The Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions DIGITAL Nick - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions Nick Eyre May 2018

DIGITAL FLEXIBILITY POLICY TRANSPORT BUILDINGS MATERIALS

The Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS):

What is it?

 A research centre funded by the Energy Programme of UK Research and Innovation for the period April 2018 to March 2023, with a budget of £19.5 million.  A distributed centre, involving thirteen UK universities, with an HQ at University of Oxford.  A mandate to undertake whole system research focussing

• n energy demand and to act as a ‘hub’ for the UK energy

demand research community.

A UK Centre for Research on Energy Demand: Why?

 Energy system context:

 Systemic change to low/zero carbon over a few decades;  Security and affordability remain social and political priorities;  Changes in energy demand will be critical to delivery, but this is under-recognised in much public discourse.

 UK Research and Innovation landscape context:

 EUED Phase 1 Centres provide a strong base of research;  Some deficiencies in coherence and therefore the impact of the RCUK EUED Programme;  Increasing complexity in the energy research and innovation landscape.

The Centre’s Aims

• to develop and deliver internationally leading

research, focussing on energy demand;

• to secure impact for UK energy demand research

in businesses and policymaking;

• to champion the importance of energy demand, as

part of the strategy for transition to a secure and affordable low carbon energy system.

Our Ambition

• In research: a transformational programme;
• In impact: ensuring that high quality research

(by ourselves and others) is taken up by businesses and policymakers;

• In public discourse: opinion formers and the

media show greater attention to energy demand issues.

Centre Structure and Governance

Research Programme Design Criteria

 Criteria for selection of research themes:

 Sufficiently comprehensive to be an effective ‘hub’ for the UK energy demand research community;  Sufficiently focussed to allow for exciting and innovative research.

 Criteria for selection of research topics

 Further – going beyond currently cost effective technologies and minor behavioural changes;  Faster – increasing the pace of innovation, and using more ambitious policy intervention;  Flexibly – adding fuel switching and demand response to the demand reduction agenda.

Transport Buildings Materials

Policy Flexibility

Decarbonising heat challenge

Themes

Digital

Year 1 Integrating Project: Energy Demand Change in the Clean Growth Strategy (Lead: Eyre, Oxford)

• Research Questions: How will the ambitious energy demand aims be delivered? What

social and technical changes? And what are the innovation and policy implications?

• Key outputs: an academic review paper and policy briefing.

Strategic Area Lead Theme Business and Industry Efficiency Materials Improving Our Homes Buildings Low Carbon Transport Transport Clean, Smart, Flexible Power Flexibility

Theme 1: Buildings (Oreszczyn, UCL)

• 1.1: Assessing the co-benefits of energy

efficiency

• Health, comfort, peak power control
• 1.2: Future disrupters of building energy use
• Real-time performance-based building energy

certificates; DSM as a power reduction service

• 1.3: Modelling future pathways for energy use

in buildings

• Data improvement, 3D simulation model

development and applications, with a focus on improved time granularity.

Theme 2: Transport and Mobility (Anable, Leeds)

• 2.1: Targeting high demand
• Characterising high energy users; understanding

long distance transport

• 2.2: Flexing transport demand
• Understanding the flexibility of passenger mobility;

a quantified model of flexibility

• 2.3: Accelerating deployment
• Governance of mobility change; the Commission
• n Travel Demand

Theme 3: Materials and Products (Barrett, Leeds)

• 3.1: Industrial energy demand and energy

efficiency

• Systematic review of options; improved projections;

international comparison and benchmarking

• 3.2: Resource productivity and the circular

economy

• Whole life mitigation options; national metrics of

resource productivity; case study on construction resource productivity.

• 3.3: Industrial strategy and energy productivity
• Improved model of energy as a factor of production;

better representation in models of mitigation options; assessing implications for UK industrial strategy

Theme 4: Flexibility (Torriti, Reading)

• 4.1: Defining, conceptualising and

measuring flexibility

• Historical review and future

assessment of demand flexibility; measurement of electricity flexibility; conceptualising flexibility

• 4.2: Intervening to enhance

flexibility

• Understanding user practices with

flexible technologies; time dependent price elasticities; institutional rhythms and flexibility.

Theme 5: Digital Society (Foxon/Sorrell, Sussex)

• 5.1: ICT and energy productivity
• Systematic review of the ICT energy demand

relationship; econometric analysis of historical data; scenarios of future relationships

• 5.2: Business models and the digital

economy

• Digital platforms for the sharing economy;

ICT-enabled energy service business models

• 5.3: Smart systems and user practices
• Smart meters; autonomous vehicles; smart

homes; tele-working

Theme 6: Policy and Governance (Fawcett, Oxford)

• 6.1: Policies for reducing demand further
• Policy for deep refurbishment; policy to increase

citizen engagement

• 6.2: Multi-level governance
• Devolved policy-making in the UK; drivers of local

government engagement with energy demand

• 6.3: Asymmetry in supply and demand policy
• Policy asymmetry in market design;

understanding the political drivers of policy asymmetry; distributed ledgers as a disrupter or retail markets.

Challenge 1- Decarbonisation of Heat (Lowe, UCL)

• WP1: Systematic review of costs,

performance, uncertainties and synergies of key technologies for production, networks, storage and use.

• WP2: Improvement of system models for

analysis of ‘energy system architecture’.

• WP3: Social, regulatory and governance

implications

• WP4: Integration, liaison and

communication

Year 4 and 5 Cross Theme Activity

• Co-create integrating research with

stakeholders.

• Link common strands across the themes, e.g.

related to innovation, investment, costs and benefits to answer questions such as:

• What are the implications for scale of investment?

Where? And by whom?

• Who might be the winners and losers?
• How might innovation be incentivised?
• What are the implications for policy design?

Co-ordination Node

• Administration, coordination and knowledge exchange activities of

the Centre.

• Critical to the hub function.
• Full Communications and Engagement plan to be developed by

month 6, based on stakeholder mapping.

• Current plan is that it consists of the Director, Centre Manager, 2 x

Knowledge Exchange posts, 0.5 Communications Officer, full-time administration support.

Pathways to Impact: Audiences and Partners

• Our partners and audiences:
• Key partners - innovative businesses, large and small;
• Key partners - policymakers and influencers;
• Other audiences - NGOs, communities and civil society.
• With key partners we will:
• Co-create research questions and approaches;
• Undertake innovative research;
• Exchange knowledge directly, e.g. via meetings and

briefings.

• Other audiences will be addressed through:
• Website, newsletter and social media;
• Non-academic publications and conferences;
• Briefings and events for the media.