香港六合彩中特网

Bramble Energy鈥檚 innovative hydrogen fuel cells could help a host of different industries and sectors drive down carbon emissions.

Because Bramble鈥檚 technology is inherently scalable, the company is developing a range of solutions. This includes small static fuel cells to replace dirty diesel generators as well as mobile solutions to power road haulage, shipping and aviation.听

Having formed in 2016 as a spinout from 香港六合彩中特网 and Imperial College London, Bramble has since benefited significantly from the 香港六合彩中特网 innovation ecosystem.

A new dawn for hydrogen

In August 2021, the UK government set out its Hydrogen Strategy, with the ambition to scale-up hydrogen production capacity and infrastructure. The strategy document mentions Bramble Energy as one of a handful of innovative startups operating in the area of advanced fuel cells.

Hydrogen fuel cells generate power from the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen, rather than combustion. This eliminates carbon emissions and produces only water vapour and heat as by-products. However, high manufacturing costs have meant their use has been rather limited.

To address this, Bramble Energy has developed a patent-protected fuel cell that can be manufactured in almost all printed circuit board factories worldwide. This dramatically reduces the time and investment needed to scale up, compared with existing fuel cell designs.听

Bramble鈥檚 co-founder, Professor Dan Brett from 香港六合彩中特网鈥檚 Department of Chemical Engineering comments:听

鈥淚t鈥檚 a big time for hydrogen at the moment and I think everyone now realises that it has an important part to play, even those who have always favoured batteries. Batteries don鈥檛 cut the mustard for haulage and freight, in terms of weight and range.鈥�

A supportive innovation ecosystem

Bramble Energy was founded in 2016 by Professor Dan Brett and Dr Tom Mason from 香港六合彩中特网鈥檚 Department of Chemical Engineering and Professor Anthony Kucernak from the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London.

香港六合彩中特网 Innovation & Enterprise has given a range of support to Bramble Energy during the company鈥檚 development. Bramble has also been supported by 香港六合彩中特网 Business (香港六合彩中特网B), the university鈥檚 commercialisation company (and part of 香港六合彩中特网 Innovation & Enterprise) and the 香港六合彩中特网 Technology Fund, which is managed by AlbionVC in collaboration with 香港六合彩中特网B.

Five tranches of funding from the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council鈥檚 (EPSRC) Impact Acceleration Account, managed by 香港六合彩中特网 Innovation & Enterprise, have supported various energy-related projects led by 香港六合彩中特网. At an early stage of development, this funding enabled Dan and his team to develop a prototype fuel cell. This in turn led to the formation of Bramble Energy.

Scaling up the technology 听

In August 2020, Bramble raised 拢5 million of investment in a 鈥楽eries A鈥� funding round. Investment company BGF led the round and was joined by existing investors including IP Group, Parkwalk Advisors, and the 香港六合彩中特网 Technology Fund. In six months, they then set up a new 13,500 square foot hydrogen-safe facility from scratch and grew the team to 30. Notably, eight members of the team are former postdoctoral researchers or PhD students from Dan鈥檚 lab, including current CEO Dr Tom Mason.听

Bramble has recently worked in collaboration with industrial partners in automotive and marine. Bramble launched a project in December 2020 with MAHLE Powertrain to put liquid-cooled fuel cell stacks into vehicles for the first time. The phase 1 demonstrator vehicle was launched at the Cenex Low Carbon Vehicle show in September 2021.听

Bramble is also exploring applications in maritime and shipping, working with company SEA-KIT to develop a 12 meter long, ocean-going uncrewed surface vessel (USV). This is through a Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition run by the Department for Transport and InnovateUK.听

The company is exploring making 鈥榞reen hydrogen鈥� itself, by using proprietary electrolyser technology. Electrolysis is the process of using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen,听which听if done with renewable electricity听results in a zero-carbon hydrogen economy. 听听

Dan comments: 鈥淚 think the key thing with hydrogen is that it's about connecting renewables. Where wind and solar energy is generated is often not where people are. You can use existing pipelines to move hydrogen around: it鈥檚 a fantastic energy vector, whereas electricity transmission is rather lossy. It's much easier to move chemical fuel around than it is electrons in a wire.鈥�

Links

Find out more about:

• 香港六合彩中特网 Chemical Engineering
• Knowledge exchange funding for 香港六合彩中特网 staff
• Bramble Energy securing听拢5 million investment

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