Aston Uni study seeks to lessen cooling impact
1st November 2024
UK: A team from Birmingham’s Aston University has been awarded a £415,000 grant to lessen the environmental impact of cooling in the UK.
The Renewable Energy Access for Future UK Net-Zero Cooling (Reef-UKC) project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and supports a consortium of Aston University experts led by Dr Ahmed Rezk.
They will be exploring new methods of using renewable energy to power so-called “clean cooling” technologies to alleviate the increasing stress on the national energy supplies.
“There’s an urgent need across various sectors, both in the UK and globally, to reduce carbon footprints and adopt more sustainable practices for cooling,” Dr Rezk said. “However, the cooling industry, which plays a critical role in sectors like food and beverage, data centres, steel, cement, pharmaceuticals, supermarkets, hospitals and district cooling hasn’t received the same attention in terms of sustainable innovation. Reef-UKC is an impact-driven network designed to address this important gap.
“Reef-UKC offers a collaborative platform for academia and industry to come together and explore sustainable cooling solutions, particularly focusing on technologies that harness waste heat and other forms of renewables. It also aims to expand the project’s outreach to regions like India, China, Africa, and the Middle East, where cooling is a critical requirement in many industries.”
With cooling already estimated to account for 10–20% of the UK’s total energy consumption, the demand is expected to multiply in the years ahead. The Aston University research team believes that the issue is further compounded by the growing cooling requirements of emerging industries like hydrogen production, where ammonia production alone demands 2.8GJ of cooling per ton.
The Reef-UKC network will also focus on circular economy business models, policy and regulations. As a first step, the research team has announced a £100K seed funding call to support eight to 10 new research seed-funding projects which lead to larger, multidisciplinary and impact-driven projects.
Aston University will be working with researchers from London South Bank University, University of Oxford, University of Birmingham, University of Warwick, University of Glasgow, University of Edinburgh, Brunel University London, Ulster University, Imperial College and the University of Cranfield. They will also be collaborating with several industrial partners including Star Refrigeration, Phase Change Materials Products Ltd, Tyseley Energy Park, PAK Engineering, Birmingham City Council and Belfast City Council.
