News
2 May 2014 - Invention Awards 2014: A Cryogenic Engine Powered by Heat
Right now, as many as 250,000 semi-trucks are hauling refrigerated trailers full of frozen foods, fresh vegetables, and other perishable goods along U.S. roads. Yet such vehicles burn about 25 percent more fuel than unrefrigerated trucks.
At fault is what industry buffs call forgotten polluters: auxiliary “donkey” engines that chill a trailer’s cargo and cumulatively emit unknown tons of carbon and pollutants each year.
29 April 2014 - New Energy & Cleantech Awards company seeks to cut transport emissions
The seventh annual New Energy & Cleantech Awards, to be held on April 30, will see clean energy companies looking for growth finance present to an investor audience.
For the second consecutive year a cleantech forum will precede the evening awards ceremony. Each company will tell the crowd why they are an attractive investment opportunity in a 15 minute pitch.
Jeremy North, chairman of The Dearman Engine Company, one of the presenting companies, tells Blue & Green Tomorrow about the business.
Liquid air and the Dearman Engine Company (DEC) have had a good month. DEC received another major government grant, while liquid air was included in both the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC) low-carbon roadmap and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ latest report, Energy Storage: The Missing Link in the UK’s Energy Commitments.
22 April 2014 - Transport Engineer, 'Dearman consortium gets £1.9m TSB engine development award'
A consortium led by the Dearman Engine Company has been awarded £1.9 million in the latest round of IDP10 (low-carbon vehicle) funding from the Technology Strategy Board to support the development of its heat-recovery system for urban commercial vehicles.
Toby Peters, founder and CEO of the Dearman Engine Company, claims that his innovative technology offers fuel savings of up to 25%, and lifecycle CO2 savings of up to 40%.
15 April 2014 - Gasworld, 'Report highlights liquid air as key to reducing emissions'
A new report from the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC) has highlighted the potential of liquid air to help the road transport industry reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases.
In Europe, UK-based Dearman Engine Company is at the forefront of pioneering work on developing liquid air (liquid nitrogen) as a practical and realistic way to reduce emissions from commercial transport vehicles.
14 April 2014 - Commercial Vehicle Engineer, 'Trials breathe fresh life into liquid-air engines'
Practical applicatinos of "liquid-air engines" in road transport look set to move several steps closer as a result of trials being run at Imperial College, London and at MIRA (formerly the Motor Industry Research Association) test centre and proving ground near Nuneaton, Warwickshire.
A new report suggest that liquid air holds great potential in helping to reduce emissions of greenhouses gases from road transport.
While most of the focus in the development of alternative fuel transport options has focused on electrifying drivetrains and hydrogen fuel cells, liquid air boasts many advantages over both according to a new study from the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC).
10 April 2014 - IMechE, 'Energy Storage: The missing link in the UK's energy commitments'
The idea of nitrogen as a transport fuel is not new. Scientists first liquefied nitrogen in 1883, and within 20 years the Liquid Air Car Company had produced a vehicle that would run on it. But the idea never took off. While various prototypes were produced over the years, the engine was always very inefficient and was soon eclipsed by the ICE. In principle, any piston-type engine can be made to run on compressed air or nitrogen but, until recently, there were few engines which were dedicated to run on these energy vectors. This changed in the early 2000s with the development of the Dearman engine, which uses a patented, novel and far more efficient approach.
30 March 2014 - ERTRAC, 'Energy Carriers for Powertrains'
Liquid Air is an adaptable energy vector which can be created and consumed using traditional mechanical engineering technologies, stored safely in un-pressurized containers, and made from a free abundant raw material. It can be used in many applications to improve or replace existing transport solutions and deployed at electricity grid scale for balancing the supply and demand from inherently intermittent renewable energy generation.
6 February 2014, Engine Technology International - World's first liquid air engine on schedule
The world's first liquid air engine - designed to provide the power for refrigerated trailer applications - is on track to undertake full on-vehicle testing by the summer of 2014, according to Dearman Engine, the manufacturer behind the concept.
