AI applied sciences that may remodel how individuals warmth and insulate their houses are among the 10 clear vitality improvements to have reached the ultimate of the £2 Manchester Prize.
The finalists embrace a non-intrusive system that makes use of AI to design bespoke panels that flip bricks into radiators that heat houses from the surface in, streamlining the method for older housing inventory transitioning to utilizing warmth pumps.
Different finalists embrace AI-enabled heat-mapping drones to assist councils and housing associations pinpoint social housing inventory in want of insulation upgrades extra effectively, and an AI know-how to establish supplies in end-of-life photo voltaic panels after which recycle them into new photovoltaic cells as a substitute of going to landfill.
The Manchester Prize, funded by the Division of Science, Innovation and Know-how and delivered by Problem Works (a part of the Nesta group), “is rewarding UK-led AI breakthroughs that assist the general public good, together with rising the financial system, bettering public providers and serving to to create a simply transition to Internet Zero for everybody.”
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Know-how, Peter Kyle stated:
“AI is opening up transformative new methods to deal with local weather change and assist the UK’s ambition to grow to be a clear vitality superpower.
“That features utilizing the know-how to maintain our houses heat, whereas additionally supporting tasks which can use AI to slash carbon emissions in our cement and metal industries – sectors which account for 16% of world emissions.
“That is how we ship our Plan for Change – harnessing innovation to unravel main challenges, reduce vitality payments, and enhance lives throughout Britain.”
Vitality Secretary Ed Miliband stated:
“Clear energy is the financial alternative of the twenty first century and these tasks will assist households and companies reap the benefits of decrease payments, in a wiser and quicker manner than ever earlier than.
“From specifically designed radiator partitions to a sensible energy grid that flicks on and off as we want, AI has the potential to assist each dwelling in Britain to really feel the advantages of hotter houses and homegrown clear vitality.”
Heating houses from the surface in
The ten finalists of the Manchester Prize embrace EnergyWall by Underheat, in partnership with College of Salford. EnergyWall upgrades a constructing’s partitions, gently warming or cooling houses from the surface, turning bricks into radiators that preserve a cushty inner temperature all 12 months spherical.
Utilizing AI to analyse a constructing and off-site manufacturing, it designs and installs pipe programs into insulation panels for the partitions of a constructing, making retrofitting buildings with warmth pumps quicker, cheaper, and fewer disruptive. This method is good for social housing, serving to cut back carbon emissions, reduce vitality payments, and deal with condensation that causes mould.
It’s a wiser, scalable solution to decarbonise heating and struggle gasoline poverty throughout the UK.
Giving photo voltaic panels a second life
Inexperienced Loops by College of Wolverhampton, in partnership with ABCircular GmbH Berlin, tackles the problem of recycling end-of-life photovoltaic (PV) cells by creating high-efficiency photo voltaic panels from recycled supplies. Whereas there are tens of thousands and thousands photo voltaic panels within the UK, the specialist infrastructure to dispose and recycle of them is at present missing.
Inexperienced Loops makes use of machine studying to analyse the optical properties of supplies and constructions of photo voltaic cells. Utilizing extremely conductive artificially engineered MXene-based metamaterials, Inexperienced Loops optimises the design of photo voltaic cells to boost vitality efficiency whereas decreasing manufacturing prices.
With the rising e-waste drawback from previous photo voltaic panels, the know-how helps cut back waste, helps a round financial system, and makes photo voltaic vitality extra sustainable and accessible.
A “Google Maps” for dwelling warmth loss
Fast Thermal Efficiency Evaluation algorithms (RaThPAs) by Kestrix makes use of AI and thermal drones to map warmth loss throughout whole neighbourhoods, appearing as quick, 3D vitality surveys from the sky.
This helps stakeholders like utilities, councils and housing suppliers plan vitality upgrades with fewer pricey, time-consuming web site visits. Like a “Google Maps of warmth loss,” the system exhibits the place buildings are leaking warmth and recommends fixes.
