Day 1: Research, Inclusion and Technical Breadth
Lindsey Allen and Adam Suttle stressed during the welcome that the conference would be more than just technical findings. Sara Walker’s keynote speech was powerful because it made people think about how to keep going, help others, and keep things in perspective in their research careers. Attendees really liked how she stressed that family should come before work, a nice reminder of the order of priorities in research.
The Global Energy Policy and Just Transition panel combined data and candid opinions on energy costs, social impacts and decision-making politics. The session’s engagement came from diverse viewpoints that encouraged thinking beyond technology. Questions addressed both investment choices and their beneficiaries, highlighting how net zero is shaped by institutions and public values. The EDI training by Dr Marco Reggiani demonstrated that inclusive research culture requires deliberate construction. The session presented kindness, fair opportunities, mentoring, and diversity recognition as essential components of research environments. Agency emerged as a key concept: enabling people to set boundaries and define their success with support. The accessibility discussion encompassed screen reader compatibility, captions, colour choices for visual impairment, flexible formats, and sensory-friendly spaces. Financial barriers and visa issues were acknowledged as participation obstacles. The session emphasized access and inclusion from the start to ensure fair research culture in net zero.
The programme then split into parallel technical sessions, where the richness of the conference emerged. One strand focused on Low Carbon Technologies and Infrastructure, chaired by Jinning Zhang and Saeed Harati. The HI-ACT project and hydrogen’s role in future low-carbon systems were the first things talked about in the session. The conversation looked at hydrogen, including supply chains, regional use, infrastructure, and how people feel about it. This framing made it clear that the future of hydrogen pathways depends on both systems thinking and technological promise. Avijita Kharel talked about Innovate UK Business Connect’s work and how innovation needs more than just ideas; it needs the right connections. She then shared how important it is to connect researchers, businesses, manufacturers, policymakers, and investors so that low-carbon solutions can move forward. Her talk about hydrogen and e-fuels support mechanisms was helpful for early-career researchers because it linked technical details to real-world use.
Dr. Weiqi Hua talked about digital technologies that can help the whole system reach net zero. He said that digitalisation is a way to deal with problems in the system, such as old infrastructure and bad weather. Digital tools, especially digital twins, were shown as ways to learn about how a system works and try out different solutions. His main point was that going digital can speed up the transition and make the power system more flexible. Dr. Anand Sreeram’s talk was about new materials for net-zero road infrastructure. He talked about how common road materials are used and how they affect emissions. His talk about processing biomass and lignin-based alternatives brought attention to an often-overlooked part of the transition. He stressed that the carbon footprint of road materials is important for reaching net zero.
Dr Tongtong Zhang discussed thermal energy storage for industrial decarbonisation, focusing on energy-intensive industries and waste heat recovery. Using steelmaking as an example, she demonstrated heat generation and the challenges of capturing and reusing energy efficiently. Thermal energy storage was shown as a response to supply-demand mismatch through latent heat storage and phase change materials. The talk emphasized that industrial decarbonisation may depend on better utilization of wasted heat.
One of the most engaging technical sessions of the conference was Digital Modelling and Intelligent Energy Systems, which brought together a set of talks that, although varied in topic, collectively showed how central digital tools are becoming to the net-zero transition. Chaired by Ross Drummond and Jinjie Liu, the session focused on how modelling, monitoring, machine learning and intelligent control can improve the performance and operation of modern energy systems. What made the session especially interesting was the way it connected different applications through a common theme: better use of data and digital methods to support decarbonisation.
The session began with Emmanouil Perisoglou from Cardiff University, who spoke about modelling and monitoring low-carbon energy systems through the Transforming Homes Project. Using a demonstration house and data from 65 new low-carbon affordable homes built under the Swansea Standard, the presentation showed how digital models can be used alongside real-world monitoring to develop scalable housing solutions. The findings suggested strong overall performance, with average annual energy consumption of 58 kWh/m², nearly half of which came from on-site renewables such as PV panels and batteries. The homes also exported surplus renewable electricity back to the grid, while indoor temperatures, humidity and CO₂ levels generally remained within comfortable and acceptable ranges. Resident feedback was equally positive, with affordable energy bills and high satisfaction with living conditions. The presentation offered a useful example of how combining digital modelling with real performance data can support better low-carbon housing design.
Ahmed Rezk from Aston University gave a talk that continued the focus on system optimisation. He talked about new cooling technologies and energy storage systems that can help us reach our net-zero goals. He mentioned how cooling demand is becoming more important in the UK and how we need to find better ways to meet it. His talk looked at ways to use cold storage and renewable energy to cool things down, such as solar-based and bioheat methods. He also talked about how to cut down on the amount of energy storage needed. The talk about new ways to cool things down, like better evaporative cooling, hybrid renewable systems, and ways to use refrigerated transport, was especially interesting. He also talked about the REEF-UKC initiative, which aims to create cooling systems that run on renewable energy and lower emissions, ease grid pressure, and make the system more resilient. It was a timely reminder that cooling is likely to become an increasingly important part of a low-carbon energy future.
The session then moved to transport, with Kang Li from the University of Leeds presenting the Flexible Railway Energy Hubs Project. This project looks at how modular energy hubs could help decarbonise the railway sector while also supporting the wider electricity system. The proposed hubs will combine battery storage, solar generation, power electronics, and control infrastructure to support both railway operations and grid flexibility. The talk made it clear that there are still problems, especially with accessing data, interoperability, and controlling the flow of energy between rail and power systems. However, it also showed how these hubs could help with electrification and integrating renewable energy sources.
Finally, Daniel Auger from Cranfield University discussed lithium-sulphur battery modelling and management. His talk focused on the promise of lithium-sulphur batteries as high-energy-density storage technologies, while also addressing the technical difficulties that still limit their deployment. By combining physics-based modelling with data-driven and AI-based techniques, the research aims to improve monitoring of battery condition and performance. This provided a fitting end to the session, reinforcing the broader message that digital methods are becoming essential to the design, operation and future success of low-carbon energy systems.
Later in the day, sessions on Industry Sustainability and Circular Engineering and on Climate Resilience and Security extended the discussion again. Dr Michael Short spoke about biofuels and the concept of biomethane islands, highlighting the challenge of high gas storage requirements and the need to think in whole-system terms. Dr Tohid N. Borhani explored the application of machine learning and large language model approaches in the CCUS domain, while also stressing the importance of robust evaluation and sound statistical criteria. That caution felt important. The conference was clearly open to the potential of AI, but it did not treat novelty as enough on its own. John Cui from NESO then drew on a wide literature base to discuss seasonal energy storage, showing how long-duration balancing remains a central question in the planning of future energy systems.
Overall, the ECR Net Zero Conference 2026 succeeded because it combined technical depth with a more human sense of what research communities need. It was a place to learn about new work, but also a place to hear honest advice, reflect on values and see how many forms of expertise need to come together if the transition is to be just and effective. For early career researchers, that combination made the conference feel both intellectually stimulating and personally encouraging. It left a strong sense that the future of net zero research depends not only on the strength of individual projects, but on our ability to collaborate across disciplines, support one another and stay open to the many ways meaningful change can happen.
