Transition Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy
The 2007 draft Climate Change Bill aims to establish an economically credible greenhouse gas emissions reduction pathway to 2050, by setting legally binding medium and long-term targets. Mitigating climate change will require a radical transition towards an energy system which delivers high quality energy series through low carbon technologies and processes.
This research, funded by EPSRC and E.On, aims to answer the question ‘how do we get there from here?’ In this 42-month project we will approach this through; (a) learning from past transitions to help explore future transitions and what might enable or avoid them; (b) designing and evaluating transition pathways towards alternative socio-technical energy systems and infrastructures for a low carbon future to; (c) understand and where appropriate model the changing roles, influences and opportunities of large and small ‘actors’ in the dynamics of transitions. The focus will be in electricity-related futures with both large (multi-national) and small (household) ‘actors’.
The project consortium involves investigators from UEA, Imperial College, Bath, Loughborough and Strathclyde Universities. It was awarded in 2007 and will run through until 2011. Members of CER involved in the research are Jacquie Burgess, Mike Nye and Tee Rogers-Hayden.