbon hydrogen economy and achieving net zero in the Humber, safeguarding local industries and creating greater opportunities including new jobs and skills, whilst helping the UK to tackle climate change. “This decision comes at a very opportune moment, as we await the launch of the Government’s next phase of the Cluster Sequencing process for the Humber, and it puts H2H Saltend in a strong position, should we submit a bid.”

The University of York has launched the Institute for Safe Autonomy, a ‘living lab’ that provides research and development space for autonomous systems operating on the ground, underwater and in the air. The £45 million facility, the first UK research Institute to focus on the safety of autonomous systems, combines a range of experimental laboratories in robotics, advanced communications and quantum communications. It aims to provide research that demonstrates how to minimise the risks associated with these technologies, while exploring their potential to deliver impactful solutions for the benefit of society, the economy and the planet. The building will be officially opened by Dr Ruth Boumphrey, Chief Executive of Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a keystone funding partner aligned to the Assuring Autonomy International Programme, which aims to provide industry, regulators and researchers with guidance in assuring and regulating robotics and autonomous systems. Professor Miles Elsden, Director of the Institute for Safe Autonomy, said: “Safety assurance is key to underpinning public trust in these new technologies and is one of the key barriers to the take-up of Autonomous Technology, such as AI, in many sectors. “To do this right we need to consider a whole range of ethical, legal, regulatory and legislative dimensions as well as risk management and harm minimisation, which are the very areas we are focusing on here at the Institute for Safe Autonomy. “These technologies are already a big part of our daily lives, whether it’s part of your mobile phone, Smart TV, or vacuum cleaner, and yet there is a significant number of people that are wary of their development, and we have to ask why that is and how we can address those concerns by evidencing how safe they are for everyday use.” The purpose-built facility provides collaborative work and test spaces for more than 100 researchers across a variety of disciplines, including Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, Law, Management and Philosophy. Its safety experts work in partnership with academia, industry, government and civil society to research safe, ethical, real-world applications for autonomous systems. Researchers at the Institute are working on a range of projects, including how robots might be safely integrated into triage procedures in emergency hospital departments; how robots can be used in social care for basic domestic tasks; the safety assurances of beyond-line-of-sight drone use, and the security of long-range underwater quantum communications. The Institute is also home to a new £1.5m solar farm project, which aims to enable the Institute to become energy self-sufficient by 2025, generating approximately 170 MWh of power annually. Funded through the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF) and constructed by Siemens, the solar farm will enhance the Institute’s research capabilities to develop and use autonomous robots and drones to independently inspect and maintain solar arrays. The Institute will provide work space for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from both the UK and internationally, operating in the field of autonomous systems.