The UK is facing an energy crisis on three fronts: climate change, energy security, and affordability. The energy price crisis in particular, further exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, has made both energy security and affordability front page news. UK public policy and debates on how to solve this crisis have largely focused on fixing energy supply, e.g. by finding alternatives to oil and gas imports, speeding new nuclear build, addressing onshore wind planning legislation, and promoting a switch to heat pumps and electric vehicles. Much less attention has been given to how we can reduce energy demand to help this effort.

Yet, energy demand reduction is fundamental in solving the energy crisis, and needed for improving energy security, reducing household energy bills and addressing climate change. The UK has set a target to become a Net Zero society by 2050, and research conducted by the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS) shows that reducing energy use could help meet half of the required emissions reductions needed by 2050.

The energy challenge requires a fundamental change in our society, to enable a deep energy demand reduction and wide use of low-carbon technologies, supported by policy, businesses and the public alike. While this poses a challenge, it also provides an opportunity for the UK to become a global leader in energy demand reduction, and associated research.

As Energy Demand Research Co-Champions we will develop the next phase of energy demand research in the UK via an open and wide-reaching consultation process with research, policy, industry, business, NGOs and community organisations. We will build on previous research findings to identify what more can be learnt from those, and which new research questions should be answered. We will work together with a range of people and organisations to develop a Centre of excellent and meaningful research that has real-life impact. Our aim is to co-lead a Centre that is collaborative, innovative, diverse and creative, championing energy demand research in the UK and beyond.