How can rural communities harness the opportunities in the transition to Net-Zero to improve energy resilience and mobility? The Rural Energy Resilience project builds on work carried out on earlier IUK projects to develop a package which links rural car clubs, community buildings, local renewable generation and Distribution Network Operators (DNOs), unlocking value across 5 use cases with 3 different UK built V2X technologies (AC, DC CHAdeMO & CCS): 1. _Rural Car Clubs_ - reducing charging costs from using local renewables and generating revenue by selling energy back to sites and the grid from vehicle batteries. This improves the viability of rural car clubs, improving mobility allowing people to access leisure and employment opportunities, reducing the need for second cars and compensating for poor rural bus services. 2. _Community Buildings_ a) battery storage on vehicles for their solar PV renewables, reducing their energy bills. b) backup power during powercuts for their resilience centres - using a vehicle battery to boil kettles & charge phones. c) EV chargepoints for villages which are overlooked by most chargepoint operators (CPOs). 3. _DNOs_ interested in flexibility services where the network is constrained_,_ saving revenue on network reinforcements_._ Individual use cases are not commercially viable, but stacked together they generate a moderate commercial return plus significant social and environmental impacts. The key research question is how do these use cases work together in a real world trial. The trial brings together a strong partnership of commercial and third sector partners: * JLJ Community Initiatives (JLJ) work in partnership with Blackhall Mill Community Association (BMCA) Car Club and will deliver practical trials the project - using EVs to export power back to the community centre. Cybermoor (CYB) has been working with 14 other locations, identified during survey work over the last 3 years with Local Authorities, Community Groups and Commnity Renewable Energy Operators. * Charge my Street (CMS), a CPO, will work with Indra (CHAdeMO DC & CCS AC) and Entrust Microgrid (CCS DC), UK V2X chargepoint manufacturers to operate trial locations. Fuuse will develop the software to manage the interactions and meter the energy flows between the stakeholders, reconciling them to allow simple billing. Milliamp (MIL) will test security of the hardware and software with end users in the project. The portfolio of use cases and technologies will be evaluated - to get identify critical success factors for scaling V2X roll-outs and reduce the time to market.

Tech Lancaster aims to undertake an ambitious programme of outreach, STEM engagement, and skills training & development to target gaps in the current skills provision for the semiconductor integration/electronics design segment of the semiconductor supply chain. Currently there exists huge skills gaps, depleted workforces, and lack of engagement in a crucial industry that can support a variety of strategic national developments, such as the creation of technology to support megatrends in low carbon for Net Zero, electric vehicles, EV chargers, EdgeAI and the Internet of Things - all reliant on active semiconductors such as integrated circuits and their integration/design into products. It would also provide strategic long term domestic capability to avoid future technology shortages and impacts from disruption of global supply chains and overseas resource constraints/unavailability. Tech Lancaster already runs intensive 12 week skills bootcamps nationwide focused on electech manufacturing, some supported by the UK Government, and this project will allow us to further extend this capability to engage and upskill/reskill those requiring a higher level of training, such as those undertaking design engineer roles within the semiconductor supply chain in the area of semiconductor design/integration at circuit board level, who ultimately add significant value and enable the upstream semiconductor manufacturers and downstream technology manufacturing industry value chains.

"Remote Things", is an Internet of Things (IoT) platform targeted towards rural use cases that is able to operate with reduced infrastructure requirements and has advanced features operating at the edge of the network in the rural environment. Whilst recent UK Government initiatives have given the big 4 mobile operators a target of 95% of data coverage by 2025 which will enable IoT technology in a number of rural locations, there will still be some specific rural areas who will be left behind due to it being commercially or technically infeasible to install 4/5G, increasing the digital divide and impacting on rural industries. We propose to mitigate this with a license free, low cost LPWAN based technology LoRaWAN operating over a bespoke designed software platform with features that make it specifically compatible for rural use where underlying infrastructure such as power and broadband/fiber are not available. This will enable IoT technology for use in a number of applications such as environmental sensing, livestock monitoring and security. Lack of rural communications infrastructure is not a problem specific to the UK. It is believed that development of this platform will provide follow-on international opportunities that will help the UK lead the world.

"SAMBA (Smart Automotive Managed Battery Algorithms) is a project seeking to develop an innovative health module that integrates with electric vehicle chargers and uses smart algorithm technology to help prolong battery life. Recent research shows that optimally charging and discharging the battery could improve its life by about 10% over a year. Electric vehicles (EVs) are often seen as a key driver towards a greener future and reduced air pollution. There are now almost 110,000 EVs on UK roads, and sales are set to rise sharply. ""By 2030, we could see as many as nine million electric vehicles on the road,"" (Marcus Stewart, National Grid Energy Insights Manager). EV batteries are the crucial component in determining both the price and environmental impact of EVs, as they contain rare earth materials that are cost-intense to extract and difficult to recycle. Increasing the lifespan of EV batteries is therefore not only key to making EVs more economically viable, but also environmentally imperative. Additionally, with rising EV numbers comes a rising demand on the charging infrastructure in terms of available charge points and electricity generation. SAMBA combines cutting-edge smart algorithms, machine learning and innovative technology to optimise EV charging for battery health. Currently, EV owners would want their EV charged to full as fast as possible. This ""ICE analogy"" behaviour, however, often contradicts the process that would help prolong battery life. It also often results in charge being drawn from national grid at the least opportune times, both in terms of network demand and cost. The SAMBA health module optimises the charging process by smart switching of multiple electricity flows. SAMBA gets added to an existing EV charge point together with a local renewable energy generator (e.g. solar, wind) with its own local battery pack and a two-way connection to the the national grid. The algorithms then intelligently manage battery needs, e.g. discharge completely before recharging, in order to prolong battery life. The charge post's vehicle-to-grid capability ensures that the charge drawn from the car battery can also be fed into the grid to help meet peak demands and reduce energy costs. Similarly, surplus from the local energy source is fed into the grid. Crucially, the innovative software includes machine learning algorithms that predict charging patterns and manage battery life to always make the optimal choice between charging and discharging from the post's own generator, the grid and the vehicle."