Research Subject Area: Environmental Engineering

REF impact found 98 Case Studies

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Advancing Safety of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies: HySAFETY

Summary of the impact

The adoption of hydrogen and fuel cell systems provides one solution to fossil fuel depletion, security of energy supplies and sustainability concerns. However, safety is a key technological barrier to the hydrogen economy. The technological impact of this case study is the adoption of research outcomes, from work undertaken by the Hydrogen Safety Engineering and Research centre (HySAFER), Built Environment Research Institute into international regulations, codes, and standards (namely Commission Regulation (EU) No.406/2010, and the international ISO/TR15916), and development of novel safety strategies, guidance, protocols, and engineering solutions supported by significant external research funding.

Submitting Institution

University of Ulster

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Environmental Engineering, Materials Engineering, Interdisciplinary Engineering

An innovative approach to cooling underground railways through the application of sustainable ground source geothermal engineering.

Summary of the impact

This case study demonstrates how research into ground source geothermal cooling has benefited a public service organisation (London Underground Ltd (LUL)), an international engineering consultancy (Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB)) and the safety and comfort of staff and users of the London Underground.

Impact includes:

  • Implementation of the cooling method at Green Park and Oxford Circus stations in 2012;
  • Inclusion of the cooling approach within LUL's £500m Victoria line upgrade (2013);
  • Additional revenues of £500k (PB) and new contract research for LSBU (£500k);
  • A new commercial capability in design and analysis of ground water cooling (PB);
  • Creation of a specialised professional level post (PB);
  • A 2012 Rail Business Award for environmental innovation (LUL);
  • International adoption and significant interest in the cooling method.

Submitting Institution

London South Bank University

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Environmental Engineering, Interdisciplinary Engineering
Built Environment and Design: Building

10. A novel linear gasifier panel design for underground coal gasification (UCG) under weak roof rock conditions

Summary of the impact

A US$1.5 billion clean coal project at the YiHe Coal Field in Inner Mongolia was established in June 2011 as a joint venture between UK based Seamwell International Ltd and the state-owned China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group. This is the first commercial project to employ the novel "Linear UCG Gasifier" design developed specifically for use under extremely weak underground roof conditions by Durucan, Korre and Shi at Imperial College London. Underground gasification under such conditions is made possible solely because of the novel gasifier design, which has opened up the potential to transform over 720 million tonnes of coal resource, that would otherwise have remained trapped, as a clean coal energy source for the next 20 years.

Submitting Institution

Imperial College London

Unit of Assessment

Aeronautical, Mechanical, Chemical and Manufacturing Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Environmental Engineering, Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy, Interdisciplinary Engineering

Applying solar energy research to the winemaking industry: SOLAR

Summary of the impact

This case study concerns the long term (energy) sustainability of emerging winemaking regions. Underpinning research in energy efficiency and renewable technologies informs the case study in determining energy usage and benchmarks, development of energy guidelines/policy, implementation by national professional bodies and adoption of energy best practice by the local industry. Impact is through the adoption and application of benchmarks by winemaking associations, directly influencing (through policy, regulations and standards) the energy expended in making wine. The study is underpinned by international publishing accolades (Solar Energy `Best Full Length Paper in Photovoltaics', Mondol et al, 2005) and a highly prestigious personal Royal Academy of Engineering Global Research Award to Smyth.

Submitting Institution

University of Ulster

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)
Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences: Horticultural Production
Engineering: Environmental Engineering

Case 6 - Improving national surface water quality using an urban non-point pollution model and supporting database

Summary of the impact

Surface water runoff in urban areas makes a significant contribution to pollution of lakes and rivers, but historically is poorly addressed in catchment models. The School of Geography (SoG) developed a Geographic Information System (GIS) model and supporting database to quantify urban source area loadings of 18 common and priority pollutants. This knowledge improves catchment models and supports impact assessment and mitigation planning by environment managers. The research has been exploited on behalf of the Department for Energy, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Welsh Assembly, and the UK water industry (UK Water Industry Research — UKWIR, and United Utilities). The research has had three distinct impacts: 1) its use addressing EU Water Framework Directive obligations; 2) its on-going influence on construction industry guidance; and 3) the commercialisation of its stormwater pollutant coefficient database for Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) planning software.

