1,889 research outputs found
Towards 2050 net zero carbon infrastructure:a critical review of key decarbonization challenges in the domestic heating sector in the UK
One of the most challenging sectors to meet âNet Zero emissionsâ target by 2050 in the UK is the domestic heating sector. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of the main challenges of heating systems transition to low carbon technologies in which three distinct categories of challenges are discussed. The first challenge is of decarbonizing heat at the supply side, considering specifically the difficulties in integrating hydrogen as a low-carbon heating substitute to the dominant natural gas. The next challenge is of decarbonizing heat at the demand side, and research into the difficulties of retrofitting the existing UK housing stock, of digitalizing heating energy systems, as well as ensuring both retrofits and digitalization do not disproportionately affect vulnerable groups in society. The need for demonstrating innovative solutions to these challenges leads to the final focus, which is the challenge of modeling and demonstrating future energy systems heating scenarios. This work concludes with recommendations for the energy research community and policy makers to tackle urgent challenges facing the decarbonization of the UK heating sector.</p
Distributing power, a transition to a civic energy future: Report of the Realising Transition Pathways Research Consortium âEngine Roomâ
The overarching challenge for UK energy policy is to
ensure the delivery of secure, affordable energy in a
way that meets the emission reductions targets laid
out in the Climate Change Act (2008). The EPSRCfunded
Transition Pathways (TP) and, more recently,
Realising Transition Pathways (RTP) projects have both argued that multiple logics of governance, ownership, and control of the electricity system can be followed to address the energy trilemma. This work has developed three transition pathways for the UK energy system, each driven by different governance patterns. Each pathway has a specific technological mix, institutional architecture, and societal drivers. These pathways are:
Central Co-ordination: Central to this pathway
is the role of the nation state in actively delivering the transition.
Market Rules: After the creation of a broad
policy framework, the state allows competition
and private companies to deliver sustainable,
affordable energy.
Thousand Flowers: This pathway is characterised by a greatly expanded role for civil society in delivering distributed low-carbon generation.
The following report focuses on the Thousand
Flowers pathway. There is growing interest, from a range of stakeholders, in the potential of distributed low-carbon electricity generation in delivering a low-carbon energy system. Yet there are still significant gaps in understanding, particularly regarding the feasibility of scaling up
distributed generation from technological, governance, regulation, policy, and financial perspectives. The aim of this report is to address these gaps within the context of the Thousand Flowers pathway. This research was carried out by the âEngine Roomâ of the EPSRC-funded Realising Transition Pathways (RTP) consortium. The âEngine Roomâ was established to facilitate interdisciplinary work across the consortium
and consists of research fellows and doctoral
researchers from different fields in the nine partner
institutions. Engine Room workshops and meetings
give researchers the space to present their work
and develop and exchange ideas with their peers.
This report is an output of a series of interdisciplinary Engine Room workshops held throughout 2013/14 which also drew on contributions from energy industry stakeholders. These workshops brought together the current research and cumulative findings of the Realising Transition Pathways consortium, to examine the consequences of a transition from a centralised energy system to one where distributed generation plays a much greater role (50% of final electricity demand), and is delivered by a civic energy sector. In this report we do not present any panaceas, attempt to preference a civil response to energy transition,
or claim technological infallibility. We do, however,
explore the potential of a distributed energy future and investigate the technological trajectory it could follow, along with an institutional architecture compatible with its development. We acknowledge throughout that this is a challenging but realistic system transition
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