Is Building-Integrated Energy Storage a Good Idea?

实现我们的全球气候目标取决于大规模的供暖脱碳，但英国政府最近的“清洁增长战略”将其确定为实现碳目标的“最困难的政策和技术挑战”。使供暖脱碳的两个关键方法是：1)改用使用脱碳电力的电供暖（如热泵）。2)增加太阳能热、生物质和废热等直接低碳供暖技术的多样性。在这两种情况下，能源储存（包括电力和热能）将是一个至关重要的推动因素，它将能源供应与需求脱钩，并有助于采用更多的低碳发电。然而，在如何最好地将能源储存应用于建筑和社区方面，仍存在许多问题。例如，新的存储选项需要多大的物理尺寸才能在有用的持续时间（例如几个小时）内转移能源需求？有前途的技术方案对环境的影响是什么？例如，它们能否通过使用实现净碳效益？在更广泛的脱碳背景下，建筑规模是一个合适的储能目标水平吗？本博士将结合动态能源建模和生命周期评估，为建筑物建立新型储能方案的可行性。该研究由EPSRC通过ACE部门资助，并直接解决教师“低碳未来”和“可持续发展”的战略研究重点。它将为建筑和社区的储能系统设计提供科学依据，从而使建筑师和工程师受益。它还将为低碳建筑的能源储存作用的决策提供信息。

Meeting our global climate targets depends on a massive decarbonisation of heating, but the UK government's recent 'Clean Growth Strategy' identified this as "our most difficult policy and technology challenge" for meeting carbon targets. Two key ways to decarbonise heating are: 1) switch to electrical heating (such as heat pumps) using decarbonised electricity. 2) increase the diversity of direct low-carbon heating technologies such as solar thermal, biomass, and waste heat. Energy storage (both electrical and thermal) will be a crucial enabler in both cases, decoupling the timing of energy supply from demand and aiding the adoption of more low-carbon power generation. However, many questions remain over how best to adopt energy storage into buildings and communities. For example, what physical size would novel storage options need to be to shift energy demand over useful durations (e.g. a few hours)? What are the environmental impacts of promising technology options; e.g. will they achieve a net carbon benefit through their use? Is building-scale an appropriate level to target energy storage at to assist in the wider decarbonisation context? This PhD will use a combination of dynamic energy modelling and life cycle assessment to establish the feasibility of novel storage options for buildings. The research is funded via EPSRC through the department ACE, and directly addresses faculty strategic research priorities of "low carbon futures" and "sustainability". It will benefit architects and engineers by providing scientific evidence to guide the design of energy storage systems into buildings and communities. It will also inform policy-making on the role of energy storage for low-carbon buildings.