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SEBE BENV0141 ‘Energy Systems in Society’ Assignment
Deadline: 6
th January 2026 at 11:00
The assignment addresses a contentious and contextual issue in decarbonisation of homes for
which there is no clear answer, namely ‘Should we use hybrid heat pumps to heat homes, and if
so in what contexts ’ Firstly, some definitions. A hybrid heat pump (hHP) is a heating system
that combines a heat pump and a regular gas boiler. A monovalent heat pump (mHP) is a heating
system that only uses a heat pump (i.e. a ‘normal’ heat pump system). As a rule of thumb, a hHP
system will have a normal sized gas boiler and a half-size HP. If a home would need an 8kW
mHP to provide all its heating, then that same home would have a 4kW HP + boiler hybrid
system. The boiler is usually sized to supply hot water needs, which typically require higher
power than heating needs. In a hHP system, the HP and the boiler are linked by a controller
which decides which provides heating energy. This can be based on any control logic but is
frequently based on the cost of delivered heat. Thus, if the price of electricity divided by the
HP’s Coefficient of Performance (CoP) is lower than the price of gas, then the HP will provide
heat – if not then the boiler will.
There is no clear ‘right’ answer as to which to use in all contexts, it depends on what
assumptions you make about how quickly you want to decarbonise, how far you want to
decarbonise, and how rapidly you think the rest of the system can adapt. The topic is left
deliberately broad, and you are required to carefully define the preconditions, contexts, and cases
where you think heating homes with hHPs is appropriate. You can argue that they should be
widely used, used only in very specific cases, or not used at all. The setting is Great Britain, but
you will need to be clear with the assumptions you make about the timeframes you are
considering and how the British energy system will evolve over those timeframes. You will also
need to specify the regions within Britain, housing types, occupancy types, skills bases, etc
needed to make heating homes with hHPs appropriate. All such assumptions need to be realistic
and justified. You must also consider the wider social issues around energy equity and
infrastructures that would arise from deploying hHPs in the areas you recommend. While
installing hHPs in one location may not cause social inequities, doing so in all qualifying
locations might.
The assignment is intended to introduce you to the process of academic writing and its structure
should be based on that found in academic journals relevant to this field. You can assume your
audience is made up of applied energy researchers, policy makers, energy media and industry
representatives. Academic writing should provide a balanced and unbiased assessment of the
literature and be based on logical and reasoned argument. It is important to stress that there is no
right answer to this question, and that your mark will be based on your knowledge and analysis
of the literature, the strength of your argument, and your coverage of the relevant sociotechnical
issues discussed in this Module and in the SEBE course more widely. You should assume that
what you learn in other modules is also relevant to doing this assignment, understanding the
physics of buildings and the structure of the energy system is important here.
The assignment is designed to allow you to draw on the discussion of the issues highlighted in
the cases during the course including: energy services; energy equity; energy value; energy
practices; and energy infrastructures. Your assignment should address each of these in the
context of where you think we should consider heating homes with hybrid heat pumps.
A suggested structure of the assignment is provided below. You should use the marks allocated
in each section of the Assignment Marking Scheme below as a guide to where most emphasis
should be placed in the assignment. The total word count is 3000 and the elements included in
the word-count are as defined in the course handbook.
Title: Should we use hybrid heat pumps to heat homes, and if so in what
contexts
Summary
Provide an abstract summarising the case you considered, the key arguments for and
against, and where you think heating homes with hHPs may be appropriate.
Background
Outline the energy systems solutions for use of hHPs to heat homes and critically analyse
and summarise the main arguments in the literature for and against doing so.
Baseline
You are to compare heating homes with hHPs to heating homes with mHPs. In both cases
you must be detailed and specific about the precise hHP configuration proposed, and the
comparator mHP configuration proposed. The mHP described in this section will be the
‘baseline’ for comparison in each of the sections below.
Sociotechnical analysis
This section should address each of the five key social issues addressed in the course, namely
energy services, energy equity, energy value, energy practices and energy infrastructures, and
say how they apply to your case. For each, they should be compared to your baseline mHP
technology described above. This section should also include references to the literature on these
social issues.
What service(s) does, or could, heating homes with hHPs provide Are these services
better or worse than the base case (Refer to the Case 1 literature.)
Who benefits and who loses from the hHP system compared to the mHP baseline (in both
absolute and relative terms) Consider the end users and wider supply chain of the new
system, as well as any other important stakeholder groups you think might be affected.
(Refer to the Case 2 literature.)
What are the direct and indirect financial and non-financial costs and benefits of the hHP
system compared to the mHP system and to whom do they accrue What is, or could be,
the ‘social value stack’ of this solution Which elements of this value stack can be used to
improve uptake and how (Refer to the Case 3 literature.)
How does the hHP system interact with users’ routines and practices compared to the mHP
system Which does it harmonise with, and which does it disrupt How widely are these
practices spread in the population and how may this impact on uptake (Refer to the Case
4 literature.)
