Energy partnership

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (

) has signed a £4m strategic partnership with

to address the barriers affecting the take-up of energy efficient technologies.

The four-year agreement will see UK academics working alongside EDF's research-and-development (R&D) team at the European energy efficiency research centre (ECLEER) in order to understand how people use energy in their homes in the wake of low-carbon technologies such as ground- and air-source heat pumps.

The partnership is hoped to speed-up the delivery of greener heating technologies for homes and businesses. Funding for research projects will be provided to look at the factors involved in rolling out these technologies across the UK.

Dave Delpy, chief executive at the EPSRC, said: 'We are very pleased to be partnering EDF in this important strategic area. It has significant expertise in technical, social and economic aspects of home-energy efficiency. This expertise, combined with research from leading UK academics, will be essential if the UK is to meet its carbon-reduction targets while delivering secure and affordable energy to UK homes and businesses.'

Eric Salomon, director of energy services at EDF, added: ‘We are delighted to have our own energy efficiency R&D experts join forces with the leading UK academics in this area.

‘The results of this research will help us speed-up the delivery of low-carbon technology to residential and business customers around the UK, and could help reduce energy costs and their carbon footprints.’