With a workforce of specialists in laptop imaginative and prescient and physics, Kestrix goals to hurry up dwelling retrofits, in flip slicing emissions, saving households cash, and making houses hotter and more healthy at scale.
Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge, chair of the Manchester Prize judging panel stated:
“We’re at a vital juncture within the journey to internet zero, the following decade is make or break if the world is to maintain world temperatures rise to nicely beneath 2C by 2050. World emissions have to halve by 2030 in comparison with 1990 ranges if we’re to remain on observe, whereas electrical energy manufacturing might want to double by 2050 to satisfy the calls for of an electrified financial system – clear vitality innovation is crucial. The fast development of AI means we now have instruments like by no means earlier than to realize the purpose of decarbonising the financial system whereas supporting people, communities and companies to thrive.”
Different options within the working embrace an AI utility to enhance the manufacturing of biogas the place accessible materials inputs can fluctuate from everyday, AI to dramatically reduce the CO2 emissions from concrete manufacturing (answerable for 8% of world emissions) and from metal manufacturing (answerable for an additional 8% of world emissions), and wider emissions from trade.
Different finalists embrace AI applied sciences to assist the logistics trade reduce its emissions, and AI to make sure the vitality grid stays balanced always as extra of our vitality comes from wind and photo voltaic.
The ten groups behind the superior AI options have every acquired £100,000 in seed funding, plus compute credit price £60,000, and extra non-financial assist to develop options able to successful the £1 million grand prize in spring 2026. The successful answer will show not solely technical innovation, but additionally an evidenced street map to near-term (2030) adoption, scale and affect.
In March 2025, the Manchester Prize in its inaugural 12 months awarded £1m to Polaron – an AI know-how that dramatically accelerates the event of latest superior supplies from years to a matter of days. Rising the vitality capability of electrical automobile batteries by 10%.
A listing of the finalists is included beneath. Go to manchesterprize.org to seek out out extra concerning the Manchester Prize and all 10 finalists.
Manchester Prize (12 months 2) finalists
Agent Internet Zero by College of Sheffield and AMRC. Agent Internet Zero is an progressive AI system that helps industrial firms grow to be extra sustainable by analyzing their environmental affect in real-time. The system repeatedly screens vitality utilization and emissions by connecting to numerous knowledge sources throughout operations. Utilizing superior AI methods, Agent Internet Zero identifies environmental hotspots and mechanically suggests sensible enhancements. This provides companies clear, actionable insights to scale back their carbon footprint whereas sustaining productiveness and competitiveness, primarily offering a “sustainability assistant” that works 24/7 to assist firms obtain their net-zero targets.
BiofuelAi by College of Surrey. BiofuelAi brings cutting-edge AI and machine studying to the biofuel trade, optimising complicated, variable processes in actual time. Conventional biogas manufacturing usually depends on operator instinct on account of unpredictable organic programs as a result of biofuels are produced from a number of materials inputs. BiofuelAi solves this with superior predictive fashions that create a digital twin of every web site, enabling whole-system optimisation – from each day feedstock recipes to long-term acquisition methods. Developed by AI and sustainability specialists, the platform boosts effectivity, profitability, and environmental affect, providing a scalable answer for cleaner, data-driven vitality manufacturing worldwide.
Carbon Re by Carbon Re. Cement varieties the muse of our fashionable world however it has a sustainability drawback – it’s answerable for round 8% of world CO₂ emissions. Carbon Re is tackling this problem by constructing AI course of management software program to chop emissions in cement manufacturing. Performing like self-driving for industrial crops, Carbon Re optimises industrial processes in real-time, serving to producers reduce each prices and carbon whereas transitioning to low-carbon operations. A joint spin out of College School London and the College of Cambridge, Carbon Re was based to ship quick local weather affect for heavy trade.
Cavolo by Kale AI. Cavolo makes use of superior AI to make metropolis deliveries extra environment friendly and eco-friendly. The system helps companies change from conventional supply vans to Mild Electrical Automobiles (LEVs), that are extra environment friendly in busy cities. Through the use of AI, Cavolo optimises supply routes in real-time, decreasing site visitors, vitality use, and emissions. The know-how helps make city logistics quicker and greener, permitting companies to ship items shortly whereas saving time and decreasing their environmental affect.
