The Heating Transition in Urban England: Assessing Risks and Stakeholder Preferences

Eirini's research aims to create a just heat transition framework based on environmental risk and stakeholder preferences in urban England. This will present and evaluate the environmental, health and economic impacts of several heating profiles in the United Kingdom, assessed under an energy justice lens. The accumulation of socio-technical barriers in the UK and the lack of coherent policy action in the field of heating have resulted in reliance on imported fossil fuels for heating and an increase in fuel poverty during geopolitical tensions.
Therefore, the research utilises mixed methods to create a policy framework that accounts for environmental risks and stakeholder preferences. First, a case-study on the Danish energy transition to assess the role of various heat pathways and their transferability in the English context. Second, the research aims to model the different scenarios for heating technology uptakes in the UK and to assess the environmental and socio-economic impacts of different heating provision scenarios from an energy justice perspective, which are modelled using OSeMOSYS to flesh out the impacts of various policy scenarios (best case, business as usual and worst case). Last, the research seeks to consult key stakeholders identified through stakeholder mapping based on the literature through focus groups. These seek to identify the barriers and action drivers for heating policy in the UK and the trade-offs that arise in decision-making.
These methods will inform a policy output, in line with the UK's strategic energy policy priorities, accounting for stakeholder preferences and for environmental risks.