A new partnership between the University of Nottingham's City as Lab – a research-led lab connecting digital research with businesses, policymakers and communities in Nottingham – and the British energy company E.ON, is bringing the fight against fuel poverty into the digital age, with a futuristic model of Nottingham aimed at making energy fairer for all.
The collaboration aims to use the university department's innovative 3D map of Nottingham to identify the households most affected by fuel poverty and allow partners to work together on developing solutions for greener, cleaner, and more affordable energy.
By feeding E.ON's PropSol data into this living digital twin, the partnership aims to simulate, test and design new energy solutions that deliver impact where it's needed most: cold homes, under-served communities, and households struggling to keep the lights on.
City as Lab is transforming Nottingham into a hub of date-driven innovation using award-winning mapping tools to tackle real-world challenges. At its heart is the Projection Augmented Relief Model (PARM) – a 6.2 metre-squared 3D representation of Nottingham. This state-of-the-art model draws on rich data sources – from census records and historical architecture to geographic features – to create a strikingly lifelike version of the city. Developed by Gary Priestnall, Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Nottingham, PARM won the 2024 British Cartographic Society Award for map of the year.
When people see the model, the say 'wow' - but it's what we can do with it that's really exciting. With E.ON on board, we're now exploring energy challenges in ways we simply couldn't before. This is about co-creating solutions that make life better."
Across Nottingham 40 per cent of children are classed as living in poverty, and the city has been named as the poorest place in the UK based on gross disposable household income. E.ON's collaboration aims to tackle some of these disparities in the area, helping families to stay warmer – for less – and making a significant impact in local communities.
Fiona Humphrey's Chief Digital Officer at E.ON UK, said: "Fuel poverty isn't just about statistics, it translates to cold homes, difficult choices, and communities left behind. With City as Lab, we can now test ideas, predict problems, and design smarter solutions before implementing them in the real world. The partnership allows us to feed our real-world data into this intelligent system, enhancing its capability to pinpoint regions and individuals most in need of support – promoting smarter, more efficient, and sustainable energy solutions."
E.ON is the latest organisation to join the project, bringing a focus on fuel poverty, one of the UK's most pressing challenges. E.ON's data pinpoints the city areas most affected by fuel poverty – using Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and household income data – and identifies commercial buildings suitable for solar panels that can sustainably power homes suffering the most, via community sharing.
The partnership is already exploring smart energy-sharing systems, more efficient upgrade strategies using E.ON's Propsol tool, and accessible solar planning via Kuppa – turning data into action, and models into meaningful change.
This project serves as a blueprint for a fairer, greener energy system that any city in the UK can replicate.
