Strathclyde is actively engaged in the research and development of Carbon Capture and Storage technologies to mitigate GHG emissions from industrial processes and providing routes to negative emissions (carbon dioxide removal). Strathclyde is a member university of the UK’s largest CCS research group, Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage with a seat on the directorate.
Strathclyde is also the only university member of Scotland’s Net Zero Infrastructure project a £30M programme funded by the UK government to deliver the engineering designs (CCS and Hydrogen) for the infrastructure required for Scotland to meet net zero pathways. Strathclyde is also a partner institute of the UKCCSRC the UK’s internationally recognised CCS research community of 300+ academics working with industry to align CCS research with business needs.
Academics from Strathclyde have advised the Scottish and UK Governments on emissions reduction pathways, sit on learned society working groups on decarbonisation and are active in international greenhouse gas reduction areas such as the International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEAGHG). Strathclyde also leads in efforts to decarbonise heating and cooling with particular expertise on geothermal energy and spearheading of a £42M bid to the UK government to re-use the coalmines of Scotland to provide low carbon heating, cooling and energy storage.
Strathclyde researchers are also leading projects on hydrogen for zero carbon fuels and for energy storage, and was recently awarded £10M project led by Prof Feargal Brennan on renewable energy for hydrogen and ammonia fuels.
Global projects
Strathclyde collaborates on global CCS projects, an example of which is a collaboration between Dr Jen Roberts (Strathclyde) and Dr Linda Stalker (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Energy division, and Science Director of the National Geosequestration Laboratory) which evaluated key knowledge gaps surrounding how CO2 moves in the subsurface.
Their work shaped the experimental design and focus of the In-Situ Lab developed by CSIRO in south west Western Australia. In 2019 the In-Situ Lab was constructed, and the first experiment completed: the world’s first injection of CO2 into a geological fault zone. See more of this project on the Innovation Showcase.
This timeframe has meant that outcomes of their paper informed the experimental design and focus of the first In-Situ Lab experiment ($6.5m AUD), developed by CSIRO in south west Western Australia. In 2019 the In-Situ Lab was constructed, and the first experiment completed: the world’s first injection of CO2 into a geological fault zone. The experiment targeted the fault zone at 330-340m depth so as to understand how such geological heterogeneities influence CO2 migration, and at depths well below the water table; both gaps that had been identified during their review.