The University of Birmingham has been challenging and developing great minds for more than a century.
Characterised by a tradition of innovation, research at the university has broken new ground and pushed forward the boundaries of knowledge. The Birmingham Energy Institute is the focal point for the university to create change in the way we deliver, consume and think about energy, under the city’s Energy Capital plan.
The institute has a number of research centres which focus on specific dimensions of the energy challenge:
- Birmingham Centre for Energy Storage;
- Birmingham Centre for Hydrogen & Fuel Cells;
- Birmingham Centre for Nuclear Education and Research;
- Birmingham Centre for Environmental and Energy Economics and Management; and
- Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials.
Through the combined efforts of these centres, the institute is driving technology innovation and developing the thinking required to solve the challenges facing the UK as it seeks to develop sustainable energy solutions in transport, electricity and heat supply.
Why is Birmingham an ‘energy capital’?
In this booklet, the institute expands on why Birmingham, and the wider West Midlands area, is the perfect venue to act as a crucible of industrial innovation in energy, and highlights some of the projects based in the region that are aimed at transforming the UK’s energy sector.
Among these projects, the Birmingham Energy Institute is a partner in the energy research accelerator, a ~€203m initiative bringing together six leading research universities, and works closely with the Energy Systems Catapult, a UK technology and innovation centre.
These efforts fall under the broader Energy Capital umbrella, a strategy launched in 2017 with the aim to deliver emissions reductions, create low-carbon infrastructure, manage waste and transform Birmingham into a world-leading centre of excellence for energy innovation.
The booklet also covers a policy commission issued by the institute on the complexities of cold energy provision, and details its efforts to establish a joint research platform with Fraunhofer UMSICHT, a German organisation dedicated to furthering applied research.
