I am currently a PhD student at the Energy Safety Research Institute (ESRI) at Swansea University. My research is looking at methods to improve the efficiency of hydrogen production from renewable energy sources, we utilise alkaline electrolysis to split water into its constituent parts, when hydrogen can be stored, and energy can be released as electrical energy, on demand, by a fuel cell.
Energy storage has become a prominent area of research, as the further roll out of renewable energy technologies is dependent on a method of storing energy when there is oversupply, and releasing this store of energy when there are peaks in demand. Technologies need to be able to operate on the Megawatt scale. There are a number of promising technologies under investigation, with alkaline electrolysis being one of them.
My research is focused around developing novel porous electrodes for use in alkaline electrolysis, with the aim of increasing the efficiency of the process, as well as driving down capital costs.