In its 2024 Progress Report to Parliament, the UK Climate Change Committee makes clear that the government “will have to act fast” to hit the country’s 2030 target of a reduction in carbon emissions to less than 32% of 1990 levels. Given the scale and speed of change inherent in decarbonisation, social scientists might expect a […]
About FEVER Working towards meeting the UK government’s 2035 zero-emission pledge, and later 2050 climate goal, the FEVER project concentrates on the design, development, and demonstration of a 100% renewable-powered EV charging station, facilitated by an innovative off-vehicle energy store (OVES). This will create a secure, year-round, and – crucially – grid-independent charging solution for EVs. Moving […]
The ACCESS Network has announced new funding for three environmental research projects. Together they examine and evaluate opportunities to encourage people to get more involved in climate action By empowering young people in climate decision-making Strengthening pro-environmental values amongst British Muslims Improving our understanding of how acts of caring in communities can lead to a […]
Context Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), is a technology aimed at capturing and compressing carbon dioxide emissions produced by industrial processes or power generation and storing them underground in saline aquifers or depleted oil or gas fields. The idea of CCS dates back to the 1970s, but it took until the late 1990s for CCS […]
Context In 1963, around 70% of UK homes were heated by coal. Only around 10% of the UK market for heating installations was for oil, ‘town gas’ (carbonised coal) or electric appliances. By 1977, nearly half of homes had natural gas central heating. This rapid transformation was well organised and centrally promoted, supported by legislation […]
Context District Heating (also known as heat networks) is the localised distribution of heat from a central source to multiple buildings or homes through a network of hot water carrying underground pipes. The central heat source providing input to a heat network can come from a variety of technologies including: power stations, Energy from Waste […]
Context In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, with modelling studies predicting a public health emergency and the overrun of already stretched health services, the UK Government announced the first of several non-pharmaceutical measures. They included a lockdown, school closures, face mask orders and social distancing measures. The measures represented a previously difficult to […]
Context In light of growing concern about littering and pollution, particularly from plastics, policymakers have sought to reduce use of single-use plastics and encourage re-use. Carrier bags make up a significant proportion of urban, rural and marine litter; for example, plastic bags account for around 9% of all litter found on the coastline (Ricardo, 2015). […]
Context Tobacco remains a leading cause of death globally, killing nearly 8 million people each year. The vast majority of these deaths are as a result of smoking (Reitsma et al., 2021). In the UK, smoking, which is most prevalent in deprived groups, remains a leading cause of death (Office for National Statistics, 2023). The […]
Context The United Kingdom has one of the oldest existing housing stocks in Europe (Grey et al., 2017), and with energy performance generally correlating with building age (Karvonen, 2013), it also has one of the most energy inefficient. UK homes account for 29% of total UK energy demand (BEIS, 2020) and around 22% of UK […]
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