Next Generation of Low Carbon Energy Solutions Gets Underway

Moves towards a low carbon society are a step closer with the announcement by EPSRC and energy company E.ON UK of the first grant to be awarded under the £10 million low carbon university research programme.

The £2.1 million grant has been awarded to a consortium of eight UK universities led by the University of Bath and Imperial College London.

The project, entitled 'Transition pathways to a low carbon economy', will explore how the UK is to achieve its aim of a low carbon society, including what the future energy mix of the UK might look like.

Professor Geoff Hammond from the University of Bath said: "Addressing climate change requires a radical transformation that will see the UK move to a system that offers secure energy supplies through low carbon technologies.

"This collaboration between leading UK engineers, social scientists and policy analysts aims to promote innovation towards a more sustainable UK energy system.

"Our research team intends to come up with projects that can be used in a variety of situations, including people's homes, to address the twin problems of security of supply and a reduction of carbon emissions"

The £10 million fund is open to all UK universities who wish to research the next generation of low carbon energy solutions.

John Bateman, research and development programme manager at E.ON UK said, "We're really excited about what we can achieve by bringing together industry experts with some of the UK's leading energy researchers.

"We firmly believe that research and development projects such as this will help change the way we use energy, and protect our climate, long into the future"

The five-year programme of work under the partnership was developed with support from four partner universities that already have expertise in low carbon research - Loughborough University, University of Nottingham, University of Birmingham and Imperial College, London.

The consortium of universities to which the grant has been awarded include the University of Bath, Imperial College London, Loughborough University, Policy Studies Institute, University of Strathclyde, University of Surrey, University of East Anglia, and the University of Leeds.

E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, the world's largest investor-owned power and gas company. E.ON is the new name for Powergen. The company covers an area from the Peak District in the north to parts of Bristol in the south, and from the Welsh Borders to the Lincolnshire Coast. E.ON are investing £50 million in new technologies and approaches over the next 5 years, through the Energy Technologies institute.

E.ON UK and the RAE Research Chair in Low Carbon Energy Technologies has been established at Loughborough University to focus on low carbon technologies in the built environment.

Source: EPSRC