Hydrogen

Why is hydrogen important?

Hydrogen could be used in place of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are needed to power our heavy industries, heat our homes and power our transport but they are responsible for four-fifths of global greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrogen when burned only emits water making it a valuable tool in the UK’s transition to net-zero by 2050.

Hydrogen can be stored, liquified and transported via pipelines, trucks or ships. And it can be used to make fertiliser, fuel vehicles, heat homes, generate electricity or drive heavy industry.

Advancing hydrogen R&D

There has been a bottleneck in hydrogen utilisation research in the UK due to a lack of pilot-scale testing facilities. The specialist hydrogen R&D facilities in the newly-built Translational Energy Research Centre, at The University of Sheffield, can alleviate this bottleneck by enabling the rapid transition of fundamental research into market-ready products.”

Mohamed Pourkashanian, Director of the Energy Institute and Member of the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDC) Advisory Committee.

Supporting the hydrogen economy

Our expertise

Hydrogen production and utilisation
Fuel switching to decarbonise heavy industry
Hydrogen fuels for sustainable aviation transport
Nuclear SMRs for hydrogen production
Hydrogen supply chains
Health and safety for hydrogen implementation and use

Our networks and knowledge sharing

UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre

The University of Sheffield is host to the UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre (UKCCSRC). The UKCCSRC is facilitating research into the affordable and sustainable production of green hydrogen and how green hydrogen can be used to decarbonise heating, transport and industrial clusters.

International Flame Research Foundation

The University of Sheffield is also host to the International Flame Research Foundation (IFRF) a worldwide network of combustion and energy specialists. The network connects members to knowledge exchange activities, combustion research information and business opportunities. In particular, the IFRF focuses on hydrogen fuel switching research to support the decarbonisation of industry.

Available at our facilities

Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell
Electrolyser for green hydrogen
PEM fuel cell
Hydrogen Combustion Research Facility (HCRF)
Hydrogen-powered gas turbine
Multi-parameter fuel cell test station
Pyrolysis and gasification of biomass and agricultural waste for green hydrogen production
Blended and pure hydrogen for use in domestic heating
Biomethanisation of CO2 in anaerobic digestion plants
High performance metal-based hydrogen storage materials

mohamed pourkashanian stands next to the new fuel cell which is a sat on a pallet at terc — Professor Mohamed Pourkashanian, Director of the Energy Institute

World-class hydrogen facilities

Translational Energy Research Centre

The Translational Energy Research Centre is a new £21 million, national-scale research facility, part-funded by BEIS and the European Regional Development Fund, which enables researchers and industry partners to develop and test hydrogen and other low carbon technologies at pilot scale.

The facility can produce, store and utilise hydrogen through its state-of-the-art equipment and flexible energy management system. In particular, its expertise can support industrial decarbonisation via hydrogen fuel switching research using a state-of-the-art hydrogen-fired 300kW combustion test rig, and research into hydrogen as a sustainable aviation fuel.

The equipment at the Translational Energy Research Centre can be used to enable the design of hydrogen burners, and can assess hydrogen combustion performance and emission using laser diagnostic facilities. It also includes a hydrogen-operated microturbine which supports research into hydrogen heating systems.

Visit facility website

AMRC and Nuclear AMRC

Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre

The AMRC specialises in carrying out world-leading research into advanced machining, manufacturing and materials, which is of practical use to industry. This includes researching the manufacturing optimisation and scale up of hydrogen electric propulsion systems. Visit facility website

Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre

Nuclear power can hold the key to an affordable low-carbon hydrogen economy. Fission’s reliable supply of heat and electricity makes it the ideal power source for sustainable hydrogen production. The Nuclear AMRC is a collaboration of academic and industrial partners from across the nuclear supply chain, with the mission of driving innovation and helping UK manufacturers win work at home and worldwide. Visit facility website

Hydrogen research projects

H2H Saltend, one of the world’s first full-scale low-carbon hydrogen production plants, which will be the initial focus of the Zero Carbon Humber Partnership

Building the world's first net zero industrial cluster

The University of Sheffield Energy Institute, AMRC and Nuclear AMRC are supporting a major new project to decarbonise the industrial cluster around the Humber and help UK manufacturers win work in emerging low-carbon sectors including hydrogen fuels and carbon capture.

Generating hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuels with Drax

Researchers from the University of Sheffield Energy Institute are set to work with the Drax power station to generate hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuels from biomass gasification and carbon capture as part of a £20m UKRI-funded project.

Removing barriers to low carbon transport

We are removing the barriers to the adoption of low carbon, synthetic fuel to enable the aviation industry to meet climate goals. And for surface transport, we are investigating how different places can be rapidly switched to low carbon transport systems.

Developing catalysts for zero-emission fuel cell technology

Researchers from the University of Sheffield and Kyushu University in Japan are developing catalysts for zero-emissions technology in hydrogen fuel cells, which have potential to be deployed in the automotive and power plant industry.

a man points at a screen with data — Software modelling will better ensure the safety of future nuclear reactors.

Electrons to High Value Chemical Products

The E2C (electrons to chemicals) project aims to build two highly flexible pilot demonstrators will be built for conversion of CO2 with renewable energy and hydrogen to fuels and platform chemicals.

Decarbonising the glass industry: cleaner fuels, cleaner glass

Glass products feature in every part of our lives, from housing to broadband to food and drink. To make the manufacturing of glass carbon-free, our researchers are working with not-for-profit research and technology organisation Glass Futures.

New £1.26 million study to decarbonise the steel industry

Hydrogen is considered one of the best hopes for reducing the carbon footprint of steel. Scientists at the Universities of Sheffield and Leeds have secured funding to investigate ways the UK steel industry can be decarbonised within 30 years. The team will use new Energy Institute facilities to perform pilot scale experiments.