Energy Seminar – HT25 Week 3: Heat decarbonisation at the University of Oxford
Paul Cross, Head of Energy and Carbon
- Start Tuesday 04 Feb 2025 5:00pm
- Finish Tuesday 04 Feb 2025 6:15pm
- Venue School of Geography & the Environment
- Postcode OX1 3AN
- Register for event
Summary: The University seeks to reduce scope 1 carbon emissions from around 18,000 COt pa to 4,000 COt pa by 2035. This can only be achieved by replacing gas plant with lower carbon intensive alternatives. This will generally feature heat pumps arranged individually or as networks. This deployment requires a focus on related estates-wide issues including building performance optimisation, electricity use and supply, system resilience, and metering and control, as well as the practicalities of delivery and cost. The University does not have all the answers, but there is a clear approach and this talk introduces the activities the University is taking to address this challenge.
Speaker: Paul has worked in most sectors at a senior level in a variety of estates and facilities functions including senior management and leadership, projects/programme delivery, master planning and estate strategy, space planning and sustainability. Paul enjoys difficult challenges which is why he recently moved from the Science and Technology Facilities Council to produce and deliver the heat decarbonisation plan for the University of Oxford. The task is proving to be even more complicated than at first thought, but as a climate optimist and natural collaborator, Paul is making headway and is always happy to share lessons learned and learn from others.