ECI Annual Review 2006/2007 - Environmental Change Institute ...

Supergen: Highly Distributed Power
Systems
How would the electricity network
function effectively with millions
of small scale distributed electricity
generators? Within the SUPERGEN
consortium, ECI is modelling the
performance of solar photovoltaic
systems and looking into policies that
support and encourage the uptake of
household-scale energy generation.
Funders: Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council ~ Partners: The Turbo Genset
Company Ltd, Scottish Power, Rolls Royce plc,
Intelligent Power Systems Ltd
Integrated Travel Emissions Profiles
Investigating greenhouse gas
pollutant emissions and related
climate change impacts from
transport at the personal,
household and local levels.
Funders: Economic and Social Research
Council
Building MArket Transformation
BMT aims to explore what is
needed to achieve a 50 per cent
cut in carbon emissions from
buildings as quickly as possible.
Although there is significant
potential for existing technology
to reduce carbon emissions in
both domestic and non-domestic
buildings, improvements are
not being made. This applies
both to new buildings and the
refurbishment of existing ones.
The BMT project will explore
social and economic as well as
environmental considerations.
For example, people’s behaviour is
changing in relation to buildings
as they demand more space, heat,
hot water and appliances as living
standards improve. In looking
to develop policy solutions,
the initiative will also explore
institutional, legal and technical
UK Energy Research Centre:
Meeting Place
A networking hub for international
experts across all energy disciplines.
The Meeting Place hosts short
intensive sessions on horizon
scanning, agenda setting, and
promoting collaborative research on
sustainable energy economies.
Funders: Research Councils: Engineering and
Physical Sciences (EPSRC), Economic and
Social (ESRC), Natural Environment (NERC)
issues. A series of seminars will
involve key decision-makers from
industry and government to discuss
the changes necessary to achieve
such a cut. It will also develop a
publicly available computer model
of the UK’s building stock which
will enable policy measures to be
assessed in terms of their direct and
indirect impact on emissions.
BMT will help inform the future
direction of carbon-saving research
and policies. The aim is to help
develop a consensus between
industry and government about
what needs to be done, when and
how. Example reports and papers
include:
• The effectiveness of feedback on
energy consumption: a review
for the UK Government’s
Department of Environment,
Food, & Rural Affairs of the
Wind Power and the UK Wind
Resource
The long-term characteristics of
the UK wind resource, including
temporal and geographical
variability and intermittency.
Funders: UK Government’s Department of
Trade & Industry
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literature on metering, billing,
and direct displays
Can Energy Services Companies
deliver low carbon new build
homes?
The cost of a 60% cut in CO 2
emissions from homes: what do
experience curves tell us?
Aiming at a 60% reduction
in CO 2 : implications for
residential lights, appliances,
and microgeneration
Liberating the power of Energy
Services and ESCOs in a
liberalised energy market
Funders: Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC), Carbon Trust
Partners: Universities of Bath, Cardiff, Strathclyde,
and Surrey