The project has been developed for the UK Transforming Energy Demand through Digital Innovation Scheme (TEDDI) and is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It is the first energy efficiency scheme to engage directly with teenagers, who will be involved as ‘co-investigators' of the project and will be encouraged to report their findings using online communities and social networking with cutting-edge, mobile phone and wireless sensor technologies.

PI professor Rose Luckin says: "This is a great opportunity for us to work with teenagers to develop technologies to help us all understand and learn how we can use energy more effectively"

Through a story-gathering web-portal teenagers from across the UK will have the opportunity to share their experiences and tell stories about their energy usage, combining images and video in a bid to uncover the most efficient ways to reduce waste. Teenagers will then be given the opportunity to design mobile communications products to monitor, and potentially change, their energy habits.   As the project evolves, some teenagers will also get the chance to attend a summer workshop, working alongside experts and academics in gathering and interpreting data with an aim to report back to their friends and families, on ways to be more energy efficient.

The £1.4 million energy research project is a collaboration between the lead institution: University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), The London Knowledge Lab (LKL), Birmingham University, Swansea University, and Northumbria University. It is due to formally commence in October 2010.