UKRI backs six energy research centres with £53m

The new Energy Demand Research Centre is one of six projects that will share in the funding, alongside two new hydrogen hubs and three Supergen research hubs that will focus on distribution, renewables and bioenergy.

“The government has set a target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, requiring rapid decarbonisation of our energy systems,” said Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, chief executive of UKRI. “The funding announced today will support researchers and innovators to develop game changing ideas to improve domestic, industrial and transport energy systems.”

Energy efficiency and demand reduction have been conspicuously absent from the UK government’s Net Zero plans to date, with engineers and academics calling for much more action in areas like building retrofit. According to the International Energy Agency, efficiency and demand reduction can account for more than 40 per cent of the energy-related emissions cuts needed to reach climate goals by 2040.

Based across Newcastle and Sussex universities, the £15m Energy Demand Research Centre will examine consumer behaviour, assessing the impact of socio-technical energy demand reduction measures and research mechanisms to improve energy efficiency. It will also investigate how domestic, industrial and transport energy demand reduction can be delivered on a local and national level across the UK.