Chief Scientific Advisors visit Hydrogen Homes!

October 13th 2022

The Chief Scientific Advisers (CSAs) to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Professor Paul Monks, and the Department for Transport (DfT), Professor Sarah Sharples, were in the University recently at the invitation of Professor of Energy, Sara Walker. They were here to visit the Northern Gas Networks research site, Hydrogen Homes, at Low Thornley in Gateshead, to learn more about the research Sara is leading into the potential of integrating hydrogen into the energy system as part of the transition to net zero.

“Newcastle University is leading a £12.5M EPSRC Hub on Hydrogen Integration. This was an exciting opportunity to tell Professor Monks and Professor Sharples about the Hub, and our creative partnership with Northern Gas Networks. We have been working with NGN on development of the Integrated Transport Electricity and Gas Research Laboratory (InTEGReL), a demonstrator for our excellent research on energy systems integration.”

 

At Hydrogen Homes, the CSAs were able to see hydrogen in use in heating and cooking appliances and had a presentation from the NGN team about their work on hydrogen blending (mixing with natural gas) for the village of Winlaton.

Most government departments have a CSA, who through the Government Chief Scientific Adviser and the Cabinet committee system advise ministers on all aspects of policy on science and technology. Their role is to bridge the gap between academic experts and government officials, and the visit represented a welcome opportunity to showcase our expertise and develop relationships with two key officials.

 

Ahead of the site visit, Professors Monks and Sharples attended a roundtable discussion on energy and electrification at The Catalyst, chaired by Professor Richard Davies and facilitated by our public affairs consultants, WA Communications.

For the first time, the roundtable brought together academic colleagues from across the University who are driving the University’s energy and electrification agenda to showcase the strength and breadth of our expertise in the University and the region.

 

Former DfT CSA Professor Phil Blythe and Professors Matt Boyle, Colin Herron, Rene Koglbauer and Dr Mark Ireland joined Sara, presenting our work on Connected Autonomous Logistics, Driving the Electric Revolution, the North East Battery Alliance, skills development and carbon capture and storage alongside hydrogen. The session also enabled our experts to hear direct from the CSAs about the main priorities within BEIS and DfT, and how the University can work with government to support the delivery of key national priorities.

 

Translating our research into policy is one of the many ways we raise the profile of the impact of our world-leading research. This recent visit and roundtable formed part of ongoing efforts to position Newcastle as a trusted source of research-based, solutions-focussed evidence for energy policy development.