4 February 2014, Gas 2 - Liquid Air Engine To Begin Trials Soon
Here's a new one for you; an engine that can run on the stream produced by boiling liquid nitrogen. The Dearman Engine Company is set to begin trials this summer on a revolutionary zero emissions engine that uses liquid air as fuel. It’s a new idea on an old concept, and it has a tremendous amount of promise.
The world's first liquid air engine will take a big step closer to reality this summer when U.K.-based Dearman Engine Company begins full-on vehicle testing of its Dearman heat engine.
23 January 2014, MICEBTN - Zero emissions engine closer
A zero-emissions engine that runs on liquid nitrogen is on track for testing this northern summer.
21 January 2014, Transport Engineer - World's first liquid air engine is on schedule
A revolutionary zero-emission engine that could also save temperature-controlled truck operators thousands of pounds in fuel is on track to undertake on-vehicle testing this summer.
21 January 2014, Fleetpoint - Revolutionary zero-emission engine 'could save fleets thousands'
A revolutionary new zero-emission engine could save truck operators thousands of pounds in fuel costs, it has been claimed.
20 January 2014, Automotive World - Liquid air CV potential
Liquid air is currently having its moment and is now widely recognised as a zero-emissions transport fuel. Developed by British inventor Peter Dearman over 30 years in a garage-turned-workshop in Hertfordshire, the liquid air engine was noticed by Toby Peters, the Chief Executive and Founding Director of Dearman Engine.
The UK developed Dearman engine, which runs on liquid air (liquid nitrogen) is on track to undertake full on-vehicle testing by the summer of 2014.
17 January 2014, Gas World - World's first on schedule
A revolutionary new zero-emission engine could save truck operators thousands of pounds in fuel costs and the environment millions of tonnes in emissions through new cool chain systems for food distribution and in motive power applications.
The Dearman liquid air engine - an innovative heat engine that uses liquid air (or liquid nitrogen) as a "fuel" and emits cold air as exhaust - completed its shakedown testing milestone at the end of 2013 at Imperial College, London, and is moving into a three-month program of tests and performance mapping.
A breakfast seminar, hosted by Dearman Engine and focusing on "Liquid air - zero-emission power and cooling for the transport sector?" has been scheduled for Automotive World's Megatrends India '14, which takes place in Chennai on 25 February 2014.
17 December 2013, Automotive World Megatrends Magazine - The internal steam engine
It took Peter Dearman 30 years to develop his liquid air engine, tucked away in a tiny garage workshop in Hertfordshire, UK. But it only took Toby Peters, the Chief Executive of the Dearman Engine company, a tiny fraction of that time to decide that he wanted in. Not letting his initial excitement get the best of him, Peters took the technology to the University of Leeds to see if the science stacked up. Delighted with the positive results, he and Dearman teamed up and the Dearman Engine Company was born.
23 October 2013, Build Green - Liquid air technology to boost renewables
The report, “Liquid Air Technologies – a guide to the potential”, launched in the British Parliament yesterday shows how liquid air could help balance an electricity grid increasingly dominated by discontinuous renewables. Liquid air technology could also provide an energy storage, reduce CO2 and convert waste heat into usable energy.
22 October 2013, Gasworld - Liquid air's "huge potential" highlighted
Liquid air technologies could help Britain tackle some of its toughest energy challenges, says a new report launched at Parliament today (22nd October).
The report, “Liquid Air Technologies – a guide to the potential”, shows how liquid air could help balance an electricity grid increasingly dominated by intermittent renewables; provide strategic energy storage to keep the lights on; sharply reduce CO2 and tail-pipe emissions from vehicles; and convert low grade waste heat into usable energy throughout the economy.
22 October 2013, Click Green - Liquid air technology could boost the role of renewable energy
Liquid air technologies could help Britain tackle some of its toughest energy challenges, says a new report launched at Parliament today.
The report, “Liquid Air Technologies – a guide to the potential”, shows how liquid air could help balance an electricity grid increasingly dominated by intermittent renewables; provide strategic energy storage to keep the lights on; sharply reduce CO2 and tail-pipe emissions from vehicles; and convert low grade waste heat into usable energy throughout the economy.
