Liquid air and liquid nitrogen have the potential to bring about significant decarbonisation in
the transport sector by extracting useful work from rejected heat in internal combustion
engines, and offer attractive payback through fossil fuel savings. These opportunities were
described in a recent report, Liquid air in the energy and transport systems, published by the
Centre for Low Carbon Futures (CLCF), which was conceived at a meeting at the Inst. of
Mechanical Engineers in October 2012, and launched at a conference held by the Royal
Academy of Engineering in May. This report led directly to the founding of the Liquid Air
Energy Network (LAEN).
The CLCF report established the engineering basis for the use of liquid air in transport
applications, based on expert academic and industry contributions. Liquid nitrogen is supplied
by a mature cryogenic gases industry using well-established production and distribution
platforms, and spare production capacity is available.
There is now a timely and valuable opportunity for LAEN to develop a business case and
roadmap for investment in infrastructure to support liquid air transport applications.
Engineering consultancies are developing their understanding and competence in this area and
the necessary integration is being demonstrated. LAEN is in a unique position to chart supply
and demand from multiple sources – who, critically, would not otherwise engage
commercially, and need LAEN to take the lead. The grant will enable LAEN to do this and
use its internal capabilities to create a transport information resource for commercial
exploitation. LAEN will map users’ demands in relation to the industrial gas supply network,
drawing on extensive relationships with experts established during the writing of the CLCF
report. The grant will leverage significant know-how and enable the development of a
valuable understanding of the market opportunity for a new industry sector.