Results: Searching for 'EP/S029575/1 - UK Energy Research Centre Phase 4'

This work benchmarks the existing UK cold chain and provides robust evidence-based data on emissions in 2020. Only emissions from refrigeration within UK borders was considered, both from refrigerant leakage and from electrical power usage. Energy consumption For energy consumption the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) was widely used. This data is compiled by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and contains data for many years up until the current year. The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and therefore they were considered as the most accurate data available. DUKES data does not always differentiate the energy consumed by refrigeration systems in each of the cold chain sectors and therefore further analysis and assumptions were often required. Energy consumption values shown were collated per year for the years 2019/2020, unless otherwise stated. Emissions from refrigerant leakage The main GHG refrigerants are the fluorinated gases (f-gases); hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). According to Brown et al (Brown et al., 2021) emissions of f-gases can occur at various stages of the refrigeration equipment life-cycle: During manufacturing, During installation, Over the operational lifetime, At disposal. The most comprehensive source of information for direct emissions is the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory. This contains national greenhouse gas emission estimates for the period 1990-2019 and is the United Kingdoms National Inventory Report (NIR) submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It includes losses during manufacture/initial charging and at decommissioning as well as losses in use.

A survey was undertaken with UK energy and climate change stakeholders involved in and/or effected by Brexit - it was undertaken as part of the UK Energy Research Centre (UKRC) funded project on 'Brexit and UK Net Zero Energy Policy'. The survey was designed to ascertain views on the implications of Brexit for energy and climate change policy and politics, and to build knowledge about actual effects in practice. There were 83 respondents - from UK government (Westminster and devolved), business (mainly energy industry and finance), think tanks and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academics researching Brexit, and representatives of EU countries.

Data from the survey was used to inform the analysis underpinning 2 papers: the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) policy briefing paper, Brexit Implications for UK Decarbonisation Objectives, and the Policy & Politics journal article, Brexit Implications for Sustainable Energy in the UK.

This is an evidence base of available literature on the impacts of offshore wind farm (OWF) developments and the outcomes for marine ecosystem services. The evidence was collated through a systematic search of global primary literature (also known as peer-reviewed or published literature) and UK grey literature regarding the impacts of OWF developments (the scope for including global grey literature was unfeasible). Grey literature refers to multiple types of report or document, and is defined as: "information produced on all levels of government, academia, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing" i.e. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body(ICGL, 1997). Data was extracted from each evidence source, for each subject or marine ecosystem component that was impacted by the OWF development, the phase of development, the specific pressure and other relevant information about the wind farm or location. Expert judgement was used to map each piece of evidence for impacts on the marine environment according to CICES (Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services) or MEA (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment) and other published classification systems for ecosystem services (Ryfield et al., 2019; Hooper et al., 2020). The dataset was created to provide a central evidence base of available primary and grey literature regarding the impacts of OWF developments (for construction, operational and decommissing phases) on ecosystem service outcomes in the marine environment. The primary literature represents a global semi-systematic search, while the grey literature is restricted to a semi-systematic search for reports and documents from the UK (that also include wind farms in adjacent waters). The database provides a comprehensive list of available literature on this topic, and it enables the assessment and comparison of the evidence for enviromental impacts and ecosystem service outcomes between primary and grey literature sources. This will be critical for marine policy makers when gathering evidence for future OWF developments and advances understanding of the impacts and trade-offs associated with OWF and ecosystem services. A tool (currently in development by Plymouth Marine Laboratory) will improve accessibility of the data for this purpose. This research was funded by the UKERC Phase 4 research programme.

Global, open-access, harmonised spatial datasets of wind and solar installations from OpenStreetMap data. Also included: user friendly code to enable users to easily create newer versions of the dataset; first order estimates of power capacities of installations. Data article, data, meta data and code available.

Going Dutch? was a 2-year research project, led from the University of Sussex and funded by the UK Energy Research Centre, comparing governance arrangements for heat decarbonisation and natural gas phase-out in the UK and the Netherlands and investigating how these arrangements have been shaped by different political and institutional context. The UK and the Netherlands share a similar starting point for heat decarbonisation in that they are the countries most dependent on natural gas for heating in Europe and the OECD. However, they have taken different approaches to their heat transitions so far, with the Netherlands giving a much more central role to local government (municipalities). There are also differences within the UK, with Scotland adopting a governance approach that is closer to the Netherlands than England, where heat transition governance remains highly centralised. The project aimed to understand how wider political, administrative and economic institutions have shaped these different governance approaches, what the experience of the Dutch approach has been to date, and what lessons there might be for the UK. The topics of study included: the nature of climate governance; the roles and capacities of local government; the structure of multi-level governance; mechanisms for knowledge-sharing and learning; allocation of resources; organisation of technical support and knowledge, and public engagement and participation. The collection includes anonymised interviews with 16 observers of and participants in attempts to decarbonise residential heating in the Netherlands and the UK. The interviews were conducted between December 2021 and September 2022, and the focus of the research was on the governance arrangements for heat decarbonisation.