What social-structural and energy infrastructural issues are associated with wider
deployment of the hHP system compared to the mHP system (Refer to the Case 5
literature.)
Findings
Based on the above analysis, define the contexts in which you consider it appropriate to
use hHPs to heat homes. Specify this in terms of particular British regions, particular
types of home with specific physical characteristics, particular classes of ownership or
types of household, particular configurations of energy systems, specific energy
technologies, etc.
Discussion
Say why you think the use of hHPs for home heating is appropriate in these contexts.
Compare and contrast your conclusions with those of the literature.
Say what you didn’t consider in your analysis and how this may affect your conclusions.
Address limitations arising from the assumptions you made about the socio-technical
British energy system and how it will evolve over the timeframes of your analysis.
Say what you think the key remaining uncertainties are about where and when to use
hHPs for heating homes that we need to reduce before making a policy decision.
Implications for research, practice, and policy
State what further research is needed to reduce the uncertainties you identify above.
State whether, and if so how, the way we supply and install such hHP heating systems
needs to change.
State what if any policies you feel are needed to support hHP heating in homes.
References
Provide your list of references correctly formatted in Harvard (Author, Date) style.
Assignment mark scheme
The guideline mark scheme for this coursework is outlined below. The assessors will ask each of
these questions of your assignment and award marks accordingly.
Summary
Does the Summary capture the key arguments for and against heating homes
with hHPs and say where doing so may be appropriate
5
Background
Are the energy systems requirements for use of hHPs to heat homes well
described
Are the main arguments in the literature for and against the use of hHPs well
summarised
Is the literature critically analysed
15
Baseline
Is the hHP system used in the study described in sufficient technical detail
Is the mHP system used as the baseline comparison the study described in
sufficient technical detail
10
Sociotechnical analysis
Are the energy services well described and compared to the baseline
Are energy equity issues addressed and those who benefit and lose from the
proposed use case well described and compared to the baseline
Is the ‘social value stack’ (i.e. the direct and indirect financial and non-financial
costs and benefits of the proposed use case) well described and compared to the
baseline
Has how the proposed use-case impacts on energy practices been properly
addressed and compared to the baseline
Have the implications for existing energy social and physical infrastructures been
clearly articulated and compared to the baseline
25
Findings
Are the physical and technical contexts in which it is appropriate to use hHPs to
heat homes well described
Are the economic and social contexts in which it is appropriate to use hHPs to
heat homes well described
10
Discussion
Has the rationale for use of hHPs for home heating in the specified context and
case been well justified
Have the assignment’s recommendations been compared with those in the
literature
Have limitations from assumptions made in the study been well described
Have limitations from factors not considered in the study been well described
Have the key remaining uncertainties in deployment of hHPs been described
25
Implications for research, practice, and policy
Has one good example each of how future research, professional practice and
policy should change to support this use case been provided
5
References
Are the references in correct Harvard style and is there clear evidence of
discrimination between citations based on their quality and importance in the
field
5
SEBE Coursework Word count and Penalties
PENALTIES FOR EXCEEDING THE WORD LIMIT (LIMITS ALSO APPLY TO PAGES)
Mark
If the word/page count: is under the word/page limit NO PENALTY
exceeds the specified maximum
length by less than 10%
5% reduction; penalised mark will not be
reduced below the pass mark,
assuming the work merited a pass
exceeds thespecified maximum
length by 10% or more
10% reduction; penalised mark will not
be reduced below the pass mark,
assuming the work merited a pass
PENALTIES FOR LATE SUBMISSION
Mark
If the submission is
handed in:
By the stated deadline (or agreed
deadline where an extension has
been granted)
NO PENALTY
After the deadline but less than
two working days after the
published date and time
Reduction by 10 percentage marks; the
penalised mark will not be reduced
below the pass mark,
assuming the work merited a pass
More than two working days
after the date and time deadline
but no more than five working
days after the deadline.
The assignment will receive no more
than the pass mark (50%), assuming
the work merited a pass
More than five working days after
the date and time of the deadline.
The assignment will receive a mark of
1%
What is included in the word count
Word counts include body text (from the title of the introduction to before the references
section) including the part of your Harvard style references (Author, Year) in the body text.
What is not included in the word count
Abstract, table of contents, any lists of figures and tables, acknowledgements, list of references,
appendices, footnotes, endnotes, diagrams and captions are excluded. Data tables – tables
which collate raw data (for example, the tabulated responses to a questionnaire) should be
included in an appendix and are therefore not counted. Words in tables within the body text
are included. While words in images are not counted, words must not be converted into images
for the purposes of avoiding being counted.
Appendices and footnotes are to be used sparingly and must provide supporting information
only. The content of these sections is not considered part of the main body of the assignment
and will generally not contribute towards your grade. An electronic file must be submitted
(Word format), with the word count clearly stated at the front.