Aidan Kelly

@helloaidank.bsky.social

842 Followers 3379 Following

Data Scientist at Nesta in the Discovery team | Passion for clean energy and all things generative AI | Views are my own. MSc from UvA, PhD in particle physics from UCL.

Mission Radar chart (a type of bubble chart) for Nesta's "A sustainable future" mission, updated Q2 2025. The radar is divided into four quadrants representing categories of innovation: "Ventures and investments" (top right), "Research funding" (bottom right), "Policy" (bottom left), and an unlabeled top-left quadrant (representing trends that are not primarily investment, funding, or policy). A dashed vertical line separates signals in the "Policy" and unlabeled quadrant from those in "Ventures and investments" and "Research funding." Blips are positioned based on time to expected impact, from the center outwards: "0-2 years," "3-5 years," and "5+ years." Blip size indicates potential impact on home decarbonisation, with larger blips signifying greater expected impact and smaller blips signifying smaller or more niche impact. Main Trends and Findings (Blips): Venture and Investment (High Impact, Short/Medium Term): Ikea heat pumps (Small, 0-2 years) Digital platform for local installers (Medium, 0-2 years) Energy-as-a-service (Small, 0-2 years) Retail investment in green finance ventures (Medium, 3-5 years) Research Funding (Medium Impact, Short/Medium Term): Turbo air-source heat pump (Medium, 0-2 years) Net zero terrace streets (Medium, 3-5 years) Community operated energy infrastructure (Small, 3-5 years) Policy (Medium/High Impact, Short Term): Increased government publications on electricity prices (Medium, 0-2 years) Increased references to electricity prices in debates (Small, 0-2 years) Top-Left Quadrant (High Impact, Medium Term): One large, dark blip is visible in the 3-5 years range. Source: Nesta's analysis of innovation trends. Companies and research projects included are those identified in Q2 2025. Blip size and positioning determined by expert judgement.
Heatmaps comparing the Coefficient of Performance (COP) for Air-Source Heat Pumps (left) and Ground-Source Heat Pumps (right), plotted against outdoor temperatures (-5°C to 15°C) and supply temperatures (20°C to 60°C). Ground-source pumps consistently exhibit higher COP values (represented by lighter colors) across the temperature range compared to air-source pumps, especially at lower outdoor temperatures.
A radar-style infographic titled "Mission Radar: A sustainable future • Q1 2025" highlights innovation signals in low-carbon heating and green technologies. The radar is divided into three labeled segments: "Ventures and investments," "Research funding," and "Policy." Each segment shows blips representing trends or signals, with their size indicating potential impact on home decarbonisation and their position reflecting estimated time to impact (0-2 years, 3-5 years, 5+ years). Key trends in the 'Ventures and investments' quadrant include heat pump venture funding growth, smart energy control for utilities, and heat pump installation software. 'Research funding' trends include high-temperature heat pumps, heat batteries, and zero-emission boilers. The 'Policy' quadrant highlights BUS grants and the prominence of heat pumps in debates. The graphic supports Nesta's broader exploration of early innovation signals in the low-carbon heating space.
A scatter plot of the average heat network suitability scores when a DESNZ heat network zone is present (blue) and when it's absent (red) for several local authorities. We see that the heat network suitability scores are higher when the DESNZ heat network zone is present versus when it's absent.
A scatter graph where the x-axis shows the average suitability of air source heat pumps (ASHP), and the y-axis shows the suitability of heat networks (HN). Each point represents a local authority and the points are coloured by geographic region. We see a inverse relationship trend where local authorities with high ASHP suitability have low HN suitability, and local authorities with low average ASHP suitability have high HN suitability.
Image of air source heat pump suitability for much of Britain.