Imperial College London

Phil Heptonstall

Faculty of Natural SciencesCentre for Environmental Policy

Research Fellow
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 7309philip.heptonstall

 
 
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Location

 

401Weeks BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Overview

Current Research

Heat pump cost reductions

Domestic heating and hot water provision accounts for around a quarter of total UK energy demand, and the sector is currently dominated by natural gas boilers. Decarbonising this sector is therefore vital if the UK is to continue its journey to net zero.

This TPA project will focus on heat pumps because many analyses have concluded that they are likely to be the most cost-effective route to decarbonising heat provision. However, a key challenge is the current high cost of heat pumps and the associated heating system changes required to make best use of the different operating characteristics of heat pumps, relative to the incumbent gas boilers.

The project aims to bring together the evidence from past cost trends and future expectations of costs for heat pumps.

Full details can be found on the project webpage: https://ukerc.ac.uk/project/heat-pump-cost-reductions/

Green Jobs

In 2014 the UKERC TPA team completed a review on low carbon jobs, examining the evidence for net job creation from policy support for energy efficiency and renewable energy:  https://ukerc.ac.uk/project/low-carbon-jobs/

The current project will provide an update to the 2014 report . The updated analysis will consider the question of whether policy driven expansion of specific low carbon sectors actually creates jobs, particularly when the policies in question require subsidies that are paid for through bills or taxes.

Full details can be found on the project webpage: https://ukerc.ac.uk/project/green-jobs/


completed Research


Full details of completed TPA projects can be found on the UKERC webpages: https://ukerc.ac.uk/research/tpa/