Public Funding for Mat Zero Heat Limited

There are c103M refugees in the world (UNHCR 2022), with c33M needing life-sustaining heating in locations where the temperature drops below 10°C in the winter months or during night hours (InfoMigrants 2022). The impact of the cold weather is enormous, with numerous life-threatening health impacts. 6.3M refugee households need safer, better, greener heating (UNHCR 2022). Current heating methods include diesel heaters and burning of materials such as kerosene, firewood and bottled gas, leading to fires, releases of toxic fumes and harm to the environment. UNHCR reported 1100 deaths from refugee campfires in 2021 alone. Current heating methods are very expensive, cUSD300/refugee household/year (IEA 2022). Alternatives such as firewood are cheaper but use vital resources, are high in CO2 impact and present safety and exclusion risks for women collecting the wood (Erin 2007). Removing the need to burn firewood in refugee camps would save c1.5m tonnes CO2/year (UNHCR 2020). Solar PV systems can reduce CO2 emissions by 45 to 70g CO2/kWh) compared to fossil fuel-based solutions (IEA 2021). With PV costs dropping by 80% between 2010-20 (IRENA 2021), opportunities to unlock clean power for heating solutions are becoming financially viable. Mat Zero can alleviate these issues through its innovative solar-powered heating solution. The project will target how to integrate design for repair within the product to increase the longevity of the product from a user-centric approach and outline the social impact around job creation for local repair and recycling teams. The goals of the project are: 1. Assess current design and life cycle analysis concerning End-Of-Life and Cradle to Cradle 2. Evaluate materials for design for durability and resilience for the heated mat and battery (design for durability). 3. Construct guidelines and analyse the social impact of implementing local repair teams to carry out repairs and maintenance on products, providing education and jobs. 4. Implement modularity within the battery unit for ease of accessibility for repair teams. This may include standardisation of parts within the battery unit. 5. Integrate design for repair principles within the design while incorporating the user experience for the heated mat and battery unit to extend the product lifecycle especially when referring to the heating element and battery unit. 6. Integrate design for disassembly for the battery unit to be able to recycle the battery unit and mat and reduce end-of-life impact. 7. Receive users' feedback throughout the project to ensure that the design meets end-users needs

There are c103M refugees in the world(UNHCR 2022), with c33M need life-sustaining heating in locations where the temperature drops below 10°C in the winter months or during night hours (InfoMigrants 2022).The impact of the cold weather is enormous, with numerous life-threatening health impacts. 6.3M refugee households need safer, better,greener heating (UNHCR2022).Current heating methods include diesel heaters, burning of materials such as kerosene and firewood and gas canisters which lead to fires, release toxic fumes and are harmful to the environment.UNHCR reported 1100 deaths from refugee camp fires in 2021 alone.Current heating methods are very expensive, at cUSD300/refugee household/year(IEA 2022).Alternatives such as firewood are cheaper but use vital resources,are high in CO2 impact and present safety and exclusion risks for women collecting the wood (Erin 2007) Removing the need to burn firewood in refugee camps would save c1.5m tonnes CO2/year(UNHCR 2020). Solar PV systems can reduce CO2 emissions by an 45 to 70gCO2/kWh) compared to fossil fuel-based solutions(IEA 2021).With PV costs dropping by 80% between 2010-20(IRENA 2021), opportunities to unlock clean power for heating solutions are becoming financially viable. Mat Zero can alleviate these issues through its innovative solar-powered heating solution. The feasibility study will target Nepal. The goals of the feasibility study: \*Validate prototype system with mat design and construction complete with guides to potential assembly in Nepal \*Feedback from users in Nepal and UK on performance and feasibility of successful use in field \*GESI report to shape how to maximise the social impact the product achieves in Nepal and beyond \*Create a business plan to provide a planned route to market