Durham University’s biofuel research looks at the technical aspects of biofuel generation, processing and combustion, across a range of disciplines and international collaborations. But we also recognise that biofuels present societal and environmental challenges and their use can therefore be influenced by societal perceptions and policy direction.

For example: how should societies direct water supplies, how should they allocate crop land, how should changes to traditional lifestyles be considered, and how might biodiversity and its ecosystems be affected by biomass farming?

DEI, therefore, helps Durham’s biofuel research to integrate physical and life science research with considerations of the social, economic and policy dimensions of biofuels in helping the 21^st Century to move from a hydrocarbon to a carbohydrate economy.

Key Research Areas and Projects

Novel biomass sources: how can biomass be grown renewably?

• What land crops can be used for biomass?
• Can macroalgae (seaweeds) be used as marine biomass?

How can biofuels be generated more efficiently from biomass?

• Can we improve chemical biomass pretreatments?
• Can we improve biotechnology pathways to enhance yields?
• Life cycle analysis of algae oil production and processing
• Microalgae modification to produce i) higher lipid yields, ii) better processing routes for lipid extraction, and iii) well defined lipid profiles
• Developing new microbial platforms to manipulate and process seaweed biomass for fermentation and anaerobic digestion
• Enhancing yields of Cellulosic Crops through improved biomass, starch and oil accumulation, quicker growth and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses

Improved biofuel generation technologies: Can we improve the engines that burn biofuels?

• Advanced bio-fuel combustion and emissions analysis in internal combustion engines;
• Biomass and waste gasification with integrated carbon capture and storage;
• Bio-hydrogen production from organic waste;
• Nanoparticles and their influence on improving diesel emissions;
• A study of the characteristics of spray and combustion of sustainable fuels;

Social, economic and policy dimensions of biofuels

1. Market penetration of biofuels: how can biofuels be made economically viable?
2. Life cycle analysis of biofuels;
3. Community responses to biofuels, including attitudes to GM in biofuel
4. Investment decisions at household, community and national levels
5. Governance of biofuels and structures shaping adoption of biofuels
6. Transnational ethics and intellectual property issues
7. Biofuels as socio-technical systems – investigating how and why some biofuels fail as technologies while others succeed
8. Developing pathways for biofuels: governing energy technologies in transition.
9. Biofuels ethics and potential for Transport

Featured Projects

• The characterisation and development of “green” ionic liquid solvents for algal-based biofuel generation (PhD in Global Challenges CDT, Akanksha Agrawal, Supervisor- Dr John H. Bothwell)
• Decarbonising Heating and Cooling research group.
• Sargazo: This GS-STAR funded project looks at how harmful algal blooms in the Caribbean may be ensiled for biofuel generation (John Bothwell)
• H-DisNet (https://www.h-disnet.eu/) : This project used biofuels and other renewable energy sources to power a combined heat and power system and a thermo-chemical heating network.
• Potential use of heather, Calluna vulgaris, as a bioenergy crop(PI Prof Fred Worrall). More information on the project findings.
• Macroalgae Biogas for the Isle of Manassessed the growth of microalgae in four key sea zone areas around the IoM coastline and undertake technological feasibility studies to address public acceptability and stakeholder perceptions of using this to generate biogas for the local domestic gas market.
• MacroBioCrude(2013 – 2018): The EPSRC-funded £1.6M project is looking at the gasification of preserved macroalgae and ensiling seaweeds to convert wet seaweed into a more energy-dense fuel source (PI Phil Dyer, Chris Greenwell).
• SuBBSea: This BBSRC-funded project is pioneering selective non-GM breeding studies as part of RCUK’s Anglo-Indian initiative, to improve the composition of seaweed feedstocks. We’re also developing new microbial platforms to manipulate and process seaweed biomass for fermentation and anaerobic digestion (John Bothwell).
• Energetic Algae: The EU-funded project links with European partners to look at the environmental and societal issues that surround seaweed cultivation in NW Europe.