1 October 2013, Gasworld - Government funds liquid air engine test
The dream of having an engine fuelled by liquid air could soon become reality after the Government funds the world’s first commercial vehicle demonstration. A consortium of the Dearman Engine Company (DEC), MIRA, Air Products and Loughborough University has won an IDP8 grant from the Technology Strategy Board, the UK’s innovation agency, to build and test a liquid air engine fitted in a commercial vehicle.
07 September, Energy Live News - No trucking way! Frozen air to power commercial van
The power of frozen air is to be harnessed in trucks - in an engine containing liquid nitrogen.
Last week its developers won a grant from the Technology Strategy Board, the UK's innovation agency, to build and test their liquid air engine fitted in a commercial vehicle.
06 September, Automotive Purchasing Magazine - Review of technology at LCV show 2013
The Low Carbon Vehicle Show 2013 showcased a range of new technology from a number of leading UK sources to demonstrate the sustainability of a future automotive industry.
For example, Dearman Engine Company Limited, Ricardo, E4tech, MIRA and leading UK academic and research institutions have received government funding to develop a zero emission, piston engine that runs on a common industrial product, liquid air (or liquid nitrogen).
05 September, Gasworld - Government funds world's first Liquid Air engine test
The dream of having an engine fuelled by liquid air could soon become reality after the Government funds the world's first commercial vehicle demonstration.
A consortium of the Dearman Engine Company (DEC), MIRA, Air Products and Loughborough University has won an IDP8[1]grant from the Technology Strategy Board, the UK's innovation agency, to build and test a liquid air engine fitted in a commercial vehicle.
04 September, Institution of Mechanical Engineers - Liquid air engine set for road tests
A liquid air engine will be fitted and tested in a refrigerated vehicle thanks to a grant from the Technology Strategy Board.
The project will demonstrate the Dearman Engine, an innovative heat exchange engine which uses liquid nitrogen as a fuel. The engine will provide zero-emission cooling and power.
A consortium has won an IDP8 grant from the Technology Strategy Board to build and test a liquid air engine fitted in a commercial vehicle.
The project will demonstrate the Dearman Engine - an innovative heat engine that uses liquid nitrogen as a 'fuel' - on a refrigerated truck providing zero-emission cooling and power during 2014.
A consortium of the Dearman Engine Company (DEC), Loughborough University, MIRA and Air Products has won funding from the Technology Strategy Board to build and test a liquid air engine fitted in a commercial vehicle.
The project will demonstrate throughout 2014 the Dearman Engine – an innovative heat engine that uses liquid nitrogen as a fuel – on a refrigerated truck providing zero-emission cooling and power. An Industrial Advisory Board representing fleet operators will advise the consortium partners and review the benefits of the technology to their fleets.
Minister for universities and science, David Willetts, said: ‘For Britain to get ahead in the global race we have to back emerging technologies and ensure our universities have the latest equipment. This capital investment will help scientists make new discoveries and take their research through to commercial success. It will drive growth and support the government’s industrial strategy.’
The University of Birmingham has won a £6m grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to create a new Centre for Cryogenic Energy Storage. The ‘liquid air’ technology could revolutionise the storage of energy, reducing the costs of integrating intermittent generation into the electricity system and ensuring power is available when it is most needed.
This funding is part of an investment of £85 million to support university research announced today (17 July 2013) by David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science.
8 July 2013, Motoring.co.uk - New Liquid Air Fuel Could Power Cars
The Centre For Low Carbon Futures has revealed that liquid air could power cars in the future.
2 July 2013, Professional Engineering - Solid future for liquid air
With two companies working on liquid air engines, the technology is gearing up to become a viable option in the low-emission vehicle stakes.
As a teenager in the 1960s, Peter Dearman wondered what the world would do without oil, and he had the idea of using cold as a store of energy. He read up about liquid nitrogen in the Encyclopedia Britannica, and worked out a way to harvest energy from the stuff.
July 2013, Gasworld - Liquid air - Nitrogen economy or false economy?
As liquid air continues to gather pace and plaudits, gasworld looks at its feasibility, at the heart of which are industrial gases and expertise.
If it takes off as hoped, a nitrogen economy could not only help to decarbonise energy supply, but could also be the stimulus for an even more prosperous industrial gases business. With the industry essentially at the heart of this new energy frontier, what is its response to liquid air?