Submitting Institution

University of Leeds

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Earth Sciences: Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience
Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Engineering: Environmental Engineering

Changing perspectives and policies in urban drainage practice

Summary of the impact

For over 40 years, the Urban Pollution Research Centre has undertaken pioneering work in understanding the sources, behaviour and fate of urban diffuse pollution and its mitigation using sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS). Relevant impacts claimed here include the adoption of SUDS into UK practice and legislation, the role of SUDS as key components in achieving EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) requirements and the embedding of our research within national best practice guidelines. In response to recent policy drivers, we are collaborating with Arup to commercialise SUDSloc and are informing policy developments in the fields of diffuse pollution mitigation and urban ecosystem services.

Submitting Institution

Middlesex University

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Earth Sciences: Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience
Engineering: Environmental Engineering
Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Changing policy and practice for contaminated land and groundwater

Summary of the impact

Our research on the natural processes that reduce pollutant concentrations in the subsurface has enabled the UK to adopt "Natural Attenuation" as a management policy and has changed professional practice at many contaminated sites. The massively reduced costs of this approach over active clean-up of sites in 2008-13 has saved a minimum of £100M for the UK. Our research has also influenced European practice, saving hundreds of millions of Euros. The beneficiaries are typically chemical industries of all sizes, from refineries to small repackaging plants and petrol station owners, but also local authorities and the State in cases where they would bear the cost of clean-up.

Submitting Institution

University of Sheffield

Unit of Assessment

Civil and Construction Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Other Chemical Sciences
Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Engineering: Environmental Engineering

Copperopolis: Regenerating and Transforming an Industrial Landscape in the Lower Swansea Valley

Summary of the impact

Research on the copper industry by Swansea historians has acted as a catalyst for the regeneration of the former Hafod-Morfa copperworks site in the Lower Swansea Valley. Until recently the abandoned site was associated only with industrial dereliction, but historical research on entrepreneurship, innovation and global trade has galvanised a new public appreciation of its international significance. Since 2010, an extensive programme of public engagement activities has persuaded key partners in local government to adopt an ambitious plan to preserve and present its cultural heritage. The project received national acclaim in Research Council UK's 2011 report on `Big Ideas for the Future', which noted that `The example set by the research in Swansea could be used across the UK' (C1).

Submitting Institution

Swansea University

Unit of Assessment

History

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Earth Sciences: Geochemistry
Engineering: Environmental Engineering, Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy

Developing modelling tools to support integrated catchment management

Summary of the impact

The intensification of food production, fossil fuel combustion and water consumption has led to substantial increases in the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus flushed from land to water. The accumulation of these nutrients in freshwaters, estuaries and the coastal zone has led to reductions in biodiversity, the loss of ecosystem services, and compromised water security. The UK is a signatory to a raft of international conventions and policies which require reductions in the flux of nutrients from land to the water and restoration of ecosystem health and services. To meet these obligations, policymakers need information on the scale of the problem, the sources of nutrients and the effectiveness of intervention measures.

Research in the Unit has directly addressed this need. It has provided robust scientific evidence of the scale of the problem and the sources of nutrient enrichment, and has provided the capability to test intervention and policy scenarios at field to national scales. It has fed directly into the development of monitoring approaches and mitigation measures now in use by the Environment Agency (EA) and Defra, informed the development of UK Government policy in relation to catchment management, and supported compliance with the EU Water Framework Directive, the renegotiation of the Gothenburg Protocol under the International Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, and reporting on discharges of nutrient pollution to the North East Atlantic under the OSPAR Convention.

Submitting Institution

University of Reading

Unit of Assessment

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Earth Sciences: Geochemistry, Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience
Engineering: Environmental Engineering

Enhancing public understanding of nuclear safety issues following the Fukushima nuclear accident

Summary of the impact

This impact case study describes major public communication activities by Professor Jim Smith on the immediate and long-term consequences of the Fukushima accident through radio, television, print and internet media. During the weeks after Fukushima, Smith made a key contribution to the developing scientific understanding of the likely consequences of the accident and to the worldwide dissemination of that understanding. This made a documented improvement to international news agencies' coverage of the event (Evidence 2, 4, 5) and "helped elevate and inform the debate" on the risks and consequences of nuclear power (Evidence 2).

Submitting Institution

University of Portsmouth

Unit of Assessment

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Earth Sciences: Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience
Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Engineering: Environmental Engineering

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