Energy decarbonisation

About us

Lancaster University is in a unique position to become a national demonstrator for energy decarbonisation. We could be at the forefront of the Net Zero transition, sharing our expertise and experiences to hasten decarbonisation across the world. Our purpose, our people and our place provide the perfect platform. Our purpose as a higher education establishment at the forefront of knowledge underpins our commitment to leading the transition to sustainable Net Zero. We exist to train from undergraduate to continuing professional development, generate new knowledge and innovate and inform policy and practice at local to globally. Our people, from undergraduate students to senior management, are driven to pioneer the transition to a sustainable campus and share insight into our journey.

Our leadership team declared a climate emergency in 2020 and has committed to ambitious Net Zero targets: to reach Net Zero from electricity and heating by 2030 and from all other emissions by 2035. Our award-winning facilities teams are visionary in their approach to campus energy decarbonisation. Energy Lancaster researchers provide diverse interdisciplinary expertise from across the faculties of science and technology, arts and social sciences, health and medicine, and the management school.

Moreover, we do not work alone – we engage from SME’s through to big business ensuring a multi-faceted impact that delivers sustained changes in policy and practice. Our place is a microcosm of a small town where it is possible to experiment with innovation at scale using a wide range of energy infrastructure. Our energy infrastructure is immense - we are one of the highest producers of renewable energy of all UK universities according to figures published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Our heat and power are provided by a 2.35 MW wind turbine, 2 MW combined heat and power plant, 0.1 MW solar photovoltaics, 8.4 MW hydrogen-compatible gas boilers, 1 MW biomass boiler. In addition, we have a district heating network, thermal store, and 11 kV private network.

Meeting Net Zero

To meet our Net Zero targets, Lancaster University is investing £65 million to further decarbonize its campus and help towards achieving a Net Zero future. These investments include:

11MW solar farm

A 11MW solar farm is under construction and due to be commissioned in Spring 2025. The solar farm will be the second east-west array in the UK, designed as such to best meet the campus power demands. Moreover, it will contain the UK’s first agrivoltaics demonstrator, enabling the co-production of power and food. This landmark research facility will comprise an area of tracking photovoltaic arrays and an area of vertical panels, enabling research and teaching across disciplines from plant science, to control system engineering. It will be used to engage with both the solar and agricultural industries

Low Carbon Centre

Following the award of more than £21 million of funding from the Government’s Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF), Lancaster University will commence construction of a new ‘Low Carbon Energy Centre’ and significant expansion of its district heat network in Autumn 2024. The GHNF funding will be matched by the University to develop a new £42 million facility on Bailrigg campus which will virtually eliminate the use of gas to heat its Bailrigg Campus. The energy centre will use state-of-the-art heat pump technology – the first of its kind in the UK – to generate a projected 39 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of low carbon heat, enough to heat 95 per cent of the buildings on campus.

Theme leads

Professor Alona Armstrong

Professor in Energy and Environmental Studies

I am currently a Natural Environment Research Council Industrial Innovation Fellow and a Senior Lecturer in Energy & Environmental Sciences. I am in the Plant, Soil and Land Systems research group within Lancaster Environment Centre and a core member of Energy Lancaster, leading the Agrovoltaics and Energy Decarbonisation themes.

My research focuses on the implications of the low-carbon energy transition on the local environment, including ecosystem function, properties and service provision. I use a range of desk, field, laboratory and modelling approaches to resolve understanding, taking a positive approach – we need to decarbonise energy supplies and there will be more land taken for renewable energy infrastructure but how can we do this whilst maximising environmental co-benefits? Working collaboratively with stakeholders from across sectors is central to my work. I look to use the understanding developed to inform policy and practice, with the underpinning aim of promoting the delivery of environmental benefits, beyond that of low-carbon energy, from the energy transition. Previous to my energy research, I focused on the response of peatland carbon cycling to land management perturbations.

Professor Adrian Friday

Professor of Computing and Sustainability

Adrian Friday is Professor of Computing and Sustainability at Lancaster University. A Ubicomp pioneer, he has over 25 years’ experience developing, deploying and studying digital infrastructures embedded in everyday environments.

His interdisciplinary projects focus on understanding how digital systems impact energy and carbon footprint, including: energy use in the home (EP/I00033X/1); thermal comfort using less energy; sustainable food choices (EP/K012738/1); sustainable transport infrastructure (EP/K012614/1), sustainable last-mile logistics (EP/N02222X/1; EP/S027726/1); and mining fine-grained industrial energy and contextual data using time-series statistical and ML techniques (EP/T025964/1). He is an advisor to the leading Ubicomp journal, IMWUT; and a member of the Royal Society ``Digital Technology and the Planet'' working group responsible for advising on policy for ICT toward sustainable digital society.