July 2013, Euroasia industry - Cool Runnings
Faced with an uncertain environmental future, industry has to adapt and innovate as its dependence on conventional power supplies and fuelling methods are pushed to the limit. One innovation that could play a crucial role in facilitating decarbonised future is Liquid Air technology – an environmentally friendly “cryo-power” pioneered by British inventor, Peter Dearman. Euroasia Industry’s Leonard Owen speaks to Toby Peters, CEO of the Dearman Engine Company, and Professor Richard Williams, Head of the College of Engineering & Physical Sciences at the University of Birmingham, for their views on how Liquid Air could be developed to meet future power and vehicular needs.
12 June 2013, Financial Times - UK warms to cryogenic energy stores
According to researchers from Imperial College London, if this electricity could be efficiently stored for use later, the UK energy industry could save £10bn a year by 2050.
It is not surprising, then, that the UK government is encouraging companies to address this challenge. A competition has been organised by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), offering £17m in support funding to be split among small engineering companies that can develop electricity storage systems.
June 2013, The Energy Industry Times - The answer is in the air
Balancing supply and demand in grids that are having to accommodate an increasing amount of intermittent renewable generation, such as wind and solar, is one of the major technical challenges facing today’s power sector.
2 June 2013, Tehran Times - Liquid Air - the future of motoring?
The Dearman engine is able to scavenge large amounts of this low-level waste heat, which brings the potential of hybrid applications with conventional engines. There is also the possibility of using the Dearman engine in hybrid applications in buses, scavenging the cabin heat from passengers, or in refrigerated vehicles, where the energy from the hot food cooling in the back can help drive the vehicle. Machines working in mines where getting rid of heat is a problem are also a potential market.
31 May 2013, The Telegraph - Liquid Air - the future of motoring?
Certainly the idea has potential. Just one litre of viscous blue cryogenic liquid air, stored in a vacuum flask is the equivalent of 700 litres of atmospheric air. On release the liquid quickly boils, expands by 700 per cent and returns harmlessly back to the atmosphere. It's that expansion that can be used to drive turbines, or piston engines such as the Dearman Engine. "Engineers like that expansion," says Colin Garner, Professor of Applied Thermodynamics at Loughborough University, "they can do things with that."
23 May 2013, Gasworld - Messer supports liquid air study.
Industrial gases specialist Messer has supported a study of energy storage using liquid air, which was presented by the UK’s Centre for Low Carbon Futures (CLCF) at a conference in London earlier this month.
22 May 2013, H&V News - UK could be world leader in liquid air energy storage.
A white paper and conference has explored the potential of liquid air to resolve a number of issues relating to effective energy storage.
20 May 2013, MIT Technology Review - Liquid Air Could Power Cars and Store Energy from Sun and Wind.
Some engineers are dusting off an old idea for storing energy—using electricity to liquefy air by cooling it down to nearly 200 °C below zero. When power is needed, the liquefied air is allowed to warm up and expand to drive a steam turbine and generator.
17 May 2013, Your Renewable News - Liquid air could unlock £1bn industry
Construction of Britain’s first commercial-scale liquid air energy storage plant could begin this year after the government revealed the winners of its new technology competition.
Professor Richard Williams discusses the potential of Liquid Air Energy on Sky News
12 May 2013, GasWorld - Two liquid air projects through to feasibility stage of competition
Highview Power Storage, an award-winning UK developer of utility scale liquid air energy storage technologies, has had two multi-MW projects successfully put through to the feasibility stage of DECC’s Energy Storage Technology Demonstration Competition.
The news comes in the same week that a major new report from business and academic experts highlighted the ‘critical role’ that liquid air could play in Britain’s low carbon energy future.
10 May 2013, The Engineer - First commercial liquid air plant among UK competition winners
Construction of Britain’s first commercial-scale liquid air energy storage plant could begin this year after the government revealed the winners of its new technology competition.
The announcement that two liquid air-based facilities are among the 12 projects to share £500,000 for feasibility studies into a range of energy storage systems comes as a new report argues cryogenic technology could create a £1bn industry and 22,000 jobs in the UK.
10 May 2013, GasWorld - Liquid Air could unlock 1bn business and 22,000 UK jobs
Liquid air is a proven energy storage technology that could play a critical role in Britain’s low carbon energy future, according to a major new report from business and academic experts.
