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Policy@Manchester Articles: Renewables
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Image of an industrial structure

A load of hot water: overcoming the barriers to decarbonising the heating sector

Headshot of Jingyi Li, pictured smiling into camera.Dr Alejandro Gallego Schmid By Jingyi Li, Cathy Hollis and Alejandro Gallego Schmid Filed Under: All posts, Energy and Environment, Renewables Posted: April 14, 2025

The heating sector accounts for nearly one third of the UK’s annual carbon emissions. Despite the pressing need to achieve net-zero by 2050,  decarbonisation of the heating sector in the UK faces significant challenges. The previous UK government’s delay in curtailing oil and gas projects in the North Sea has served to divert focus away […]

Tagged With: carbon reduction, climate change, energy, environment, infrastructure, net zero, sustainability, urban

Industrial blue containers in background with large piles of sand in front.

Can hydrogen help decarbonise small industrial emitters?

Maria SharminaHeadshot of Dr Vincenzo Spallina. By Maria Sharmina and Vincenzo Spallina Filed Under: All posts, Energy and Environment, Environment, Inclusive Growth, Renewables, Research and development, Science and Technology, UK economy Posted: April 7, 2025

Decarbonising industry, among other hard-to-abate sectors, is a high priority in the UK as the country embarks on a pathway to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The government’s focus to date has been on the decarbonisation of large-scale energy-intensive industries. However, more than a fifth of the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions come from […]

Tagged With: Business Energy & Industry, carbon reduction, climate change, CS-Energy, energy, environment, Hydrogen, inclusive growth, net zero

Photo of interconnector on beach

Hydrogen: the missing piece in the clean energy puzzle

Aoife Foley headshotDlzar Al Kez headshotFaraedoon Ahmed By Aoife Foley, Dlzar Al Kez and Faraedoon Ahmed Filed Under: All posts, Energy and Environment, Environment, Renewables, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted: March 17, 2025

Hydrogen has been proposed as a clean energy carrier, offering a sustainable and efficient alternative to fossil fuels during the net zero transition. Hydrogen’s significance lies in its production process, which in some cases means that it can be a zero-emission energy source. Hydrogen’s high energy density and versatility allow it to be used in various forms, including […]

Tagged With: #OnHydrogen, carbon reduction, energy, environment, Hydrogen, net zero

Picture of an airplane being refuelled at an airport.

Decarbonising transport: is hydrogen the answer?

Alice LarkinAmanda Lea-Langton By Alice Larkin and Amanda Lea-Langton Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Energy and Environment, Environment, Growth and Inclusion, Renewables, Science and Technology Posted: February 25, 2025

The UK government has enshrined net zero into law, but if it is to meet its targets then big strides need to be made towards decarbonising land-based transport, aviation, and shipping. Unlike most land-based transport, aviation and shipping are considered ‘difficult to decarbonise’. Their long-lived infrastructure, ongoing reliance on energy dense fuels, and issues around […]

Tagged With: #OnHydrogen, carbon reduction, energy, environment, Hydrogen, infrastructure, net zero, sustainability, transport

two workers with high-viz jackets and blue helmets are stood in a construction site looking at an I-pad

Getting it right: are hydrogen standards good enough?

Profile picture of Dr Chris Jones By Christopher Jones Filed Under: All posts, Energy and Environment, Environment, Renewables, Research and development, Science and Engineering Posted: February 11, 2025

Hydrogen has the potential to be an important industrial feedstock and fuel. There are, however, various ways to produce and use it, leading to diverse supply chains with different environmental implications. Two considerations for the role of hydrogen in a low carbon economy stand out – ensuring that hydrogen production and supply has sufficiently low […]

Tagged With: #OnHydrogen, carbon reduction, climate change, energy, Hydrogen, net zero, science & engineering, sustainability, Tyndall

Plastic bottles which have been crushed together into cubes.

Plastics policies are changing the game—but are SMEs being left behind?

Headshot of authorMaria Sharmina By Adeyemi Adelekan and Maria Sharmina Filed Under: Energy and Environment, Environment, Growth and Inclusion, Renewables Posted: February 6, 2025

The UK plastics policy landscape is undergoing major changes. While consultations stress the importance of avoiding harm to SMEs, policies often lack concrete measures against such harm. Research by the University of Manchester indicates that current and forthcoming plastics policies, shaped by these consultations, would affect stakeholders across the plastic supply chain differently, with SMEs […]

Tagged With: Business Energy & Industry, economy, environment, inclusive growth, net zero, productivity, sustainability, Tyndall

Image of a nuclear power station in the background with the bottom of an electricity pylon and a yellow grassy field in the foreground.

Is advanced nuclear the route to low-carbon hydrogen production?

By William Bodel Filed Under: All posts, Energy and Environment, Renewables, Research and development, Science and Technology, UK economy Posted: January 27, 2025

There is increasing recognition that a UK net zero future will feature a significant role for hydrogen as an energy vector. The UK currently relies heavily on natural gas for heat, industry and power production. If net zero ambitions are to be realised, this must be replaced with either increased electrification (powered by low-carbon sources) […]

Tagged With: carbon reduction, CS-Energy, Dalton, energy, environment, Hydrogen, net zero, nuclear

An illustrated image of multiple model green hydrogen molecules

How green is hydrogen?

Amanda Lea-Langton By Amanda Lea-Langton Filed Under: All posts, Energy and Environment, Environment, Renewables, Science and Engineering Posted: January 15, 2025

Development of a low carbon hydrogen-based economy is seen as a major part of achieving net-zero emissions across the world. Hydrogen is a flexible and potentially non-polluting fuel because it only produces water when it is used in fuel cells or burnt. However, the production of hydrogen can have a high carbon footprint depending on […]

Tagged With: #OnHydrogen, carbon reduction, climate change, energy, environment, Hydrogen, MERI, net zero

Solar panels, windturbines and a nuclear plant, Borssele, The Netherlands

Can nuclear power work with renewables to achieve net zero?

By Juan Matthews Filed Under: All posts, Energy and Environment, Environment, Renewables, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted: November 18, 2024

Decarbonising electricity in the UK is far from straightforward. Government plans for the nation’s future electricity supply rely heavily on renewables, supported by gas power during periods of low renewable output. In this article, Professor Juan Matthews considers how nuclear energy can provide an alternative to gas power and support a future renewables-heavy grid, and […]

Tagged With: CS-Energy, Dalton, energy, infrastructure, net zero, nuclear

Battery storage compound within an arid environment in the foreground with an orange sunset in the background.

Energy consumption: solving the storage problem

Robert Dryfe Photograph By Robert Dryfe Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Energy and Environment, Environment, Renewables, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted: July 11, 2024

To combat climate change, all developed economies have set the goal of carbon-neutrality by 2050. This means securing more energy from renewable sources. Achieving a high proportion of renewable energy production in the UK and other developed countries is only possible with suitable energy storage infrastructure, to bridge periods of low or no power generation from […]

Tagged With: carbon reduction, energy, environment, net zero, sustainability

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