Wednesday 10 February 2021

Octopus Energy launches net zero research centre to tackle climate threats

Octopus Energy has launched a net zero research centre to drive progress towards tackling climate change.

It claims the London-based Octopus Centre for Net Zero (OCNZ) is the world’s first research organisation of its kind to be focused on the energy technology, or 'entech', sector.

The OCNZ will combine entech data, economic analysis and behavioural insights to create models and policy recommendations to ultimately accelerate the adoption of clean technologies and green energy.

The centre will be independent of Octopus Energy and will make its research publicly available - initial studies will focus on residential heating and transport, the UK's two most emissions-intensive sectors.

It will be headed up by Lucy Yu, the CEO of the OCNZ - she said: “The climate emergency is the biggest challenge of our lifetime, but good policies and investments can help decarbonise our planet without compromising quality of life. But no country can solve this crisis on their own.

"By sharing best practices, tools and models, we have a chance to speed up the much-needed change and get us on the fast-track to net zero. I can’t wait to get started and bring together a team of experts that will drive the knowledge transfer between the energy industry and policymakers."

Energy Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “The UK is leading the world in the green industrial revolution, from being the first major economy to commit to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 to setting ambitious targets in the Prime Minister’s Ten-Point-Plan and our Energy White Paper.

“As we build back greener, private sector and business investment is going to be vital in helping us hit our targets and I look forward to seeing how the tools developed by the Octopus Centre for Net Zero support our efforts to tackle climate change.”