10 May 2013, E2B - Liquid air could boost UK energy security, help decarbonise transport
A report by the Carbon for Low Carbon Futures (CLCF), has highlighted the use of liquid air could increase the energy security of the UK, while cutting greenhouse gas emission and creating a storage industry worth approximately £1 billion, with 22,000 new jobs.
10 May 2013, GasWorld - Liquid Air Explained
With the launch of a new report highlighting the potential of liquid air as an energy storage technology, there are bold predictions about energy security and prospects for UK industry.
10 May 2013, Bloomberg - Renewable Power Could Be Stored as Liquid Air, U.K. Lobby Says
Turning air into liquid using surplus energy from wind and solar could be a way to store power from intermittent sources and open up an industry worth 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) a year to the U.K., a report showed.
The report, Liquid Air in the energy and transport systems: Opportunities for industry and innovation in the UK is the culmination of a six-month study on the potential of liquid air as a new and sustainable energy vector. Organized by the Centre for Low Carbon Futures, the work was conducted by a collaboration including industrial partners Arup, Dearman Engine Company, E4 Tech, Highview, Messer Group and Ricardo, as well as academics from the Universities of Leeds, Birmingham, Strathclyde, Brighton and Imperial College London.
10 May 2013, reNews - Liquid air on storage menu
Liquid air technologies could strengthen the UK’s energy security by providing power storage for surplus renewables, according to a report by the Centre for Low Carbon Futures.
The group said liquid air would cut greenhouse gas emissions and create a new industry worth at least £1bn a year in the UK by 2050, as well as creating 20,000 jobs.
10 May 2013, Plant Engineer - Liquefied air to generate commercial scale electricity
A consortium comprising National Grid, Costain and Highview Power Storage is expected to build the UK's first grid scale liquid air energy storage plant.
10 May 2013, ARUP - Liquid air could unlock £1bn industry
Liquid air is a proven energy storage technology that could play a critical role in Britain’s low carbon energy future, according to a major new report from business and academic experts.
A new new forum for the advocacy and development of liquid air as an alternative technology to harness waste and surplus energy within power and transport—the Liquid Air Energy Network (LAEN)—has formed in the UK.
10 May 2013, Power-technology.com - Liquid air technology will boost UK’s energy security, says report
Turning air into liquid for grid-based energy storage could increase the UK's energy security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create a new industry worth £1bn, according to a new report published by the Centre for Low Carbon Futures (CLCF).
10 May 2013, Electric.co.uk - Liquid Air Energy Storage Could Be an Economy Saver in the UK
Reports show that one gasometer tank of liquid air would produce enough energy to cover 5GW of lost wind power for close to three hours. This would be the same as saying that it can cover close to 10 percent of the UK’s peak energy needs. In short, this energy could help keep the lights on all across the UK.
10 May 2013, Royal Academy of Engineering - Liquid air energy - a new industry for the UK?
The Academy hosted a discussion meeting yesterday on the potential of using liquid air as a new and sustainable vector for both energy storage and transport, attended by academics, industrialists and investors in the energy field.
10 May 2013, UKERC - Liquid Air Energy Network (LAEN) formed in the UK
LAEN which was an outcome of the report, will serve as the global hub where new ideas are demonstrated and shared, and promote liquid air as a potential energy solution among researchers, technology developers, manufacturers, energy producers and consumers, and government.
The Centre for Low Carbon Futures has launched a report showing that air could potentially be turned into liquid as a means of storing power from renewable energy generators.
The new technique could create an energy storage industry worth £1 billion ($1.6 billion) per year to the UK economy and would fundamentally address the problem of energy storage for renewable technologies. As many as 22,000 jobs could be created by 2050.
April edition, ATSE Focus - Is liquid air the missing link in energy storage?
There are alternatives. For example, in the UK there is a growing interest in the notion of cryogenic liquids. These are reported to be at a lower cost point and more likely to be suitable where solar energy can be used to drive compressors to compress air to liquid air (as cryogenic fluids). Liquid air is potentially an energy vector in itself and vaporisation of the liquid using low-grade waste heat makes for a very efficient system that then drives a generator. The round-trip efficiency of these systems rivals batteries.
