'Energy and its uses are an integral and essential part of our lives. Energy is coupled to civil and environmental engineering through infrastructure, procurement of primary energy sources and their utilisation, generation of electricity, the end use of energy in industry, homes and transportation as well as its environmental impact.'

The Sustainable Energy Research Group within the School of Civil Engineering and the Environment undertakes research in core areas of energy, specifically in the built environment and in renewables. The Group's interests include building envelopes and their impact on energy and comfort, photovoltaics and marine current energy converters.

The aims of the Sustainable Energy Research Group are to promote and undertake fundamental and applied research alongside pre-industrial development in the areas of renewable energy technologies. In addition the group undertakes research related to the efficient use of energy in the built environment. The knowledge base encompasses:

• The design of environmentally friendly energy systems, including methods and procedures for their efficient use.
  
• Knowledge transfer between research and industry.
  
• The promotion of teaching programmes for engineering and science students.
  
• The future performance of the built environment under a changing climate.
  

The Sustainable Energy Research Group undertakes extensive research in energy for development in both cities and rural areas. The aims of the first are to address the energy pathways in urban areas, the impacts of climate change and assess consumption behavior patterns and their relation to carbon. The second addresses needs and sustainability issues in developing countries through research that considers the interactions between: people needs, customized technology and suitable business processes. The above research themes included the creation of solar villages, eco-regions and decentralized off-grid energy generation. These long-term projects have at their core improvements of peoples' wellbeing in urban and rural communities.

The following links provide more information of these areas:

China - UK Ecoregion Research Networks
Energy for Development Network

The research work of the group focuses on:

• Photovoltaics
• Marine Energy
• Urban Energy and Carbon Studies
• Smart Building Technologies
• Microgeneration
• Climate Change Studies
• Micro Hydropower
• Pollution Control

more about the group's research