EDOL to generate data on home energy use

Energy Demand Observatory and Laboratory (EDOL) is supported by £8.7m from EPSRC and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Energy use in homes accounts for almost a fifth of UK carbon emissions, and the biggest driver of increased energy demands during the peak winter period.

If the UK is to reach net zero emissions by 2050, domestic energy will have transition away from natural gas and adopt a fully-electric system, but there is currently very little information on how this will impact patterns of energy usage, and whether this will overlap with other changes to the UK’s energy system including the increased uptake of electric cars and heat pumps.

The EDOL will address this by providing a high-resolution data resource that will track energy use in real households.

To do so, EDOL will develop a range of i methods, including innovations emerging around artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things that will monitor the energy consumed by different appliances and the different energy-using activities that make up daily life at home.