A two-year project by researchers at the University of Strathclyde is aiming to improve decision-making surrounding household energy usage.

The AI: Justice, Energy, Demand flexibility and AI for Sustainability’ (JED-AI) project will look at how different factors, households, and communities all affect household participation in energy demand flexibility.

The project is also set to investigate household use of Low Carbon Technologies, and how they take part in demand energy flexibility services (DFS), such as shifting time of use of energy-intensive activities when renewable generation is high and energy tariffs are low.

DFS help balance demand and supply in the electricity network and encourage green energy use and limit energy generation from fossil fuels.

LCTs, including solar panels, electric vehicles, heat pumps, smart energy efficient appliances and AI-driven energy management solutions are a key part of the transition to Net Zero.

The slow pace of adoption is due to difficulties in devising LCTs that integrate into day-to-day household routines and households not using the technologies as intended.

The JED-AI project aims to integrate AI and social science analyses to generate more just and sustainable interventions in energy demand flexibility.

Researchers will also monitor and evaluate both interdisciplinary processes and energy, justice and sustainability outcomes. It is hoped it will generate new understandings of and methods for interdisciplinary working alongside insights into the development of AI for the transition to Net Zero.

“Our research will investigate how to empower households, from those already having one or more LCTs, to those struggling to pay energy bills, to change how and when they use energy,” professor Lina Stankovic, co-lead of the project, said.

“A previous UK-wide DFS trial run by the National Grid showed an increasing divide in household smart energy capabilities across income, age, and home ownership groups, to adapt quickly to LCTs.

“While many householders benefitted from shifting their energy use to a lower tariff on short notice, people living with health conditions, those with financial stress, and smaller or larger than average households were less able to participate.”

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Co-led by Professors Vladimir Stankovic and Lina Stankovic from Electronic & Electrical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde, it is among 36 breakthrough interdisciplinary projects to receive a share of UKRI £32.4M funding.

The team, coordinated by Strathclyde, includes the University of Oxford and the University of East Anglia, as well as the Energy Systems Catapult and Hugo Technologies Limited.

“We are developing an inclusive approach to strengthening households’ capabilities to take part in existing and emerging demand flexibility services,” professor Vladimir Stankovic said.

“The research is exciting as it challenges perceptions on the benefits of research and practice across the disciplinary spectrum, bridging the gap between social science and engineering methodologies.”

The pilot UKRI encourages new and unexpected types of interdisciplinary research not currently funded through existing UKRI responsive mode schemes and supports research that will be potentially transformative for the participating disciplines or lead to the creation of new disciplines.

The perspectives of different disciplines, working together in collaboration, are vital to solving some of the most pressing problems we face as a society,” Professor Alison Park, UKRI Cross Research  Council Responsive Mode champion and Deputy Executive Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council.

“The UKRI cross research council responsive mode scheme is designed to break down silos and champion research that transcends, combines and significantly spans traditional discipline boundaries.”