This project explored the development of policy and practice for local energy systems (LES) across England, Scotland and Wales. It aimed to provide evidence, and learning, about the role of more locally integrated energy systems, and the policy approaches being pursued in Great Britain. The research analysed policy mixes for local energy systems and developed a database of relevant government policies from 2010 to 2021 (deposited here). These policies were identified based on systematic analysis of published government energy strategies, alongside strategies specifically concerned with ‘local’,‘community’ or ‘area-based’ energy. This resulted in detailed analysis of over 50 policy documents and identification of 105 policy instruments across the three jurisdictions. Documentation was retrieved primarily from Scottish, Welsh and UK Government websites. Details about individual instruments were then collated using government sources (for example, evaluation reports), or websites of managing organisations. If financial information about an instrument was obscure, Freedom of Information (FOI) requests were submitted to establish additional detail, but financial information for some instruments remained unclear. The authors each cross-checked the instrument database drawing on their expertise in Scottish, Welsh and UK Government energy policy. The instrument database was also verified through review by two external policy experts.

The purpose of this project was to explore the institutions and organisations that are shaping the development of local energy systems in Great Britain, comparing England, Scotland and Wales. The project was part of the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). Institutional mapping explores functional relationships and powers relevant to decision-making. It focuses on the key actors, their interactions, where power is located, who has the ability to influence and make decisions, and sources of funding. The objective is to create a (simplified) visual representation of the different groups and organizations within a community and their relationships and importance for decision-making. In order to explore the governance frameworks and actor networks for LES in England, Wales and Scotland governance mapping was carried out for the three jurisdictions. Draft institutional maps of local energy systems in England, Scotland and Wales were developed through a desk-based review of key organisations, (formal) institutions, rules, relationships and decision-making power based on a database of LES relevant strategy documents and policy instruments (data also deposited). These maps were validated based on interviews with energy system stakeholders to valuate accuracy, and explore informal agenda setting power, future policy needs and governance gaps. Interviews were carried out with a total of 21 people, across 18 organisations, including government, local authorities, distribution network operators, regulators, consultants and NGOs. Maps were revised and finalised based on interview outputs and published in September 2022. The institutional maps developed are deposited here together with the interview schedule.

Recent years have seen unprecedented shifts in global natural gas trade, precipitated in large part by Russia's war on Ukraine. How this regional conflict impacts the future of natural gas markets is subject to three interconnected factors: (i) Russia’s strategy to regain markets for its gas exports; (ii) Europe’s push towards increased liquified natural gas (LNG) and the pace of its low carbon transition; and (iii) China’s gas demand and how it balances its climate and energy security objectives. A scenario modelling approach is applied to explore the potential implications of this geopolitical crisis. We demonstrate how integrating energy geopolitics and modelling enhances our understanding of energy futures. This is the data behind this journal article: Pye, S., Bradshaw, M., Price, J. et al. The global implications of a Russian gas pivot to Asia. Nat Commun 16, 386 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55697-7

Public opposition to new energy technology can harm the chances of successful deployment. Less is known about knock-on effects on the wider energy system, including whether such opposition impacts public perceptions of other technologies. Here we present a mixed-methods study into perception spillover, examining whether the controversy over fracking for oil and gas affects public attitudes to two novel low-carbon energy technologies: deep enhanced geothermal systems, and green hydrogen. We argue that perception spillover is multi-faceted, and we conceptualise and test spontaneous, prompted and primed forms, examining how and why particular types occur. Using a nationally-representative UK survey and two focus groups, we show that perception spillover from fracking could lead to widespread negative perceptions of deep geothermal energy, influencing the conditions which deep geothermal would be expected to meet. Conversely, a minority of participants expressed more positive perceptions of green hydrogen because they deemed it dissimilar to fracking.Flexible fund project under the UK Unconventional Hydrocarbons project. Aims to understand the impact of fracking on public perceptions of other energy technologies This is a linked dataset held in the UKDS

Energy systems are changing rapidly, bringing new types of risks, and new forms of potential disruption to energy supplies. Our growing dependence on energy, particularly electricity, means that more than ever we need to plan for disruptions and be prepared for them. What happens during the disruption is important: we need to understand how individuals, communities and organisations experience the event, and what measures can be taken to reduce the overall impacts. This study investigates how people and communities in the city of Glasgow (Scotland) might be expected to respond to a lengthy, widespread disruption to energy supplies. A novel three-stage diary-interview methodology was used to explore energy practices and expectations dependency, and to understand the ways in which peoples experience of disruptions may change in the coming decade. The results show that the most consistent determinant of participants perceived resilience, over and above socio-demographic factors, is their expectations and their degree of dependency on routine. In addition, the results suggest that common assumptions regarding peoples vulnerability may be misplaced, and are shifting rapidly as digital dependency grows, and are sometimes misplaced: in particular, determinants such as age and income should not be seen as straightforward proxies for vulnerability. A new set of indicators of vulnerability are identified. For longer outages, peoples ability to cope will likely decrease with duration in a non-linear step-change fashion, as interdependent infrastructures and services are affected. Community-level actions can improve resilience, and local scales may be more appropriate for identifying vulnerabilities than socio-demographic proxies, but this is only feasible if organisations and institutions are adequately resourced.Recent events have highlighted the potential impact of long, widespread energy supply interruptions, and the need for resilience is likely to create a requirement for greater flexibility from both the electricity and gas systems. This project will examine the engineering risks, and assess the need for new industry standards to drive appropriate action; and conduct a systematic assessment of the impacts of a serious energy disruption on consumers and critical services, such as heating, water, communications, health and transport. This dataset is held in the UKDS

