{"id":2741,"date":"2023-07-13T07:47:03","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T07:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/sussexenergygroup\/?p=2741"},"modified":"2024-01-29T10:25:31","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T10:25:31","slug":"new-funding-announced-for-energy-demand-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/sussexenergygroup\/2023\/07\/13\/new-funding-announced-for-energy-demand-research\/","title":{"rendered":"New funding announced for energy demand research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has <\/em>announced \u00a315 million of funding<\/em><\/a> for the next phase of energy demand research in the UK. A new Energy Demand Research Centre, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), will be led by Professor Mari Martiskainen at the university of Sussex and Professor Sara Walker at Newcastle University, with ten additional universities and several external stakeholder partners involved in the programme. Below, Prof Martiskainen outlines plans for the Centre and why the focus on energy demand is so critical.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Reasons for the focus on energy demand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The UK has a legal duty to become a Net Zero society by 2050, requiring a change in the way energy is used across different sectors of industry, businesses, transport and buildings. The most recent Climate Change Committee<\/a> report highlighted the lack of progress and called for bolder delivery and without a significant reduction in energy demand, we are unlikely to meet interim targets (2030) and these longer-term climate ambitions. Many homes and businesses have also faced high energy prices in the last year, bringing greater attention to issues of energy affordability and security. These challenges provide an opportunity for energy demand reduction to bring benefits of reduced emissions, less inequality, better prosperity and improved quality of life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the UKRI\u2019s flagship investment in energy demand research, the Energy Demand Research Centre has a key role in continuing the excellent work of centres like CREDS<\/a>. Our aim is to actively collaborate with partners across policy, industry, civil society and to provide an evidence base on actionable solutions for energy demand reduction across different sectors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Centre\u2019s work programme<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Centre\u2019s programme of work was developed via a three-stage stakeholder engagement process<\/a> and our team comprises of Co-investigators, Researcher Co-investigators and named researchers from different academic backgrounds, career stages and disciplines. We are particularly delighted with the 12 in-kind PhD studentships that the universities involved in the centre are providing, so that we can build capacity for the UK\u2019s future energy demand research community. From the start, our team has had a strong committed to the principles of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and we intend our research programme to reflect that. We have identified our core values as: <\/p>\n\n\n\n