About Energy 2050
Energy 2050 is one of the UK's largest energy research institutes.
What is Energy 2050?
Changing the way we make and use energy
Part of the University of Sheffield’s Energy Institute, Energy 2050 has over 120 academics and more than 250 PhD students undertaking innovative and forward-thinking energy research and development.
Where the Energy Institute looks at the wider energy research across interdisciplinary areas of the University, Energy 2050 focuses on decarbonisation, carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), energy from waste, hydrogen and fuels cells and bioenergy, amongst other things. The research interests of the group also cover energy policy, cross-cutting technology including computational fuel dynamics (CFD) and process simulation.
De-risking investment in energy technologies through faster prototyping and better manufacturing
We go beyond traditional university research boundaries to deliver industry and policy relevant innovation. We work with companies and government to de-risk investment in energy technologies to deliver cheaper, secure and clean energy.
We have world class innovation facilities, including the new Translational Energy Research Centre (TERC), to test new energy technologies, prototyping expertise to accelerate the process from blueprint to market and advanced engineering and manufacturing understanding to reduce the cost and time of making components.
Training the next generation of energy leaders
From the UK’s longest-running and largest MSc course on Energy Engineering, to our four national centres for training energy PhDs, we are training the next generation of energy leaders who will use their expertise in academia, industry and government.
Why Energy 2050?
Our energy challenges
The UK was the first country to set legally binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2050. Global need for energy is increasing at a time when the risks and challenges of climate change are well understood and people around the world are demanding cheap, reliable energy. The World Energy Council has called these challenges the “energy trilemma” - of delivering affordable, secure and sustainable energy.
Energy systems - more interaction, more complex
As countries move away from fossil fuels, they will need a greater range of energy technologies. So at Energy 2050 we look at both the individual technologies and also how these technologies interact and integrate.
Our energy systems will grow more complex in the years ahead. We are working hard to help governments and companies understand the full energy system, not just parts of it.
Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures
Energy 2050 also contributes to energy aspects of the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures, which leads the University of Sheffield’s work around sustainability, and the interaction between food, energy and resources.
Established in Autumn 2014 with a £2.6 million gift from The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, the Centre is a collaboration with Project Sunshine. Its key aim is to advance the science of sustainability and connect it with the policy debate about how humans can live in a more sustainable way.