Dr Paul Balcombe
Reader in Chemical Engineering and Renewable Energy
Chemical Engineering Programme Director
School of Engineering and Materials Science
Queen Mary University of London
Queen Mary University of London
Research
Methane emissions, Energy system decarbonisation, Emissions measurement, Hydrogen, Ammonia, Biogas
Interests
Specialises in developing unique technology-specific, probabilistic emissions/cost modelling of energy supply chains, particularly relating to methane emissions from natural gas, as well as biogas, hydrogen and ammonia supply chains.Publications
Publications of specific relevance to the Centre for Sustainable Engineering2024
Roman-White SA, Prasanna DM, McCullagh A, Ravikumar AP, Allen DT, Chivukula K, Khutal H, Balcombe P, Ross G, Handler B, Bazilian M and George FC (2024). Gas Pathing: Improved Greenhouse Gas Emission Estimates of Liquefied Natural Gas Exports through Enhanced Supply Chain Resolution. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, American Chemical Society (ACS) vol. 12 (46), 16956-16966. 05-11-2024
Huang J and Balcombe P (2024). How to minimise the cost of green hydrogen with hybrid supply: A regional case study in China. Applied Energy, Elsevier vol. 355 01-02-2024
2023
Rosselot KS, Balcombe P, Ravikumar AP and Allen DT (2023). Simulating the Variability of Methane and CO2 Emissions from Liquefied Natural Gas Shipping: A Time-in-Mode and Carrier Technology Approach. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, American Chemical Society (ACS) vol. 11 (43), 15632-15643. 19-10-2023
Heggo D and Balcombe P (2023). Developing a Strategy for Site-Level Methane Emissions Monitoring to Meet OGMP2.0 Level 5: A Case Study. Day 4 Fri, September 08, 2023. 05-09-2023
Dubey L, Speirs J, Balcombe P, Tariq N, Brandon N and Hawkes A (2023). Future use of natural gas under tightening climate targets. Futures, Elsevier vol. 150 01-06-2023
Olczak M, Piebalgs A and Balcombe P (2023). A global review of methane policies reveals that only 13% of emissions are covered with unclear effectiveness. One Earth, Elsevier vol. 6 (5), 519-535. 01-05-2023
Huang J, Balcombe P and Feng Z (2023). Technical and economic analysis of different colours of producing hydrogen in China. Fuel, Elsevier vol. 337 01-04-2023
Dubey L, Cooper J, Staffell I, Hawkes A and Balcombe P (2023). Comparing satellite methane measurements to inventory estimates: A Canadian case study. Atmospheric Environment X, Elsevier vol. 17 01-01-2023
2022
Allen MR, Peters GP, Shine KP, Azar C, Balcombe P, Boucher O, Cain M, Ciais P, Collins W, Forster PM, Frame DJ, Friedlingstein P, Fyson C, Gasser T, Hare B, Jenkins S, Hamburg SP, Johansson DJA, Lynch J, Macey A, et al. (2022). Indicate separate contributions of long-lived and short-lived greenhouse gases in emission targets. npj Climate and Atmospheric Science vol. 5 (1) 01-12-2022
Olczak M, Piebalgs A and Balcombe P (2022). Methane regulation in the EU: Stakeholder perspectives on MRV and emissions reductions. Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier BV vol. 137, 314-322. 01-11-2022
Roman-White SA, Littlefield JA, Fleury KG, Allen DT, Balcombe P, Konschnik KE, Ewing J, Ross GB and George F (2022). Response to Comment on LNG Supply Chains: A Supplier-Specific Life-Cycle Assessment for Improved Emission Accounting. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, American Chemical Society 04-10-2022
Balcombe P, Heggo D and Harrison M (2022). Total Methane and CO2 Emissions from Liquefied Natural Gas Carrier Ships: The First Primary Measurements. Environmental Science and Technology, American Chemical Society 14-06-2022
Chatenet M, Pollet BG, Dekel DR, Dionigi F, Deseure J, Millet P, Braatz RD, Bazant MZ, Eikerling M, Staffell I, Balcombe P, Shao-Horn Y and Schäfer H (2022). Water electrolysis: from textbook knowledge to the latest scientific strategies and industrial developments. Chemical Society Reviews vol. 51 (11), 4583-4762. 16-05-2022
Parkinson B, Balcombe P, Speirs JF, Hawkes AD and Hellgardt K (2022). Correction: Levelized cost of CO 2 mitigation from hydrogen production routes. Energy & Environmental Science, Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) vol. 15 (12), 5425-5433. 01-01-2022
2021
Ludlow J, Jalil-Vega F, Rivera XS, Garrido R, Hawkes A, Staffell I and Balcombe P (2021). Organic waste to energy: resource potential and barriers to uptake in Chile. Sustainable Production and Consumption 29-08-2021
Cooper J, Balcombe P and Hawkes A (2021). The quantification of methane emissions and assessment of emissions data for the largest natural gas supply chains. Journal of Cleaner Production, 128856-128856. 28-08-2021
Roman-White SA, Littlefield JA, Fleury KG, Allen DT, Balcombe P, Konschnik KE, Ewing J, Ross GB and George F (2021). LNG Supply Chains: A Supplier-Specific Life-Cycle Assessment for Improved Emission Accounting. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, American Chemical Society (ACS) 03-08-2021
