A consortium led by Aston University is to receive almost £11 million to open a doctoral training centre to tackle decarbonisation, focusing on biomass and the removal and capture of carbon dioxide (CO2).
The NET2Zero centre, based in Birmingham – set to get the majority of the funding (£8 million) – will unite leading research expertise and facilities from the University of Nottingham, Queens University Belfast and the University of Warwick and more than 25 industrialist partners.
The UK Government said it was part of the largest investment in engineering and physical sciences doctoral skills, totalling more than £1 billion (£500 million from UK Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Defence, plus a further £590 million from universities and business partners).
The Aston University centre will focus on the use of biomass to replace fossil fuels and removal (or capture) of CO2 from the atmosphere, with the potential to create new sources of fuels and chemicals. Integration of these two areas will lead to significant cost and energy savings.
