One of The University of Nottingham’s (UoN) latest projects includes a £7 million Research Accelerator Demonstration (RAD) building that concentrates on researching geothermal energy – sustainable heat from the earth.
The determined location of the RAD building is within Innovation Park on Jubilee Campus, described as ‘an exemplar of brownfield regeneration’ on the UoN website.
The development of the RAD is part of Energy Research Accelerator (ERA), a £60 million initiative that belongs to Midlands Innovation. The ERA, founded in 2016, is made up of several renowned Midlands Universities such as Loughborough, Warwick, and Birmingham. Through researching new technologies, ERA aims to stop the UK’s carbonisation by 2050, with a group of up to fifty scientists examining the storage of reusable energy in solar panels or wind turbines.
“The determined location of the RAD building is within Innovation Park on Jubilee Campus.”
With UoN undertaking various green initiatives such as its promotion of recycling and its encouragement of sustainable transportation, the RAD will add another approach to solving environmental issues at UoN and in wider Britain.
Whilst concentrating on green research, the RAD will also help to stimulate jobs by funding companies and reducing their carbon dioxide footprint.
Jenika Patel, a UoN student, says: “I think that the RAD is going to be a real benefit to the universities’ contribution to tackle CO2 emissions and [in] raising more awareness about energy challenges”.
“The RAD is expected to be finished a year later in 2018.”
With construction work beginning in March this year, the RAD is expected to be finished a year later in 2018.
Professor Seamus Garvey, who is responsible for UoN’s involvement with the programme, stated that “it’s motivated by the consciousness that we need to stop burning so much coal and gas and, if we’re successful in what we hope to achieve, it’s going to be transformative”.
Pia-Charlotte Schafer
Image: Michael Thomas via Flickr
