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Energy Projects

From uniting the finest universities in the UK to Britain’s battery revolution, find out more about our current projects below.

Our research has made great waves in recent years, as we tackle some of the most pertinent challenges facing our planet. Read on to find out more about our renewable energy projects, and the work we're doing to shape the renewable energy landscape.

Energy Projects

North East Centre for Energy Materials (NECEM)

The North East Centre for Energy Materials (NECEM) unites the universities of Newcastle, Durham, and Northumbria, pooling together expertise across the three sites to investigate energy materials.

NECEM aims to address one of the most critical elements of all energy systems: materials.

Through materials discovery, analysis, and energy applications, we can overcome the current limitations around energy materials, and how they generate and store energy.

By following previously unexplored paths, NECEM innovates the science and engineering of materials that use, generate, and store energy.

Centre for Advanced Materials for Integrated Energy Systems (CAM-IES)

The Centre of Advanced Materials for Integrated Energy Systems (CAM-IES) is a partnership between four UK universities: Cambridge, Newcastle, Queen Mary, and University College London.

Together, these four universities develop advanced materials for energy conversion and storage by working with:

  • solid-state, higher voltage, and flow batteries
  • solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) 
  • carbon dioxide gas separation membranes
  • hybrid thin film photovoltaics (PVs) 
  • large-area thermoelectrics

The overarching goal of CAM-IES is to build a community of cross-disciplinary materials researchers who are focused on energy applications. 

Faraday Institution Projects

The Faraday Institution is powering one of the most exciting technological developments of the 21st century – Britain’s battery revolution.

As the world tries to figure out the future of energy and automation, the Faraday Institution is accelerating battery development, to power the transport and energy revolution for the UK. 

Newcastle was one of the founding members of the Faraday Institution, and we currently have a range of projects funded by it. For example, the Reuse and Recycling of Lithium Ion Batteries project, which aims to find an answer to the sustainable management of lithium-ion batteries once they’ve reached the end of their life in electric vehicles.

Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies and Research Fellowship

The Royal Academy of Engineering runs two prestigious fellowship funding schemes for established and early-career researchers.

There are the Chair in Emerging Technologies and Research Fellowship schemes. Here at Newcastle, we have one of each. 

Prof. Ian Metcalfe (RAEng Chair in Emerging Technologies) will develop new chemical reactor technologies to help the energy conversions required to support a low-carbon energy future.

Dr Greg A. Mutch (RAEng Research Fellow) will investigate membrane structure and function, developing new membranes for the separation of carbon dioxide. This is crucial in the move towards a net-zero society.

Net Zero Geothermal Research for District Infrastructure Engineering (NetZero GeoRDIE)

Geothermal heat has the potential to make huge contributions in decarbonising heating in the UK. Currently, deep geothermal and heat pumps account for just 5.2% of renewable energy sources. 

NetZero GeoRDIE will investigate the use of closed loop single well geothermal systems as a viable alternative in situations where traditional open loop geothermal systems are not feasible.

Uniquely, the research will use an existing, Newcastle-based 1.6km deep borehole and large instrumented building as a research facility. Modelling will couple the heating/cooling needs of new urban buildings with a single well geothermal system.