REnewable Energy access for Future UK Net-Zero Cooling (Reef-UKC)

A recent study by UK universities found that cooling currently accounts for 10-20% of the country's energy consumption, and the demand for cooling is expected to increase several-fold in the coming years. The Imperial College's Demand.ninja model shows that London is experiencing the fastest increase in cooling demand worldwide, mainly due to frequent and severe heatwaves. A separate study from the University of Oxford warns that the UK is unprepared for a 30% relative increase in cooling demand, the third-largest globally, after Ireland and Switzerland. Additionally, emerging sectors such as hydrogen production require significant cooling for efficient storage and distribution, with the production of ammonia as a hydrogen carrier being a high cooling demand process at 2.8 GJ/ton-ammonia.



Cooling is an energy intensive practice. If we continue to use grid electricity to power cooling systems, along with the increasing demand for other uses like electric vehicles, the grid will become significantly strained, hindering its decarbonisation. The Reef-UKC network aims to lead research in discovering the next generation of renewable energy technologies to meet the growing demand for cooling. We'll undertake evidence-based, multidisciplinary research using pump-priming funds and networking activities to leverage renewable energy sources for cooling. Our research will maximise system-level integration benefits while addressing the unique challenges of the UK's economic, environmental, societal, behavioural, and political contexts. Since cooling is a multidimensional challenge, we will focus on several fronts (F) to achieve our goals.

F1: Develop efficient renewable-powered cooling system-level solutions to meet the existing and future demand for cooling, specifically in rapidly growing sectors, e.g., Hydrogen, data centres.

F2: Consider environmental and social impacts and behavioural changes.

F3: Contemplate Cold economy, business modelling, sustainability, and design for circularity.

F4: Integrate the developed solutions with the developed cooling (and potentially heating) networks approaches by other research initiatives.

F5: Develop policies and regulatory frameworks to incentivise the adoption of the technology packages and communication with the UK government and local authorities.