RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT - £200bn annual opportunity for energy sector to deliver energy savings
Skelton, Alexandra, Allwood, Julian M., Horton, Philippa
University of Cambridge
As the government launched its Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) in July 2022, which focused on electricity supply, UK FIRES published its report detailing the even greater scale of opportunity for energy sector innovation on the demand side.
Where new installation of renewable supply is expected to be worth up to £23bn per year, demand side innovation could be worth nearly ten times more, up to £200bn per year, through a combination of new approaches to delivering energy efficiency, electrification of existing fossil-fueled equipment, innovations that support time-shifting demand and decommissioning old assets.
Government policy to date has been heavily weighted towards the supply of zero emissions energy, but we won’t have as much of it as we want. What this report celebrates is the huge and largely un-noticed opportunity for business growth in delivering the products and services of energy saving. Professor Julian Alwood, Dept of Engineering, University of Cambridge and Director of UK Fires
Professor Julian Allwood says “The government’s targets to deliver zero emissions are excellent, and essential if we’re to avoid the catastrophic consequences of this week’s temperature increases becoming normal. Government policy to date has been heavily weighted towards the supply of zero emissions energy, but we won’t have as much of it as we want. What this report celebrates is the huge and largely un-noticed opportunity for business growth in delivering the products and services of energy saving.”
This report reveals four substantial business growth opportunities created by this likely shortage.
UK Fires is a collaboration between the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Nottingham, Bath and Imperial College London funded by EPSRC.
Full Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge article.