Government funding for hydrogen-from-waste research project

Academics from Britain and Italy will work towards creation of hydrogen energy from organic waste after receiving £220,000 from the UK government.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy awarded the funding from its Net Zero Innovation Portfolio to the University of Aberdeen-led project.

Research to be undertaken as part of the initiative could help convert organic matter in food waste, manure, wastewaters and other biodegradable refuse streams into hydrogen to power homes and businesses.

The project will adopt a process consisting of four main reaction stages – dark fermentation, anaerobic digestion, plasma reforming and steam gasification.

Led by University of Aberdeen professor Davide Dionisi, the project team also includes academics from Cranfield University in England and the University of Verona in Italy. 

Dionisi said: “Hydrogen is a key energy vector in the energy transition, and generating hydrogen from organic waste would achieve the combined benefits of reducing environmental pollution and generating green sustainable energy.

“Our proposed process combines waste treatment with energy generation and can be entirely powered from renewable electricity, thereby providing a more sustainable alternative to other processes for hydrogen production from non-renewable and renewable resources.”

UK energy minister Greg Hands added: “Accelerating home-grown renewables like biomass is a key part of ending our dependency on expensive and volatile fossil fuels.”

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