Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Manufacturing a Green Economy
Manufacturing a Green Economy Within the next 40 years, the world’s demand for materials and energy is expected to double, with a corresponding impact upon the environment. Such challenges require new ways of thinking if we are to meet the ambitious targets we have set to reduce carbon emissions while increasing energy efficiency. The ongoing search for renewable fuels and materials has accelerated the focus on ecological manufacturing, resource efficiency and sustainable development – the core elements of the ‘green’ economy. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), through its Manufacturing the Future challenge theme, is meeting these challenges and opportunities head-on, and is investing over £300 million over four years in over 2,500 manufacturing research projects, training more than 2,700 PhD students and collaborating with over 2,000 companies. At the core of this investment are three principles: Reduce, Replace, Recycle.
Reduce End Use Energy Demand centres EPSRC and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) have invested £26 million into five new End Use Energy Demand (EUED) research centres, which will look into the complexities of energy use across society and how energy can be both saved and used more efficiently. Supported by a further £13 million from industrial partners, the centres will also help us learn more about what needs to be done to change consumer and business behaviour. Of the five new centres, 2 are specifically focused on sustainable energy use within the industrial sector: The Centre for Sustainable Energy Use in Food Chains will develop innovative approaches, processes and technologies for energy demand reduction in all stages of the food chain; production, distribution, retail and consumption. UK Indemand will focus on reducing the use of both energy, and energy-intensive materials, in the industries that supply the UK’s physical needs, developing a better understanding of the operation and performance of the whole material and energy system of UK industry.
EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Industrial Sustainability Operating out of four universities, this £5.2 million centre will work with industrial partners to seek ways to rapidly reduce the resource and energy-intensity of industrial production. It will also investigate options for a radical redesign of the industrial system, supporting the transition to next generation eco-factories. Another goal is to support the development of a sustainable UK
industrial system through the provision of knowledge, leaders, tools, methods and policy support – all grounded in practice. The centre has a key training role, and during its fiveyear initial life will prepare 80 PhD-level students to become academics and practitioners with the leadership skills capable of helping industry rise to the challenge of sustainability. The centre will also host/produce up to 26 postdoctoral researchers and at least six lead academics.
More with less; Engineering solutions for resource efficiency Resource efficiency will play an important role in the future economic success of the UK, which has limited resources and a high material dependency. A multidisciplinary team from four universities, Bath, Birmingham, Loughborough and Warwick, and involving academics from 12 institutions, is developing ways to raise public awareness of resource efficiency through a wideranging creative outreach programme that maximises public and user engagement.
Image credit: istockphoto
Replace G8 materials efficiency. A first step towards sustainable manufacturing The G8 Research Councils Initiative on Multilateral Research Funding is an international programme that brings together eight research councils from the UK, France, Germany, the United States, Japan, Russia, Italy and Canada in support of topics of global relevance which can best be tackled by a multinational approach. As part of this initiative, EPSRC is sponsoring a suite of grants for international collaborative research programmes into sustainable manufacturing and materials efficiency, including: Photovoltaics: This £400,000 project, titled Ink-jet printed single-crystal organic photovoltaics, brings industry together with world-leading academics from chemistry, physics, engineering and materials science. Based at the University of Cambridge, the project aims to tackle the complete photovoltaic cycle, from materials to exploitation, in the quest for cheaper, more efficient devices to harness the power of the sun. In particular it concentrates on sustainable approaches to organic semiconductor synthesis, potentially allowing organic photovoltaic devices to be made out of bio-waste such as corn leaves and stalks. Building with bamboo: A team based at the University of Cambridge is conducting research into structural bamboo products. Bamboo’s mechanical properties are similar to those of wood, but it produces up to six times as much mass per hectare as conventional timber plantations. Structural bamboo products are similar to plywood or glue-laminated wood products, and have enormous potential to partially replace the use of more energy-intensive materials in rapidly developing countries. The project aims to find ways to develop modern structural building materials from renewable bamboo to help rapidly developing countries follow a more sustainable path.
Sustainable feedstocks The increasing global demand for fossil-based resources, coupled with diminishing reserves, geopolitical uncertainty and the threat of climate change are all factors that make the current petrochemical industry unsustainable. Although a transition has already begun to replace the use of petrochemical feedstocks (raw materials) with a more diverse range of biological-based alternatives, further advances are necessary to provide economically viable alternative resources and to consider the pathway to manufacture of these resources.
EPSRC has committed nearly £12 million to conduct research into sustainable feed stocks - a key part of the green economy jigsaw
Plastic made from plants EPSRC-supported scientists at Imperial College London are looking at ways to produce new kinds of plastic from plant matter. The team, supported by £2.5 million of EPSRC funding, begin by separating the carbohydrate polymers from which the plant is made from the lignins (a kind of glue) that hold them together. The carbohydrate polymers are then broken down into simple sugars using enzymes and then further converted into building blocks for plastics using a variety of catalytic materials specifically designed for this process. The team plan to break down the lignins and rebuild them into new plastics that can replace common materials. All of these renewable polymers can be used in a wide range of consumer products, including packaging materials, plastic containers and construction materials. Furthermore, the chemical feedstocks produced are flexible, safe (non-toxic) and sustainable. Fuel from seaweed EPSRC-supported scientists at Durham University are developing chemical processes to make transport fuel from seaweed. The project team hope to produce a commercial, nonseasonal replacement for diesel and aviation kerosene in a £1.5 million project that hinges on tackling the high water content of seaweed. The team’s goal is to establish routes for environmentally and economically sustainable production of transport fuels for use in the chemicals and fuels sectors and in indirect sectors such as transport and manufactured goods’ distribution.
