Interdisciplinary Centre for for Storage, Transformation and Upgrading of Thermal Energy (i-STUTE)

The UK is committed to a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% before 2050. With over 40% of fossil fuels used for low temperature heating and 16% of electricity used for cooling these are key areas that must be addressed. The vision of our interdisciplinary centre is to develop a portfolio of technologies that will deliver heat and cold cost-effectively and with such high efficiency as to enable the target to be met, and to create well planned and robust Business, Infrastructure and Technology Roadmaps to implementation.

Features of our approach to meeting the challenge are:
a) Integration of economic, behavioural, policy and capability/skills factors together with the science/technology research to produce solutions that are technically excellent, compatible with and appealing to business, end-users, manufacturers and installers.
b) Managing our research efforts in Delivery Temperature Work Packages (DTWPs) (freezing/cooling, space heating, process heat) so that exemplar study solutions will be applicable in more than one sector (e.g. Commercial/Residential, Commercial/Industrial).
c) The sub-tasks (projects) of the DTWPs will be assigned to distinct phases: 1st Wave technologies or products will become operational in a 5-10 year timescale, 2nd Wave ideas and concepts for application in the longer term and an important part of the 2050 energy landscape. 1st Wave projects will lead to a demonstration or field trial with an end user and 2nd Wave projects will lead to a proof-of-concept (PoC) assessment.
d) Being market and emission-target driven, research will focus on needs and high volume markets that offer large emission reduction potential to maximise impact. Phase 1 (near term) activities must promise high impact in terms of CO2 emissions reduction and technologies that have short turnaround times/high rates of churn will be prioritised.
e) A major dissemination network that engages with core industry stakeholders, end users, contractors and SMEs in regular workshops and also works towards a Skills Capability Development Programme to identify the new skills needed by the installers and operators of the future. The SIRACH (Sustainable Innovation in Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating) Network will operate at national and international levels to maximise impact and findings will be included in teaching material aimed at the development of tomorrow's engineering professionals.
f) To allow the balance and timing of projects to evolve as results are delivered/analysed and to maximise overall value for money and impact of the centre only 50% of requested resources are earmarked in advance.
g) Each DTWP will generally involve the complete multidisciplinary team in screening different solutions, then pursuing one or two chosen options to realisation and test.

Our consortium brings together four partners: Warwick, Loughborough, Ulster and London South Bank Universities with proven track records in electric and gas heat pumps, refrigeration technology, heat storage as well as policy / regulation, end-user behaviour and business modelling. Industrial, commercial, NGO and regulatory resources and advice will come from major stakeholders such as DECC, Energy Technologies Institute, National Grid, British Gas, Asda, Co-operative Group, Hewlett Packard, Institute of Refrigeration, Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

An Advisory Board with representatives from Industry, Government, Commerce, and Energy Providers as well as international representation from centres of excellence in Germany, Italy and Australia will provide guidance. Collaboration (staff/student exchange, sharing of results etc.) with government-funded thermal energy centres in Germany (at Fraunhofer ISE), Italy (PoliMi, Milan) and Australia (CSIRO) clearly demonstrate the international relevance and importance of the topic and will enhance the effectiveness of the international effort to combat climate change.

We expect i-STUTE's work to influence the choices we make and technologies we use for heating and cooling in most UK buildings as we makes changes to meet the 2050 goals of reducing emissions.

The challenge is that while some technologies exist today, scientific advances are needed to improve their effectiveness and efficiency, engineering advances are needed to develop systems that provide solutions for different end use markets and social science advances are needed to understand how these solutions can be developed as commercially successful businesses that fit the way we want to meet our energy needs without the long term need for subsidies or regulations.

As part of a set of centres considering the end use of energy in different markets, iSTUTE's work on heating and cooling will address the fact that about 16% of electricity used in the UK today is used for cooling and more than 40% of the fossil fuels currently used in the UK is for heating in homes, offices, etc. where alternative technologies like heat pumps, energy storage systems, small scale combined heat and power systems, etc. can be used. The centre's research will have a broad impact on energy use in the UK through a series of channels:

a) Advances in our scientific knowledge of how these technologies can perform as well as the improvements in efficiency needed to reach overall emission goals, such as improving performance by 50% (heat out/electricity in) and raising the 30% emissions savings shown by current gas heat pumps vs. fossil alternatives up to 65%.

b) The UK's economic growth will be severely challenged if more efficient, lower emissions solutions to major areas of energy use such as heating and cooling are not developed. The alternatives are the increasing use and cost of imported fossil fuels where emissions costs are included in some way, or building considerably more renewable generating capacity.

c) The centre integrates the scientific and engineering advances needed with research that will understand the commercial and behavioural issues that influence our use of energy. We will consider the new business models that companies need to adopt and how technical solutions can be presented as attractive propositions that consumers will choose. This will directly feed into the products and investments that companies can make to develop this area as a thriving sector of the economy.

d) As well as commercial and behavioural issues, the centre will consider what policy measures will need to support the transition required. Our aim is to balance achieving solutions that are commercial viability and attractiveness with an economic reality as to the scale and scope for subsidies or including costs within bills.

e) The centre's partnerships with a wide range of companies and institutions involved in heating and cooling means the question of what skills and capabilities are needed will be addressed jointly through the development of roadmaps that lay out future requirements. This will be part of a Network and dissemination programme that builds on a successful, existing activity currently focussed on refrigeration.