As oil prices begin to rise and exploration of the North Sea yields promising results, investment is returning to the area, in particular, with two large projects from energy big hitters BP and Centrica. These firms are injecting new life into this area by drilling new wells in mature fields and exploring new fields. Although there are environmental concerns about greatly increasing production from this area, this increased investment is predicted to be just the start in a return to interest in the North Sea.

Aviation produces 2% of the world’s human-induced carbon dioxide emissions and the demand for air travel is predicted to double over the next 20 years. As such, the industry is desperately looking for new ways to reduce their emissions, along with the energy generating industry itself, and this has spurred an interest in biomass-derived jet fuels. Although many different plant materials can be used to produce this fuel, researchers at the University of Illinois are working on engineering sugarcane to make it a high yielding, resilient crop ideal for producing far more energy than it takes to make.

With such ambitious carbon reduction targets, the UK is coming under increasing pressure to find new and innovative ways to decarbonise the way we generate heat, store energy and transport people and goods. To this end, Newcastle University, Northern Gas Networks (NGN) and Northern Powergrid have launched InTEGReL – Integrated Transport Electricity Gas Research Laboratory – to bring together the best minds to work collaboratively to develop new energy generating technology and create new types of batteries, find better ways to use hydrogen and widen the use of CNG (compressed natural gas) in transport.

Recent breakthroughs in the world of biofuel could negate many of the drawbacks of using it. As a far more sustainable and environmentally friendly fuel, it seems strange that biofuel is not more popular but the way biofuels are currently produced makes them a less viable option. Despite this, companies including aviation companies are looking into ways to use biofuels to make their operations more environmentally friendly. This comes amid forecasts by the International Energy Agency that the supply of fossil fuels may struggle to meet demand in coming years. Fortunately, scientists from Queen’s University in Belfast and ExxonMobil may have found solutions to the current problems.