School of Chemistry and industry partnership praised in parliamentary debate The School of Chemistry’s partnership with East Lothian-based SME Sunamp Ltd, which has resulted in the first commercialisation of domestic heat storage technology, has been highlighted in the Scottish Parliament’s debate on Scotland as a Science Nation. Speaking in the debate, Richard Lochead MSP, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, described the Sunamp collaboration as an example of the great scientific work being carried out in Scotland It is not only in health that such innovation has the potential to transform lives. An amazing partnership between the Scottish company Sunamp Ltd and the school of chemistry at the University of Edinburgh has successfully developed heat-battery technology that can store energy from any source as heat and release it on demand to provide space heating and hot water, thereby reducing use of fossil-fuel energy sources, and reducing carbon emissions. It also saves households a lot of money, with proven savings of up to 75 per cent on utility bills. There are a lot of amazing and exciting things happening in Scotland. Looking ahead, I point out that we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to promote science in this country through the United Nations 26th conference of the parties summit, which will be held in Glasgow a year or so from now. That annual global forum on climate change will attract hundreds of world leaders and thousands of delegates and other visitors from around the world. It will give us an amazing and unprecedented opportunity to showcase the best of Scottish science and research, and the developments that are taking place here, through collaboration between industry and academia, to help to tackle climate change. We will absolutely use that platform to do that. Scotland excels in science and research, so we should be celebrated as a science nation. Researchers in Scotland are at the forefront of multidisciplinary international research collaborations that tackle national and global challenges and drive forward the frontiers of knowledge. I hope that members can rally today to promote Scotland as one of the world’s leading science nation. Richard Lochead MSP, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science This article was published on 2024-06-19
