Leeds PhD student takes on CCUS policy internship

Jack Humphries, a PhD student in Leeds, has secured a three-month UKRI policy internship in the Department for Energy Security and Net-Zero.

Jack will work as a Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Intern in the CCUS Directorate from April to July 2026.

Turning Research into Policy

Jack’s internship will focus on projects that centre around policy to deliver CCUS Clusters, which aim to help the UK reach net-zero by 2050.

Specifically, he will work on the Viking Cluster, which focuses on capturing CO2 from heavy industry in the Humber region. He will also support the Peak Cluster, centred on capturing CO2 from cement plants in the Peak District.

Another project will involve developing an updated version of the Global Calculator. This is a tool for visualising potential routes to net-zero across all sectors of the global economy.

I'll attend meetings with external partners who deliver the projects and, I hope to have an active role in the decisions the directorate makes.

His internship is funded by UKRI as part of their  Policy Internship scheme.

Research at Leeds

Jack’s PhD project is supervised by Prof Nigel Mountney, Dr Adam McArthur and Dr Na Yan from the Fluvial, Eolian & Shallow-Marine Research Group, and is also supported by Geosolutions Leeds. 

The project involves collecting field-derived and legacy data on the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group in NW England. The group represents an onshore analogue for offshore reservoir successions being used for CCUS in the nearby East Irish Sea Basin. 

Jack will use the data to develop 3D stratigraphic models that predict the distribution of porosity and permeability at various spatial scales using the bespoke Dune Architecture and Sediment Heterogeneity (DASH) model developed by the team at Leeds.

Jack's research investigations to demonstrate how gaining improved understanding of lithological complexity in Triassic sandstone successions is crucial in the development of new methods for the effective injection of CO2 into deep subsurface reservoirs. This is an important contribution to the UK strategy to reduce atmospheric carbon emissions.