Recycle EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Liquid Metal Engineering The aim of this national centre of excellence, a collaboration between Brunel, Oxford and Birmingham universities, is to enable the UK metal-casting industry to become more cost-effective and sustainable, while improving casting quality. The Centre’s Full Metal Circulation initiative aims to transform the global metallurgical industry from that currently dominated by mining and primary metals production to one that revolves around the re-use, remanufacture or recycling of existing metals through innovative technologies. Achieving full metal circulation will help to substantially conserve natural resources; reduce energy consumption and cut CO2 emissions, while fuelling economic growth.
More with less EPSRC is supporting four speculative research projects to find engineering solutions for resource efficiency. The £5 million initiative will be run by the universities of Bath, Birmingham, Loughborough and Warwick, and will involve academics from a total of 12 institutions. The projects include EXHUME, based at the University of Birmingham, which focuses on recycling and remanufacturing composite materials, such as carbon fibre, which are increasingly being used in industry for their mechanical strength and reduced weight. The popularity of these materials comes at a price, as it is estimated that by 2015 total composite waste in the EU will be over 300,000 tonnes. The project will demonstrate to the waste industry vital re-manufacturing science and chemical/process engineering, and will help drive the future of scrap re-use across industrial sectors.
G8 materials efficiency. Providing a green method for extracting metals EPSRC-supported scientists at the University of York are leading an international team to explore the use of plants to recover precious metals from mine tailings around the world. The researchers are investigating ‘phytomining’ which involves growing plants on mine waste materials to sponge up valuable Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) into their cellular structure. The plant is heated in a controlled way, leading to the metal becoming embedded in a nano-form in the carbonised plant. The metal might then be used in industrial catalysis, which is being used more and more in industrial processes and particularly for emission control. Phytomining could provide a sustainable supply of catalytically active metals – providing a green method for extracting metals currently uneconomical to recover.
Skills The UK needs strong leadership in research in order to maintain its competitive global position. EPSRC supports researchers throughout their careers, through a variety of routes, and across the EPSRC remit. Industrial Doctorate Centres (IDCs) aim to develop the next generation of professionals, enabling them to become effective agents of change in the transition to a more sustainable, lower carbon economy. Manufacturing leaders with the skills to compete on the global stage. The centres combine academic and industrial expertise, offering industry-relevant research and taught courses to research engineers (EngD students) to deliver a PhD-level qualification fit for the 21st century.
Industrial Doctorate Centre in Sustainability for Engineering and Energy Systems Established in 1993, this IDC manages up to 48 EngD students at any one time. Sustainability in engineering and energy systems, train the next generation of sustainability practitioners and leaders to respond to the challenge of creating and embedding sustainable practices across the UK. Research projects range from sustainable wastewater treatment systems (partner with Thames water) to sustainable outside broadcasting (partner with Sony).
Industrial Doctorate Centre in High Value, Low Environmental Impact Manufacturing, University of Warwick Established in 2011, this centre covers 3 research themes- digital technologies, materials and manufacturing and operations and business management- the IDC addresses industrially challenging issues that enable companies to develop and implement effective low-environmental impact policies that benefit the ‘bottom line’. Greater resource efficiency helps insure businesses against uncertainty in the supply of materials and price volatility in global markets, enabling the UK to retain its global position in manufacturing and become more successful at innovation and exploitation in low carbon technologies.
In Profile - Julian Allwood Dr Julian Allwood holds a £1.5 million, five-year EPSRC Leadership Fellowship to lead a major collaborative project on achieving global carbon emissions targets for the production of steel and aluminium. Working alongside 20 global industry partners, including Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Steel, Arup and Siemens, Julian and his team are undertaking the basic research required to drive a step-change in material efficiency. They aim
to demonstrate that it is technically and economically possible to develop a flow of sustainable metals through the global economy, and will complement their research with activities devoted to inspiring and informing those who can influence change. Dr Allwood is Principle Investigator of the £6 million UK Indemand End Use Energy Demand centre and author of a ground-breaking book, “Sustainable Materials: with both eyes open” which explores the reality of making products more efficiently and with less new material. He is also a lead author of the fifth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Key Facts and Figures Production of concrete accounts for
5%
of global CO2 emissions
87%
of global energy production in 2010 was derived from unsustainable fossil fuels
£26m for End Use Energy Demand Centres.
Five centres supported. They will run for five years
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation requires incorporation of
10%
renewables into the supply chain by 2020
£100m
invested by EPSRC into manufacturing research during 2012/13
Manufacturing the future is an EPSRC priority theme. We aim for the research we sponsor to help solve some of the most serious challenges facing the UK today and in the future.
We are in a global race and countries that succeed in that race are those that are the greenest and the most energy efficient. David Cameron, Prime Minister
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the UK’s main agency for funding research in engineering and the physical sciences. EPSRC invests around £800 million a year in research and postgraduate training, to help the nation handle the next generation of technological change. The areas covered range from information technology to structural engineering, and mathematics to materials science. This research forms the basis for future economic development in the UK and improvements for everyone’s health, lifestyle and culture. EPSRC works alongside other Research Councils with responsibility for other areas of research. The Research Councils work collectively on issues of common concern via Research Councils UK. www.epsrc.ac.uk