The UK’s Cranfield University has received its largest ever research grant to date, with a £69 million ($87 million) investment allocated to create the Cranfield Hydrogen Integration Incubator (CH2i).
The University’s new funding will be used to ‘spearhead the research and development of the first major hydrogen technology hub to demonstrate the potential of hydrogen as a net zero aviation fuel’. £23 million ($29 million) comes from Research England’s Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF), with a further £46 million ($33 million) committed from industry partners and academic institutions.
Professor Karen Holford, chief executive and vice-chancellor of Cranfield University, described the investment as “game-changing,” adding: “CH2i will integrate with other large industry areas at Cranfield including our novel hydrogen production programmes and our Aerospace Integration Research Centre and the Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre”. She also confirmed that the University and its research partners plan to “unlock some of the most significant technical challenges around the future development and deployment of hydrogen in aviation”.
Through connecting and expanding existing facilities at the campus, the CH2i facility will include three large infrastructure elements, including a hydrogen integration research centre and two separate test bed facilities.
“The consortium will bring a ‘systems engineering’ approach, accelerating the integration of hydrogen into airports and aerospace propulsion and delivering next generation technologies,” added Professor Dame Helen Atkinson, co-principal investigator of CH2i and pro-vice-chancellor and head of the school for aerospace, transport and manufacturing and materials.
Cranfield University receives £69 million in hydrogen funding
