EPSRC funding for UK CCS Research Centre in Edinburgh

The EPSRC and DECC have invested £13 million to establish a UK Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Research Centre coordinated at the University of Edinburgh. It is hoped that the Centre will bring together over 100 of the UK’s world-class CCS academics and provide a national focal point for CCS research and development. The new state-of-the-art capture research facilities will allow UK scientists and engineers to uncover the complexities of carbon capture and work with industrial partners and SMEs to develop improved capture technologies. They include: (1) Pilot scale advanced testing facilities in Yorkshire, with a 1 tonne CO2 per day amine capture facility; (2) A mobile testing unit to allow a range of tests to be conducted on real power station flue gases; (3) Advanced oxyfuel fluidised bed and chemical looping pilot facilities.

The UK has a target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80% by 2050, a significant task that requires systemic changes to every sector of energy generation and use, including in industrial applications. The Centre’s first goal will be to undertake a process to identify further research needed to accelerate CCS deployment. Once the priority research areas and any challenges to these have been highlighted, the Centre’s multidisciplinary teams of leading researchers, will work with key UK and international partners on areas where they will have the maximum potential impact. The 10 founding institutions are: The Universities of Edinburgh, Cambridge, Cranfield, Durham, Leeds, Newcastle, Nottingham and Imperial College London, the British Geological Survey and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory.