A sinister engineer in orange overalls and dark glasses looms from behind your fridge, hands raised, as if to strike… This is the scenario painted in the Daily Mail in a 2013 article on ‘direct load control’, or the possibility that third parties (‘outside forces’) such as energy suppliers could turn appliances in people’s home off and on to help keep the UK’s electricity system in balance. (more…)

Khayelitsha Township, Western Cape, 2008. Photo Credit: Chell Hill.

The UCL Energy Institute is co-leading a research project called SAMSET Supporting African Municipalities in Sustainable Energy Transition. This project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for International Development (DFID). (more…)

When we hear the words “housing crisis”, the first thing that comes to mind is the exorbitant prices for houses, in particular in London and the South East. And quite frankly, after only two months of house hunting in Cambridge, I am fed up with manipulative estate agents, and competing against dozens of other bidders. Housing is just not affordable for a large part of the young generation, and in particular, the social housing sector sees a lack of adequate properties. (more…)