Deep.Optimiser-PhyX by Deep.Meta. Deep.Meta is tackling carbon emissions within the metal trade with an AI-powered Digital Twin – a sensible digital reproduction of the manufacturing course of that mixes physics and machine studying to optimise furnace operations. Through the use of real-time sensor knowledge and materials science, Deep.Meta extra precisely predicts metal slab temperatures and improves scheduling, boosting vitality effectivity and considerably slicing emissions. In contrast to black-box AI, which might discourage adoption, Deep.Meta’s explainable, physics-based fashions supply clear reasoning, constructing belief with customers. Based by specialists in metallurgy and machine studying, Deep.Meta is already partnering with world steelmakers and goals to scale by way of broader trade collaboration.
DRIVE (Deep Re-enforcement studying for Clever Automobile and Vitality optimisation) by Versatile Energy Methods. Versatile Energy Methods (FPS) helps massive fleets like vans, vehicles, and buses change to electrical by managing autos, chargers, and schedules with sensible software program. FPS makes use of superior AI known as Deep Reinforcement Studying to unravel complicated, fast-changing issues – like the place and when to cost – extra shortly and effectively. After coaching in a digital world, the AI could make sensible selections in actual time. First utilized in EV fleets, this know-how may additionally assist with larger vitality challenges sooner or later.
EnergyWall by Underheat, in partnership with College of Salford. EnergyWall upgrades a constructing’s partitions, gently warming or cooling houses from the surface, turning bricks into radiators that preserve a cushty inner temperature all 12 months spherical. Utilizing AI to analyse a constructing and off-site manufacturing, it designs and installs pipe programs into insulation panels for the partitions of a constructing, making retrofitting buildings with warmth pumps quicker, cheaper, and fewer disruptive. This method is good for social housing, serving to cut back carbon emissions, reduce vitality payments, and deal with condensation that causes mould. It’s a wiser, scalable solution to decarbonise heating and struggle gasoline poverty throughout the UK.
Inexperienced Loops by College of Wolverhampton, in partnership with ABCircular GmbH Berlin. Inexperienced Loops tackles the problem of recycling end-of-life photovoltaic (PV) cells by creating high-efficiency photo voltaic panels from recycled supplies. It makes use of machine studying to analyse the optical properties of supplies and constructions of photo voltaic cells. Utilizing extremely conductive artificially engineered MXene-based metamaterials, Inexperienced Loops optimises the design of photo voltaic cells to boost vitality efficiency whereas decreasing manufacturing prices. With the rising e-waste drawback from previous photo voltaic panels, the know-how helps cut back waste, helps a round financial system, and makes photo voltaic vitality extra sustainable and accessible.
Grid Stability by College of Manchester. For electrical energy grids to perform, there have to be steadiness between the electrical energy going into the grid and the electrical energy leaving it. Grid Stability Monitor makes use of AI and machine studying to shortly analyse energy grid stability as extra low-carbon applied sciences like wind, photo voltaic, EVs and warmth pumps join. It replaces sluggish, complicated simulations with fast, AI-driven assessments, enabling real-time monitoring, quicker decision-making, and extra assured planning. This helps grid operators preserve reliability whereas scaling up clear vitality options and slicing emissions.
Fast Thermal Efficiency Evaluation algorithms (RaThPAs) by Kestrix. Kestrix makes use of AI and thermal drones to map warmth loss throughout whole neighbourhoods, appearing as quick, 3D vitality surveys from the sky. This helps stakeholders like utilities, councils and housing suppliers plan vitality upgrades with fewer pricey, time-consuming web site visits. Like a “Google Maps of warmth loss,” the system exhibits the place buildings are leaking warmth and recommends fixes. With a workforce of specialists in laptop imaginative and prescient and physics, Kestrix goals to hurry up dwelling retrofits, in flip slicing emissions, saving households cash, and making houses hotter and more healthy at scale.
