The Energy Futures Lab’s vision for more efficient shops, cars and communities
Providing a secure and sustainable energy supply is one of the key issues facing the UK today. Finding innovative solutions to this challenge will involve academics working with local authorities, businesses and governments. The Energy Futures Lab (EFL) is addressing this challenge head on, supporting energy research across the College that is helping to make our shops, homes, transport, and communities more energy efficient and sustainable. The Sainsbury's store in Hythe, Kent, looks like any other large supermarket. A steady stream of shoppers traipse through the aisles, examining groceries, picking through the range of clothing and homeware and pausing at the fresh food counters. Yet, unbeknown to them, their weekly shop takes place in a unique store where researchers from Imperial test their energy-saving ideas. Behind the scenes of the store an energy management system monitors the National Grid and, at peak times, activates the store's biofuel generator, which uses waste oil from food processing plants, hot food counters and out-ofdate stock to power the supermarket.
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