A £53m energy sector investment has been awarded by UK Research and Innovation to boost knowledge and create innovative green technologies.
An investment of £53m in six research centres will drive forward change in the energy sector and help meet the UK’s net zero by 2050 target.
The energy research centres will reduce the demand for energy to achieve greener industrial and transport energy systems.
The energy sector investment is set to create green technologies and boost knowledge.
What does UKRI’s energy sector investment include?
- £15m for a new Energy Demand Research Centre. This will provide solutions for energy demand reduction and enable equitable policy decision-making.
- A £17.5m investment in three Supergen research hubs. This will boost innovation distribution and accelerate the discovery of new renewable energy technologies.
- £20m in two hubs that deliver options to integrate clean hydrogen into industrial, domestic, and transport energy systems.
Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, Chief Executive of UKRI, said: “The government has set a target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, requiring rapid decarbonisation of our energy systems. UKRI is leveraging its ability to work across disciplines to support this ambition through a major portfolio of investments that will catalyse innovation and new green energy systems.
“The funding announced today will support researchers and innovators to develop game-changing ideas to improve domestic, industrial, and transport energy systems.”
A new national Energy Demand Research Centre
Reducing energy use could help address the current challenges facing the energy sector and meet the emission reduction targets needed to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
An energy sector investment to create a new national Energy Demand Research Centre will shed insight into energy use reduction. An Energy Demand Research Centre will build an evidence base for understanding consumer behaviour.
It will also be able to assess the impact of socio-technical energy demand reduction measures and research mechanisms to improve energy efficiency.
Based at the universities of Sussex and Newcastle, the centre is set to investigate how domestic, industrial, and transport energy demand reduction can be delivered locally and nationally across the UK.
The centre has received a £15m investment from EPSRC and the Economic Social Research Council.
The energy sector investment will create hydrogen hubs across the UK
Hydrogen and hydrogen-based low-carbon liquid fuels are crucial for the UK’s net zero target. Hydrogen is a versatile energy vector suitable for use in many hard-to-decarbonise sectors where other energy options are unsuitable.
The two hydrogen hubs created by the energy sector investment will drive the national effort in hydrogen research – helping to meet industry and government needs.
Led by the University of Bath, the UK-HyRES Hydrogen Hub aims to become an international leader in hydrogen research. The hub is set to deliver practical hydrogen and alternative liquid fuel technologies that are safe, acceptable, and environmentally suitable.
Newcastle University’s HI-ACT Hub will evaluate routes to effective integration of hydrogen into the wider energy landscape. This hydrogen hub will address interactions with electricity, natural gas, heat, and transport.
The research will consider a whole systems perspective, identifying where hydrogen offers most value.
Each hub received an investment of £10m from EPSRC.
The role of Supergen Impact Hubs in the energy sector
Three impact hubs will explore how the UK can take advantage of the latest research in renewable energy generation.
The Supergen Energy Networks Hub, at the University of Bristol, will study the modernisation of energy distribution systems between suppliers and users. The aim of this investment is to help the UK’s energy sector transition to net zero.
The Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Impact Hub, based at the University of Plymouth, delivers research to accelerate the impact of current generation and future ORE systems. The team will focus on new technologies in wave, tidal, solar, and wind power.
Based at Aston University, the Supergen Bioenergy Impact Hub will support the UK’s transition to a low carbon energy future. It will do this by identifying pathways for delivering bioenergy with wider socioeconomic and environmental benefits.
The impact hubs received energy sector investments from ESPRC. The Supergen Bioenergy Impact Hub also received support from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
