From Air to Food: An Integrated Water–Carbon–Food Nexus for Climate Mitigation and Adaptation

Binhong Zhao

This project develops a sustainable Water–Carbon–Food Nexus to jointly address climate change mitigation and adaptation. It compares three food production pathways: (1) conventional vertical farming supplied by established water and energy systems; (2) an integrated system combining direct air capture (DAC), atmospheric water harvesting (AWH), and vertical farming, where captured CO₂ and water support crop production; and (3) CO₂-to-protein production through emerging biological conversion routes. A techno-economic assessment (TEA) will compare their technical performance, resource demands, costs, and system level trade-offs to identify the most viable and sustainable pathway.

Supervisor: Dr. Xiangkun (Elvis) Cao, Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment

Techno-Economic Analysis of CO₂ Capture Retrofit Pathways for UK Biomethane-Producing Anaerobic Digestion Plant

Faiq Realgar Windrasto

The UK biomethane sector vents approximately one million tonnes of biogenic CO₂ to the atmosphere annually from biogas upgrading. This study conducts a Techno-Economic Analysis using a Life Cycle Costing framework to evaluate retrofitting a CO₂ capture unit onto a UK biomethane anaerobic digestion plant. Scenarios assessed against a venting baseline include pharmaceutical and food-grade CO₂ sale, geological storage, and methanation using green and grey hydrogen. Financial and emissions performance are evaluated using a suite of economic and carbon accounting metrics. The findings offer UK AD plant operators a practical economic case for capturing their CO₂ output.

Supervisor: Dr. Rocio A Diaz-Chavez, Centre for Environmental Policy

MXene-Powered Sodium-Ion Batteries

Joshua Baxter

Sodium-ion batteries offer a sustainable alternative to lithium-ion, using abundant, low-cost materials. This project investigates Ti₃C₂Tₓ MXene, a two-dimensional layered material, as a sodium-ion battery anode. Using operando X-ray diffraction at Aarhus University, the structural evolution of the MXene was tracked in real time as sodium ions were inserted and extracted during cycling. Combined with electrochemical testing, electron microscopy and synchrotron studies, the work aims to quantify how sodium is stored within the disordered MXene structure and the irreversibility associated with the first cycle, informing the design of a full sodium-ion cell.

Supervisor 1: Dr. Bidhan Pandit, Department of Materials
Supervisor 2: Dr. Dorthe Ravnsbæk, Aarhus University
Supervisor 3: Dr. Chun Ann Huang, Department of Materials

Can current MBM commercialise CCS in refinery globally 

Punyawat Sangapatoom

Oil refineries are among the most challenging industrial sectors to decarbonise due to high-temperature processes, dispersed emission sources, and retrofit complexities. While carbon capture and storage (CCS) is recognised as a key decarbonisation pathway, limited commercial deployment highlights the challenge of achieving economic viability under current market conditions. This study develops a spatio-temporal techno-economic framework to evaluate the effectiveness of existing market-based mechanisms (MBMs), including carbon pricing, emissions trading systems, carbon contracts for difference, and tax credits, in enabling refinery CCS deployment while assessing the learning-by-doing effect on CCS costs. A Market Viability Index (MVI) is proposed to assess the effectiveness of MBMs in improving CCS investment viability.

Supervisor 1: Dr. Gbemi Oluleye, Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment
Supervisor 2: Elsy Milan, Centre for Environmental Policy

A Techno-Economic, Environmental, and Policy Feasibility Assessment of Biomethanation from Agricultural Residues in the UK

Putu Adika Reswara

UK anaerobic digestion plants upgrade agricultural residues into grid-quality biomethane, but the CO₂ removed in the process is usually sold for food and beverage use or sent to geological storage. This project asks whether that CO₂ could instead be reacted with green hydrogen to make additional biomethane, a process called biomethanation. Built around Future Biogas, the UK's largest producer, a discounted cash flow model finds the gas's minimum selling price and tests how electricity prices, capital costs, and policy support move it. The pathway is then weighed on cost, emissions, and policy against selling the CO₂ or storing it underground.

Supervisor 1: Dr. Rocia A. Diaz-Chavez, Centre for Environmental Policy