Is Building-Integrated Energy Storage a Good Idea?

实现我们的全球气候目标取决于供暖的大规模脱碳，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“我们最困难的政策和技术挑战”。脱碳供暖的两个关键方法是：1）改用使用脱碳电力的电加热（如热泵）。2)增加太阳能、生物质和余热等直接低碳供暖技术的多样性。储能（电力和热能）将是这两种情况下的关键推动因素，将能源供应的时间与需求脱钩，并有助于采用更多的低碳发电。然而，如何最好地将储能应用于建筑物和社区仍然存在许多问题。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）内改变能源需求？有希望的技术选择对环境有哪些影响;例如，这些技术选择是否会通过使用而实现净碳效益？建筑规模是否是一个合适的水平，以帮助更广泛的脱碳背景下的目标能源储存？该博士学位将使用动态能源建模和生命周期评估相结合的方法来确定建筑物新型存储方案的可行性。该研究是通过部门ACE通过EPSRC资助，并直接解决教师的“低碳未来”和“可持续发展”的战略研究重点。它将为建筑师和工程师提供科学依据，指导建筑物和社区的储能系统设计。它还将为政策制定者提供有关低碳建筑储能作用的信息。

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.