Auger T, Trüby J, Balcombe P and Staffell I (2021). The future of coal investment, trade, and stranded assets. Joule, Published by Elsevier Inc. 08-06-2021
Balcombe P, Staffell I, Kerdan IG, Speirs JF, Brandon NP and Hawkes AD (2021). How can LNG-fuelled ships meet decarbonisation targets? An environmental and economic analysis. Energy, Elsevier vol. 227 27-03-2021
Rivera XCS, Balcombe P and Niero M (2021). Chapter 3 Life Cycle Assessment as a Metric for Circular Economy. Life Cycle Assessment 54-80. 01-01-2021
2020
Speirs J, Balcombe P, Blomerus P, Stettler M, Achurra-Gonzalez P, Woo M, Ainalis D, Cooper J, Sharafian A, Merida W, Crow D, Giarola S, Shah N, Brandon N and Hawkes A (2020). Natural gas fuel and greenhouse gas emissions in trucks and ships. Progress in Energy vol. 2 (1), 012002-012002. 20-01-2020
2019
Cooper J, Hawkes A and Balcombe P (2019). Life cycle environmental impacts of natural gas drivetrains used in UK road freighting and impacts to UK emission targets. Science of the Total Environment, Elsevier vol. 674, 482-493. 15-07-2019
Crow DJG, Balcombe P, Brandon N and Hawkes AD (2019). Assessing the impact of future greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas production. Science of the Total Environment, Elsevier vol. 668, 1242-1258. 07-03-2019
Balcombe P, Brierley J, Lewis C, Skatvedt L, Speirs J, Hawkes A and Staffell I (2019). How to decarbonise international shipping: Options for fuels, technologies and policies. Energy Conversion and Management vol. 182, 72-88. 15-02-2019
Staffell I, Scamman D, Velazquez Abad A, Balcombe P, Dodds PE, Ekins P, Shah N and Ward KR (2019). The role of hydrogen and fuel cells in the global energy system. Energy and Environmental Science vol. 12 (2), 463-491. 01-02-2019
Parkinson B, Balcombe P, Speirs JF, Hawkes AD and Hellgardt K (2019). Levelized cost of CO 01-01-2019
Cooper J and Balcombe P (2019). Life cycle environmental impacts of natural gas drivetrains used in road freighting. Procedia CIRP. 01-01-2019
2018
Balcombe P, Speirs JF, Brandon NP and Hawkes AD (2018). Methane emissions: choosing the right climate metric and time horizon. Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts vol. 20 (10), 1323-1339. 01-10-2018
Balcombe P, Speirs J, Johnson E, Martin J, Brandon N and Hawkes A (2018). The carbon credentials of hydrogen gas networks and supply chains. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier vol. 91, 1077-1088. 01-08-2018
Speirs J, Balcombe P, Johnson E, Martin J, Brandon N and Hawkes A (2018). A greener gas grid: What are the options. Energy Policy vol. 118, 291-297. 01-07-2018
Balcombe P, Brandon NP and Hawkes AD (2018). Characterising the distribution of methane and carbon dioxide emissions from the natural gas supply chain. Journal of Cleaner Production vol. 172, 2019-2032. 20-01-2018
2017
Balcombe P, Anderson K, Speirs J, Brandon N and Hawkes A (2017). The Natural Gas Supply Chain: The Importance of Methane and Carbon Dioxide Emissions. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering vol. 5 (1), 3-20. 03-01-2017
2015
Balcombe P, Rigby D and Azapagic A (2015). Energy self-sufficiency, grid demand variability and consumer costs: Integrating solar PV, Stirling engine CHP and battery storage. Applied Energy, Elsevier vol. 155, 393-408. 01-10-2015
Balcombe P, Rigby D and Azapagic A (2015). Environmental impacts of microgeneration: Integrating solar PV, Stirling engine CHP and battery storage. Applied Energy, Elsevier vol. 139, 245-259. 01-02-2015
2014
Balcombe P, Rigby D and Azapagic A (2014). Investigating the importance of motivations and barriers related to microgeneration uptake in the UK. 01-10-2014
2013
Balcombe P, Rigby D and Azapagic A (2013). Motivations and barriers associated with adopting microgeneration energy technologies in the UK. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier vol. 22, 655-666. 01-06-2013
Grants
Grants of specific relevance to the Centre for Sustainable Engineering
Nigeria Methane Baseline Scoping StudyPaul Balcombe
£75,523 UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (01-10-2024 - 31-03-2025)
EMPreSS: Enhanced Methane Monitoring Precision for a Multi-Agent UAV System SolutionPaul Balcombe and Ketao Zhang
£415,038 NERC Natural Environment Research Council (01-06-2024 - 31-05-2027)
UNEP OGMP developing level 4/5 measurement strategiesPaul Balcombe
£119,782 UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (01-04-2024 - 31-03-2025)
Cheniere co-sponsorship of EPSRC PhD studentship equipment budgetPaul Balcombe
£90,000 Cheniere Energy Inc (01-01-2022 - 31-12-2024)
PAK UK Education Gateway Mobility Partnership for FacultyAlan Drew, Maria Crespo Ribadeneyra, Annalisa Bruno, Devis Di Tommaso, Edo Boek, Mahdieh Sadabadi, Paul Balcombe and Christopher Jones
£26,500 British Council (01-04-2023 - 30-06-2024)