26 March 2013, Renewable Energy Magazine - RAE hosts one-day conference on Liquid Air Energy
These cryogenic liquids are already widely used in industry but their potential for use as an energy vector is only just beginning to be explored. Consequently, discussion concerning liquid air is not yet part of the mainstream energy debate, despite the apparent huge potential the technology offers. For example it is uniquely able to recover low grade waste heat from sources such as thermal generation, data centres and industrial processes as well as vehicle engines. This heat can then be turned into power and a number of British organisations are developing ways to exploit the technology as a zero emission store and transport fuel. This would in turn create a huge economic opportunity for the UK.
22 March 2013, H&V News - Royal Academy of Engineering to host conference on Liquid Air
A six-month study on the potential of liquid air as a new and sustainable energy vector, published by the Centre for Low Carbon Futures, will be presented at a one-day conference hosted by the Royal Academy of Engineering on the 9 May.
Liquid air is a new energy storage technology that many experts believe could help meet some of our toughest energy challenges, including energy security and zero-emission transport.
17 March 2013, ABC News - Running of hot air
If you’re looking for the car of the future, look no further than Peter Dearman’s rusty, 25-year-old Vauxhall Nova.
A beer keg sits in the messy trunk. Pipes run through the middle of the car, which is littered with wrenches and loose bolts. Under the hood, a red, plastic garbage can holds anti-freeze that spills over the sides and a piece of wood holds, well, everything else together.
04 March 2013, The missing link: why Australia needs energy storage
In visiting Australia regularly for the last two decades I have never quite understood why greater value is not placed on the nation’s latent solar and nuclear energy assets. Perhaps it is because Australia thinks there is a vital missing link: the ability to store energy.
07 February 2013, Allianz Knowledge - Running of hot air
The race towards zero emissions motoring is getting more crowded. As electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles struggle to gain traction, they face competition from a new rival: liquid nitrogen.
30 January 2013, Bloomberg Businessweek - Can Liquid Nitrogen Be Used to Fuel Cars?
Planet Forward examines the potential and feasibility of using liquid nitrogen as fuel in cars.
07 December 2012, CNN - Liquid air future fuels garage inventor
All that hard work is starting to pay off, as interest in the 61-year-old’s invention — which has applications for both motoring and renewable energy storage — gathers pace.
15 October 2012, The Economist - Difference Engine: End of the electric car?
The big difference is that a liquid-nitrogen car is likely to be considerably cheaper to build than an electric vehicle. For one thing, its engine does not have to cope with high temperatures—and could therefore be fabricated out of cheap alloys or even plastics.
07 October 2012, Sky News - Liquid Air Could Be The Fuel Of The Future
Cars, homes and factories could be powered using the air we breathe in the future, according to engineers at a special summit.
British scientists developing the technology say normal air can be used to store energy by cooling it to -190C, turning it into a liquid.
04 October 2012, ABC Radio Melbourne - ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast with Red Symons
Listen to Dr Tim Fox discuss liquid air on Australian radio.
03 October 2012, Professional Engineering - Liquid air makes a splash
Liquid air made a splash. Sadly it’s not often that an engineering story – unless it’s a nuclear reactor going into meltdown or an aircraft downed by a birdstrike – gets a lot of airtime in the mainstream media. But yesterday’s carefully co-ordinated effort by the IMechE, Highview Power Storage, a number of academics and the automotive engineering consultancy Ricardo to make the world sit up and pay attention to liquid air paid off.
02 October 2012, Professional Engineering - Cold Storage
A number of concerns are frequently cited when considering electricity supply: whether renewables can be developed quickly enough to meet targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; whether the economic climate is right to encourage investors to build nuclear power stations; and whether gas-fired power stations should be fitted with carbon capture and storage technology.
02 October 2012, BBC Radio 5 - Breakfast
02 October 2012, BBC Radio 4 - Today Programme
28 September 2012, Gasworld - Liquid air official launch next week: a glimpse at our energy future?
We’re at a crossroads in the quest for energy security, with sustainable solutions required to ensure our energy security – and one of these proposed solutions will be discussed at a high-profile launch event next week.