A University of Edinburgh project to develop heat exchange technology for marine environments has received funding from Scottish Enterprise’s High Growth Spin-out Programme (HGSP) to support renewable energy.
Professor Christopher McDermott of Edinburgh’s School of Geosciences has secured £75,000 for Seawarm – developing technology to harness thermal energy from the sea that will provide sustainable heating for coastal communities and businesses.
The project team will work with Edinburgh Innovations, the University’s commercialisation service, to evaluate and protect the technology.
Professor McDermott (pictured above) said: “We are grateful for the funding from Scottish Enterprise, which will allow us to test at sites facilitated by Lar Housing Trust and potentially others in the Firth of Forth.
“Coastal communities make up 41% of Scotland’s population, so we hope to be able to meet growing demand for resilient, reliable, and renewable energy sources. Our invention has the potential to decarbonise heat, helping us on our way to net zero.”
Another project to receive funding is the University of Aberdeen’s LC Direct Current Circuit Breaker, led by Professor Dragan Jovcic, which aims to develop a direct current circuit breaker system for renewable energy projects.
Professor Jovcic is working with Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence Paddy Collins to develop a spin out company to commercialise the LCDC CB, which may also contribute to the wider push for electrification in many industries as well as enabling large-scale green hydrogen generation.
Jane Martin, managing director of innovation and investment at Scottish Enterprise, said:
“Our high growth spin out programme is proven to help leading academics to turn innovative ideas into business ventures by providing investment and advice to start-up, commercialise and scale.
“These spin outs highlight the brilliant ideas coming out of Scottish universities that will help solve global environmental issues and build a greener economy and I wish the teams in Aberdeen and Edinburgh every success as they innovate in the net zero space. ”
