Loughborough-made battery system promises clean cooking with hydrogen for remote African communities

COPEnergyEngineeringEnvironmentHydrogenResearchSustainability
A woman in a lab coat and lab goggles positioning tubes on bottles

Dr Lizzie Ashton, a Senior Research Associate, works on the battery electrolyser. (Credit: Jake Hilder Photography)

A new project, led by experts from Loughborough University, has seen the creation of a battery system that will provide remote African communities the energy they need to cook cleanly and more environmentally friendly.

A trailer unit holding multiple batteries with labels and a blue liquid

The electrolyser works by storing electrical energy, generated from solar panels, providing energy sustainably. (Credit: Jake Hilder Photography)

The battery electrolyser, designed by academics from Loughborough’s School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, is a containerised system that can store electricity in batteries. However, the batteries have been designed to also produce hydrogen which can then be used for clean cooking.  

Currently, communities in Africa use biomass, that comes from plants and animals, but this can often lead to a depletion of natural resources and contributes to deforestation. Burning wood for use during cooking can also release harmful pollutants which cause premature deaths, particularly in women and young children heavily involved in the cooking process.  

The use of hydrogen is a green alternative, with the only waste product being water. 

Dr Lizzie Ashton, a Senior Research Associate who led on the project, explained: “The battery electrolyser we’ve created is going to go to a school in Zambia, and they’re going to use the hydrogen cooker and the batteries to electrify school classrooms and teachers’ houses, and the hydrogen will be used for clean cooking.  

“The reason why we’ve chosen the African communities is because many people, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, lack access to electricity. 

“We want to provide them with energy sustainability and a source of renewable energy. We think the battery electrolysers will be perfect for coupling with wind farms in the UK and then worldwide, coupling with intermittent renewable energy sources.” 

The electrolyser works by storing electrical energy, generated from solar panels, and splits the water that’s in the electrolyte into hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis – passing an electric current through a liquid.  

This converts the water into hydrogen and oxygen, with the hydrogen produced going into a compressor and tank. Once there it can be used for many different things, primarily cooking in a renewable and green way.  

Dr Toby Reisch, a Research Associate working on the project, added: “Each individual cell in the unit is a battery, and can be connected together to meet whatever power demand needed. For instance, it can provide lighting for schools and classrooms, backup power for hospitals for refrigeration, and it can also produce enough hydrogen to cook for a community in a day.” 

If the project proves successful, the team hopes the battery electrolyser concept will be used across various applications, including preventing curtailment of renewable energy in the UK — particularly wind farms - but also any industry that uses hydrogen or a diesel backup generator.  

Currently, in off-grid communities or off-grid locations, whether that’s construction or even filming locations, they use diesel backup generators. Diesel backup generators produce a lot of harmful pollutants and have unsustainable CO₂ emissions associated with them.  Battery electrolyser systems provide completely renewable energy, providing electrical and hydrogen energy.  

ENDS

Video (downloads and embed codes): Battery-Electrolyser: Powering Africa with Hydrogen

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Notes for editors

Press release reference number: 25/152

About Loughborough University

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme and named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2025 QS World University Rankings – the ninth year running.

Loughborough has been ranked seventh in the Complete University Guide 2026 – out of 130 institutions.

This milestone marks a decade in the top ten for Loughborough – a feat shared only by the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, St Andrews, Durham and Imperial.

Loughborough was also named University of the Year for Sport in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 - the fourth time it has been awarded the prestigious title.

In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 over 90% of its research was rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education.

The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.