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Policy@Manchester Articles: Science and Engineering
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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

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

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

Industrial chimney pluming out smoke surrounded by an urban landscape of buildings.

Advanced materials addressing health risks from exposure to benzene

Headshot of Martin Schröder.Headshot of Sihai Yang. By Martin Schröder and Sihai Yang Filed Under: All posts, Energy and Environment, Environment, Health and Care, Health and Social Care, Research and development, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology, Urban, Work Posted: December 2, 2024

Benzene, a volatile organic compound (VOC) with widespread industrial applications, poses severe health risks to humans even at trace levels. Its genotoxic effects, which involve direct damage to cellular DNA and genetic material leading to mutations, are strongly linked to cancer and blood disorders, making its control a critical priority for workplace safety and environmental […]

Tagged With: advanced materials, air quality, cancer, CS-AdvancedMaterials, environment, Health & Safety, innovation, public health, science & engineering, technology, transport, urban

Birds-eye-view of a motorway with travelling cars

A future for autonomous vehicles in the UK? Lessons from the US

By Sam Hind Filed Under: Digital Futures, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology, Urban Posted: November 21, 2024

One of the final bills passed by the outgoing Sunak government was the Automated Vehicles Act (2024), designed to make provisions for the possible rollout of autonomous vehicles in the future. If the new Starmer government is to continue this work, then lessons need to be learnt from the US, where the deployment of autonomous […]

Tagged With: AI, digital, Health & Safety, Robotics, SALC, technology, transport

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

Scientist with clipboard in a biotechnology lab.

Regional policy for biomanufacturing in the North-West chemical sector

Dr Neil Dixon By Neil Dixon Filed Under: Environment, Research and development, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted: October 3, 2024

There is an urgent need for the chemical manufacturing sector to transition to alternative, sustainable carbon-based feedstocks, moving away from reliance on petrochemical sources. Large urban areas, such as the north-west of England, generate substantial amounts of waste rich in carbon, which are processed for energy generation via direct incineration or biogas production. Here, Dr […]

Tagged With: biotechnology, CS-Biotechnology, infrastructure, innovation, MIB, science & engineering, sustainability, technology, waste

A scientist working with a bioreactor.

Building the bioeconomy

A profile picture of Professor Aline Miller By Aline Miller Filed Under: Research and development, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology, UK economy Posted: August 29, 2024

Current manufacturing processes across all industrial sectors rely on petrochemicals, either to power them, or as starting points for their product. This over reliance on finite fossil resources is having a detrimental impact on the health of the world and its population. Professor Aline Miller explains how industrial biotechnology can break this addiction to petrochemicals […]

Tagged With: biotechnology, CS-Biotechnology, economy, infrastructure, innovation, MIB, science & engineering, sustainability, technology, waste

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

3d rendered image of stem cells

Regulation of human embryo models is urgent

By Jonathan Lewis and Søren Holm Filed Under: Health and Care, Research and development, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted: May 22, 2024

Human embryo models are created from stem cells and provide opportunities to study early embryo development in ways that would generally be impermissible if real human embryos were used. Here, Dr Jonathan Lewis and Professor Soren Holm argue that with human embryo models becoming more advanced, regulations governing human embryo research need to be established […]

Tagged With: bioethics, ethics, health

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