The decarbonisation of domestic heating is essential for the UK to achieve net zero carbon emissions, but requires significant changes in domestic infrastructure. Public participation plays a pivotal role in this transition, yet public attitudes towards decarbonised heating remain under-researched and poorly understood. We collected a nationally representative dataset via an online survey of 2,226 individuals in Great Britain, and an additional booster sample dataset of 1,378 individuals in Scotland and Wales specifically. The survey explored attitudes to three decarbonised heating technologies currently being trialled or entering the market: heat pumps, hydrogen heating, and district heating networks. A wide dataset of interrelated variables was collected, including heating system preference and usage, knowledge and support for decarbonised heating, environmental and energy security concerns, perceptions of trust and responsibility, financial considerations, and many others. Central to the study was an informed choice decision pathway element designed to investigate key factors underlying personal willingness to adopt each technology.

The datasets available for download include:1. The thermal characteristics for 16 dwelling categories for all the LSOAs in England and Wales before and after considering energy efficiency measures.2. The magnitude and duration of positive and negative flexibility services that can be provided by air source heat pumps in dwellings at local authority level. Dates refer to the input data to the model.

Annual residential heat demand data for Scotland at Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA) level, before and after energy efficiency measures

This spreadsheet contains the results for the article, "Meeting the costs of decarbonising industry – the potential effects on prices and competitiveness (a case study of the UK)". These include projected impacts for industrial process decarbonisation (costs, fuel use, residual emissions), for key years (2030, 2040, 2050), distributed in the following ways:

• Directly allocated to industrial sector in which they occur


• Shared between sectors in proportion to the share of GVA of each supply chain


• Embodied in final products


• Embodied in final products, aggregated to consumption patterns

The source of the projections and the method to perform the distribution are described in detail in the associated article.

This data set presents the underlying data used to produce the results for the UKERC working paper: Sensitivity Analysis of Net Zero Pathways for UK Industry or by searching the UKERC Publications section of this website. These data are the outputs of a how the The Net-Zero Industry Pathways (N-ZIP) model results are affected by changing a wider range of inputs than have been previously studied. The Net-Zero Industry Pathways (N-ZIP) model, developed by Element Energy, has been used by both the Climate Change Committee (CCC) and the Government to explore how industry can be decarbonised in way that is consistent with the UKs netzero greenhouse gas (GHG) target. This data set presents the underlying data used to produce the results for the UKERC working paper: Sensitivity Analysis of Net Zero Pathways for UK Industry or by searching the UKERC Publications section of this website.

Annual heat demand data for England and Wales at Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA) level, before and after energy efficiency measures. Normalised half-hourly profiles for heat production and energy consumption of different heating technologies. Costs for energy efficiency measures by local authority. The three datasets available for download include:

1. Annual heat demand data before and after adopting energy efficiency measures for 16 dwelling categories for all the LSOAs in England and Wales.
2. Normalised half-hourly profiles for the heat production and energy consumption of air-source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, gas boilers and resistance heaters based on the UK average daily outside air temperature profile from 2013
3. The estimated costs to implement the energy efficiency measures to reach the annual heat demand displayed in the annual heat demand dataset, for each local authority in England and Wales.

This data set was updated on 14/10/2021. The top-level folder holds the latest version and a README file detailing the changes. The original version is retained in a sub-folder.

This dataset relates to the modelling component of the UKERC Phase 4 Project '4.2a Investment in infrastructure'. The aim is to assess the scale of investment risks in the electricity generation sector associated with uncertainty over the pathway towards net zero. The model comprises three components:1. Input data. Based in Excel, contains the scenario assumptions on the electricity system including generation technologies, wind and solar power availability, demand profiles, interconnector and storage capacities etc.2. Modelling files based on the open-source Antares modelling framework. This requires additional free software to be able to run the model. The model calculates the hourly dispatch of all types of plant included in the system.3. Excel-based financial model, based on post-processing the output of the Antares model.Additional 1_Metadata.xls, Input_ReadMe and Outputs_ReadMe files explain the method for running each step of the modelling process. Software available at https://antares-simulator.org/. Version used 8.0.2

The Public Engagement Observatory of the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) maps the many different ways that people are engaging with energy, climate change and net zero on an ongoing basis.It openly shares, experiments with, and undertakes these mappings with others to help make energy and climate-related decisions, innovations and participation more just, responsible and responsive to society. As part of this activity there is an interactive mapping dataset of diverse cases of public participation and engagement with energy, climate change and net zero occurring in the UK since 2010. Here you can explore multiple different cases of public engagement, and filter the case study dataset based on the form, topic, participants and location of engagement. https://ukerc-observatory.ac.uk/mapping/explore/