Ocean-Fuel - Ocean Renewable Energy FuelsRE

Offshore wind turbines and marine energy devices could one day produce hydrogen and other zero-carbon fuels, not just electricity. The Ocean-REFuel project brings together engineers, ecologists, and economists to work out how to turn the UK’s abundant wave, tidal, and offshore wind power into storable fuels that can be used when the wind isn’t blowing. The core problem is intermittency. The ocean is a powerful but unreliable energy source—output can swing wildly from hour to hour. Batteries can smooth some of that, but they are expensive and drain quickly. Fuels such as hydrogen or ammonia can store energy for weeks or months, and can be shipped or piped to where they are needed. This project asks how to capture ocean energy, convert it efficiently, store it safely, and deliver it to heat homes, power industrial processes, and fuel ships and trucks. If it succeeds, the research could reshape the UK’s energy infrastructure. Instead of building separate systems for electricity, heating, and transport, a single ocean-to-fuel network could serve all three. The work is applied but tackles fundamental questions about system design, economics, and environmental limits—there is no guarantee a viable system will emerge, but the team is building the knowledge needed to decide whether it can.