There is a national and global imperative to reduce reliance upon fossil fuels and, at the same time, to improve the efficiency of natural and renewable resource utilisation. These societal demands for ‘green energy’ and sustainability come together with a need for local and value-added manufacturing and are encapsulated in the Engineering Grand Challenge of efficiently converting waste lignocellulosic biomass into valuable products such as transportation fuel and value-added chemicals. This multidisciplinary project will address this challenge with a particular emphasis on utilising all components of the feedstock. In this project, an integrated system will be designed and developed to ensure efficient generation of liquid transportation fuels whilst maximising the value of biomass into value-added chemicals by controlling structure and functionality as they form.

System design, thermodynamic analysis, and economic analysis for the integrated system will be carried out. The student may expect to build his/her career in the area of bioenergy, sustainable energy and system and material design.

The applicant will work closely with collaborators from UK and abroad (e.g. China). The student will be expected to participate in relevant national and international conferences, and develop journal papers within the research field.

In addition to undertaking cutting edge research, students are also registered for the Postgraduate Certificate in Researcher Development (PGCert), which is a supplementary qualification that develops a student’s skills, networks and career prospects.