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University campuses uniquely well suited to these
trials
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Advantages include academic and technical expertise,
student support as well as ownership of large areas of land and
buildings
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Trials will help universities meet their
decarbonisation targets
Local energy technologies are developing rapidly, and a new
report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers calls for
more trials to take place on UK university campuses as they are
well-suited to test new technologies thanks to their academic
expertise and ownership of large areas of land and
buildings.
The report, Exploring the Evolution of Low-Carbon
Local Energy, calls on the Government to incentivise
more trials on campuses to encourage innovation and also help
universities to meet their own ambitious decarbonisation
targets.
The report illustrates the evolution of
local energy from single technology projects, such as solar
farms, to whole system schemes which might include energy storage
and smart management systems.
“Local energy is evolving fast. With high levels of
academic and technical expertise, as well as ownership of large
areas of land and buildings, university campuses offer unique
environments for trialling new technology,” said Matt Rooney,
Engineering Policy Adviser at the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers.
“Universities also have environmentally conscious student
bodies who care deeply about climate change and will be
enthusiastic to trial innovative technologies and test new
approaches.”
This year, a pilot scheme is starting at Keele University
to blend hydrogen with the normal gas supply in part of the
university’s private gas network, serving 17 faculty buildings
and 100 domestic properties. The Keele campus was viewed as a
suitable test site, with the University owning and operating its
own private gas network
The trial is part of a larger local energy demonstration
project at the university and is a good example of how high
education institutions can lead in the field.
With many campuses dating back to the 1960s and 1970s, and
often much older, universities will require innovative solutions
to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The age of the
buildings mean they offer great potential for developing and
deploying new technology to reduce their environmental
impact.
Further recommendations in the report, which was informed
by an expert workshop organised by the Institution’s Renewable
Power Committee, include:
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The implementation of the proposed Smart Export Guarantee
(SEG), in which small generators are paid for the value of the
electricity they produce at a given time rather than a fixed
price, should be a priority. The policy outcomes should be
monitored to ensure developers are fairly rewarded and barriers
to entry are not burdensome.
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The UK Government and devolved administrations should
conduct reviews into the planning system, against the suspicion
that low-carbon local energy projects are being held back by
unnecessarily strict regulations.
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IMechE and other similar organisations should do more to
create an evidence base for determining how successful previous
local energy projects have been. Government should provide
extra funding for local councils to allow them to participate
in the evaluations.
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The UK’s universities should increasingly become
test-beds for new energy technologies. Government should
incentivise further trials to take place on campuses, which
could be partnerships between the universities, students,
academics, local energy companies/co-operatives and
DNOs.