Key Researchers

Featured Publications

• Roy, S., Ling-Chin, J., Bohl, T., Giampieri, A., Smallbone, A., Roskilly, A. (2021) Biodiesel: Emissions and Control, Challenges, Potential and Prospects, Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, Elsevier
• Roy, Sumit, Parsi, Pranay Kumar, Kotha, R. Sreeram, Barman, Sanmitra, Vinayak, Kalluri, Roy, Mili Mitra & Banerjee, Rahul (2020). Effective utilisation of waste cooking oil in a single-cylinder diesel engine using alumina nanoparticles. Sustainable Energy & Fuels
• Worrall, Fred, Boothroyd, Ian M., Gardner, Rosie L., Howden, Nicholas J.K., Burt, Tim P., Smith, Richard, Mitchell, Lucy, Kohler, Tim & Gregg, Ruth (2019). The impact of peatland restoration on local climate – restoration of a cool humid island. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 124(6): 1696-1713.
• Lamidi, R.O.; Jiang, L.; Wang, Y.; Pathare, P.B.; Aguilar, M.C.; Wang, R.; Eshoul, N.M.; Roskilly, A.P. (2019) Techno-Economic Analysis of a Cogeneration System for Post-Harvest Loss Reduction: A Case Study in Sub-Saharan Rural Community Energies2019, 12(5), 872; 
• Zhang, Y. Lu, A.P. Roskilly, (2019) Comparative study of using multi-wall carbon nanotube and two different sizes of cerium oxide nanopowders as fuel additives under various diesel engine conditions, Fuel, 256 115904.
• Zhang, Y. Lu, A.P. Roskilly, (2019) Investigation of the macroscopic characteristics of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) spray using CFD method, Fuel, 237 28-39.
• Zhang, L. Chen, Y. Lu, A.P. Roskilly, (2019) Lean ignition and blow-off behaviour of butyl butyrate and ethanol blends in a gas turbine combustor, Fuel, 239 1351-1362.
• Chen, G. Li, D. Huang, Z. Zhang, Y. Lu, A.P. Roskilly, (2019) Experimental and numerical study on the initial tip structure evolution of diesel fuel spray under various injection and ambient pressures, Energy, 186 115867.
• Zhichao Zhang, Yiji Lu, Anthony Paul Roskilly, Xiaoli Yu, Yaodong Wang, Andrew Smallbone, (2019) Investigation of the macroscopic characteristics of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) spray using CFD method, Fuel, Volume 237, 2019, Pages 28-39
• Chen, X.-P., Wang, Y.-D. & Wu, Q.-M. (2019). A bio-fuel power generation system with hybrid energy storage under a dynamic programming operation strategy. IEEE Access7: 64966-64977.
• Nair, Manu J, Pahuja, Vaibhav, Suvesh, P. & Roy, Sumit (2018), Evaluation of Emission Characteristics of Green Diesel in A Single Cylinder CI Engine, 2018 2nd IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics, Intelligent Control and Energy Systems (ICPEICES). 1205.
• Gupta, Archit, Agarwal, Siddhartha, Aggarwal, Gianeshwar & Roy, Sumit (2018), Evaluation of Emission and Performance Characteristics of Different Biodiesel Blends with Varying FIP on a Single Cylinder CI Engine, 2018 2nd IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics, Intelligent Control and Energy Systems (ICPEICES). 944.
• M. Zealand, A.P. Roskilly, D.W. Graham, (2017) Effect of feeding frequency and organic loading rate on biomethane production in the anaerobic digestion of rice straw, Applied Energy, Volume 207, 2017, Pages 156-165,
• Chen, Z. Zhang, Y. Lu, A.P. Roskilly, (2017) Experimental study of the gaseous and particulate matter emissions from a gas turbine combustor burning butyl butyrate and ethanol blends, Applied Energy, 195 693-701.
• Banerjee, Rahul, Debbarma, Bishop, Roy, Sumit, Chakraborti, Prasun & Bose, Probir Kumar (2016). An experimental investigation on the potential of hydrogen–biohol synergy in the performance-emission trade-off paradigm of a diesel engine. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy41(5): 3712.
• Amit Bhave, Richard H.S. Taylor, Paul Fennell, William R. Livingston, Nilay Shah, Niall Mac Dowell, John Dennis, Markus Kraft, Mohammed Pourkashanian, Mathieu Insa, Jenny Jones, Nigel Burdett, Ausilio Bauen, Corinne Beal, Andrew Smallbone, Jethro Akroyd, (2017) Screening and techno-economic assessment of biomass-based power generation with CCS technologies to meet 2050 CO2 targets, Applied Energy, Volume 190, 2017, Pages 481-489 [Included by the International Committee on Climate Change report]
• Trivedi, Nitin, Baghel, Ravi S.,Bothwell, John, Gupta, Vishal, Reddy, C.R.K., Lali, Arvind M. & Jha, Bhavanath (2016). An integrated process for the extraction of fuel and chemicals from marine macroalgal biomass. Scientific Reports 6(1): 30728.
• Milledge, John J.and Smith, Benjamin and Dyer, Philip W. and Harvey, Patricia (2014) 'Macroalgae-derived biofuel : a review of methods of energy extraction from seaweed biomass.', , 7 (11). pp. 7194-7222.