Supporting the region on its journey to net zero

Mayor Dan Jarvis, in November 2019, declared a Climate Emergency in South Yorkshire and set an ambitious target of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. He then released the Sheffield City Region’s Energy Strategy, in July 2020, that outlines how the region can reach its decarbonisation goals a full ten years before the national target of net zero by 2050. 

Researchers at the Energy Institute fed into the creation of the Sheffield City Region Energy Strategy and will be integral to the delivery of its aims by collaborating with key organisations and local businesses to support decarbonisation activity. The Energy Institute's state-of-the-art research facilities will be used to develop and test new low carbon energy technologies for use in the region as well as provide training and jobs in this growing sector.

Modelling Sheffield’s energy and resource usage

Researchers in the Urban Flows Observatory are working to create a model of Sheffield’s energy and resource usage by collecting data about the way our city functions. This will allow us to create a detailed understanding of the distribution of energy use - including which buildings lose the most heat, and where solar energy can be most effective and where electric vehicle charging points are best located around the city

Supporting small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs)

The team at the Translational Energy Research Centre is supporting Sheffield City Region-based SMEs to help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, bring research to life and make their processes more sustainable. First an audit is conducted to help the business to understand their energy consumption profile and the environmental impact of their operations. Then, practical and cost effective short and long term suggestions are made about how to reduce emissions, or to support other sustainability practices. 

You can read the Translational Energy Research Centre’s case studies on their work, including with a local knife manufacturer and a consultancy business, here.

World class facilities and expertise in global energy sector

The Energy Institute encompasses many world class facilities, including the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC), the Translational Energy Research Centre (TERC), the Centre for Research into Electrical Energy Storage and Applications (CREESA), The Advanced Resource Efficiency Centre (AREC) and Sheffield Siemens GAMSEA Renewable Energy (S2GRE) facility. 

These facilities work with local and global industrial partners to develop new low carbon technologies and supply chains. This concentration of research and innovation capability places the Sheffield City Region as a key player in the global clean energy revolution and will bring in investment and job opportunities. The energy sector has been relatively unscathed by the Covid crisis and, with targeted investment, can hold the key to the economic recovery.

Making the case for greater energy strategy devolution

Our researchers have called for more powers to be given to areas such as the Sheffield City Region to enable them to reduce their carbon emissions and switch to clean energy sources.

According to a report written by University of Sheffield energy researchers, implementing zero carbon transport and heating sources for homes and buildings in places such as Sheffield would improve people’s quality of life through improved air quality, reduced fuel poverty and fewer winter deaths.

Dr Alastair Buckley, one of the report authors said: "As decarbonisation efforts shift to reducing emissions from buildings and transport, and energy systems become more decentralised, it makes sense that the relevant regulatory powers are devolved to the different regions of the UK. This might include increasing the powers of regional authorities in terms of planning transport and land use, or it might mean allowing regions to borrow money to invest in local energy resources.”

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A carbon neutral campus by 2030

The University of Sheffield has pledged to reach net zero carbon emissions on campus by 2030 and across all its activities by 2038. This places the University among a small number of institutions that have committed to this level of transformational action in response to the climate emergency. It is the Vice-Chancellor’s ambition for the institution to become “one of the most sustainable research-intensive universities in the country".

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