The latest episode of Talking New Energy is all about women in new energy. The episode is hosted by Jennifer Arran, Head of Products at Delta-EE, who interviews leading women at forefront of the energy transition. We discuss the challenges they face, but also highlight why and how gender equality can support the energy transition and its overall success. Jennifer is joined by Laetitia Ouillet, Chairperson of De Windvogel, a Dutch Energy Cooperative; and Dhara Vyas, Head of Future Energy Services at Citizens Advice.

Listen to the episode here or on your favourite podcast provider.

We have recently completed a project for Climate X Change on heat pump use in Scotland.

Heat pumps are an efficient way of producing heat from electricity; they operate by capturing the latent heat in the air, ground or water and using it for heating.

Heat pumps are expected to play a significant role in decarbonising heat in Scotland; the Climate Change Committee has described them as a 'low-regrets' option, and they feature prominently in Scotland’s Draft Heat in Buildings Strategy.

However, heat pump efficiency can vary across the heating season and in different buildings, meaning the costs and impacts on wider energy systems depend on the context.

This desk-based review looks at evidence on how heat pumps currently, or are likely to, perform in practice in Scottish buildings. The research identifies best practice relevant to Scotland and gaps in the available evidence.

The scope of the research was for both domestic and non-domestic buildings. However, the majority of the relevant datasets relate to domestic settings.

Learn more about the project here.

We have recently completed a project for Climate X Change on hydrogen for heat in buildings.

Hydrogen is one of only a handful potential heat decarbonisation routes which offer a mass-market solution.

This project was commissioned to help build a clear evidence base, using existing literature relating to all aspects of the use of hydrogen to heat buildings, including supporting infrastructure and costs. Lessons gained thus far from key projects have been synthesised along with a wide range of evidence sources on aspects such as technical feasibility, safety and costs.

Learn more about the project here.

The Building for 2050 project, led by multi-disciplinary consultancy AECOM, is a major project funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Its purpose is to identify the drivers, attitudes, barriers and challenges relating to the large-scale delivery and uptake of low cost, low carbon housing in England and Wales. It considers both the pull and push factors relating to delivery of housing fit for the future. Increasingly, the numbers of such homes being built will contribute to the ambitious targets within the UK Clean Growth Strategy and reduce energy use and bills for residents, while delivering attractive and comfortable homes.

We would welcome your attendance at a final project webinar on the on 26th October, to hear the findings and recommendations of the project, while also presenting an opportunity for the representatives of the wider sector to provide feedback to the project team and BEIS. Observations from the design and construction stages and analysis of the performance, together with the opinions provided, will help inform the steps required to accelerate the uptake of low cost, low carbon homes in the UK.

Register for the webinar here.

Social or peer comparisons are used in ~30% of more advanced energy insights apps in Europe today. But current solutions could do more to better engage residential customers. In this webinar, hosted by Delta-EE’s Energy Insights + team, we will be sharing recent research highlights and new thinking in how to develop social comparison tools to bring sustained engagement and behaviour change. Join our team of experts as we discuss:

• What social comparison tools are and how they work
• What the key challenges are in designing compelling social comparisons tools
• How four key design elements should seamlessly weave together to create a solution to drive customer engagement and energy efficiency.

Register here for the webinar.