Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/P016774/1
Commercialisation of the greenhouse gas monitoring system SkyLine2D
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor P Ineson, University of York, Biology
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr S Toet, University of York, Environment
- Grant held at:
- University of York, Biology
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Unknown
- ENRIs:
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Science Topics:
- Instrumentation Eng. & Dev.
- Biogeochemical Cycles
- Ecosystem Scale Processes
- Land - Atmosphere Interactions
- Abstract:
- In order to meet the global targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, measurements of the effects of land use and land management practices on GHG emissions are increasingly needed, with a strong and growing requirement for new technologies to enable these measurements. Resulting from previous NERC funding, researchers and engineers at the University of York (UoY) have developed a novel technology, SkyLine2D, which overcomes many of the problems inherent in the current technologies used to monitor terrestrial GHG fluxes. Using the unique approach of suspending a single mobile chamber above the ground, SkyLine2D overcomes many of the limitations of existing, small ground-based auto-chamber systems, which are extremely expensive, inflexible in use, have a heavy site impact and are unable to measure over many vegetation types. The aims for this Follow-on Fund project are to make key technical developments, whilst obtaining relevant IP protection and product certification, that will turn SkyLine2D into a viable commercial product. Finance from the Follow-on Fund grant would be used to further develop SkyLine2D in order to be able to carry, or work with, all major brands of GHG analyser, as well as to provide an independent on-board carbon dioxide monitor. We also need to make improvements to the existing prototypes in terms of data logging and supporting software. Although we already have quite a number of customers interested in buying SkyLine2D we are unable, at present, to sell the system because of these final technical developments whiuch we need to make. Equally important is the requirement for appropriate electrical and mechanical certification before we are allowed to sell the equipment to customers around the world. The vision is for the establishment of a small University spin-out SkyLine company based in York, employing several engineers and scientists, with associated sales and administrative staff, selling SkyLine2D GHG monitoring platforms for use throughout the world. The immediate obvious benefit is to provide local employment, but also to facilitate the collection of important GHG emission data to assist in developing policies for land use management which limit GHG emissions; the equipment could be a vital tool in our search for management strategies for reducing the global atmospheric GHG burden.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/P016774/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Innovation
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Follow on Fund
This grant award has a total value of £96,229
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| DI - Other Costs | Indirect - Indirect Costs | DA - Investigators | DA - Estate Costs | DI - Staff | DI - T&S | DA - Other Directly Allocated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £9,275 | £18,185 | £2,458 | £5,865 | £20,181 | £4,839 | £35,427 |
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