The ENGINEER

Collaborate to Innovate: Award Winner

Collaboration and Innovation

Through its collaboration across seven partners and the integration of heat pumps, fifth generation heat networks, thermal energy storage and Demand Side Management, the BEN project has a solution to two of the most pressing problems now facing engineers:

• how to reduce carbon emissions (to nil) for heating and cooling
• how to reduce (to nil) NO₂ emissions in city centres.

With the addition of a fuel cell calciner demonstrator, which can absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere as it generates electricity, the BEN project has successfully demonstrated the path that can now be taken to a clean energy future.

Collaborate to Innovate Awards: Winner

The ENGINEER has announced that The BEN Project has been shortlisted for the Engineer 'Collaborate to Innovate' Awards 2018 in the Energy and Environment section – and won the award.

The event provides a fascinating snapshot of some of the trends and technologies that are defining modern engineering and also highlights the degree to which industry and academia are collaborating to solve fundamental problems across a variety of sectors.

From the biggest and boldest infrastructure projects to the most fundamental technology breakthroughs, effective collaboration is the lifeblood of engineering innovation, and through The Engineer we aim to uncover and celebrate some of the UK’s most inspiring, innovative and effective collaborative technology projects.

EPSRC is pleased to be a partner with The Engineer on Collaborate to Innovate. The awards recognise all aspects of engineering – from the biggest and boldest infrastructure projects to the most fundamental technology breakthroughs. Effective collaboration is the lifeblood of engineering innovation, and through C2i EPSRC will uncover and celebrate some of the UK's most inspiring, innovative and effective collaborative technology projects.

The competition is open to any collaborative group. Whether a major OEM collaborating with another large business, a tiny academic research group working with an equally tiny university spin-out, or if you're developing innovative technology we want to hear from you. Entry must be innovative, collaborative, and meet a technical challenge related to one of the broad category themes: Academic Innovator; Energy, the Environment & Sustainability; Healthcare & Medical; Information, Data & Connectivity; Defence, Security & Aerospace; Manufacturing Technology; Automotive; Young Innovator.

The 2018 Shortlist for Energy, the Environment and Sustainability

Shortlisted in the Energy and Environment section:

• Agile Power Management Systems for Marine Vessels
  Babcock with WMG, The University of Warwick, Potenza Technology Ltd.
  A new approach to specification and implementation of marine power management capable of interfacing with modern power sources and energy storage.
   
• Bristol STW - A renewable energy ecosystem
  GENeco, with Wessex Engineering and Construction (WECS).
  The only co-located food waste recycling and waste water treatment plant in the UK.
   
• Elephants to Ants: Innovation in Integration
  Createc with RACE (Remote Applications in Challenging Environments) a business unit of UKAEA, RED Engineering, REACT Engineering, OC Robotics and Structure Vision.
  Integrating multiple small robots (‘ants‘) to work together to achieve goals beyond their individual capabilities rather than a large complex ‘one size fits all‘ machine (‘elephant’).
   
• OTHELLO
  Photon Engineers Ltd with Polysolar Ltd, Swansea University, Exeter University, Absotherm Ltd.
  Seeking innovative ways to make use of solar energy by using the properties of cadmium telluride, a material which generates electricity from visible light while allowing the heat to be captured for heating.
   
• Balanced Energy Network (BEN)
  ICAX Ltd with LSBU, Upside Energy, Mixergy, TFGI, Origen Power, Cranfield University.
  A Fifth Generation District Heat Network based on ambient water distribution with a heat pump in each building to extract heat for heating, or reject heat for cooling, balanced by thermal energy storage and Demand Side Management.
   
• Quiet Aerofoils of the Next Generation
  Brunel University of London with Vestas Wind System, Airbus, University of Southampton, University of Nottingham, City University London
   

The Engineer 'Collaborate to Innovate' Winners' Awards Party was held at St Bart's Brewery, Smithfield, London EC1 on 6 November 2018 and the winner was announced as The Balanced Energy Network.

The Engineer then published an article on BEN called Balanced Energy Network decarbonises heating.