Category: Energy

Energy, Policy, Student blogs

Don’t score an own goal on energy policy: Fatih Birol presents the World Energy Outlook at Imperial

The International Energy Agency’s most important report is a warning that words are not enough, and now is the time for every country to play their best game, according to Jonathan Bosch, an Imperial PhD student on the Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet Doctoral Training Partnership. The Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, made the first UK public presentation of … Continue reading Don’t score an own goal on energy policy: Fatih Birol presents the World Energy Outlook at Imperial

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business, Energy, finance, Innovation, Policy

The similarities between our energy outlook and BP’s will surprise you

New analysis foreshadows a dwindling demand for fossil fuels, but what will the oil companies make of the future? Grantham Institute Director of Policy and Translation, Alyssa Gilbert, looked into her crystal ball to find out. Continue reading The similarities between our energy outlook and BP’s will surprise you

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Solar farm at sunrise
Energy, Innovation, Mitigation

Five ways to reinvent energy

On 25 November the Grantham Institute’s Moritz Köhme and Dr Jeff Hardy attended the Reinventing Energy Summit hosted by New Scientist and RE•WORK. Jeff is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute and was one of the presenters at the event, speaking about ‘Sustainable energy transformations: Where are we at and where are we going?’. In this blog, Jeff and Moritz share five interesting messages … Continue reading Five ways to reinvent energy

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Emissions, Energy, Student blogs

How can we generate a hundred per cent renewable electricity?

Charlie Cook, a student on the first cohort of Imperial’s new MSc in Climate Change, Management and Finance, checks on the roadmap leading to a world with electricity generated from a hundred per cent renewable sources. If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there; Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire Cat points out to Alice. The Paris Agreement has set our sights on a … Continue reading How can we generate a hundred per cent renewable electricity?

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Hydroelectric dam
Energy, Mitigation, Policy

Why the world needs a more inclusive global energy agency

Neil Hirst, Senior Policy Fellow at the Grantham Institute, argues that China and other developing countries need their voices heard as members of the International Energy Agency (IEA). The G20 Summit in Hangzhou earlier this week provided a unique opportunity for China to assert its place in the world. So it’s hugely significant that Chinese president Xi Jinping, in his opening announcement, focused on the … Continue reading Why the world needs a more inclusive global energy agency

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Energy, Policy

Balance of power: How Brexit would affect the UK energy sector  

In under a week, UK voters will decide the fate of the country in a referendum over Britain’s continuing membership of the European Union (EU). Grantham Research Associate Dr Sheridan Few explores some potential implications of exiting the EU for the UK energy sector. Issues such as the economy and immigration are key battle grounds for EU referendum campaigners, but UK voters’ final decision will … Continue reading Balance of power: How Brexit would affect the UK energy sector  

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Energy, Innovation, Mitigation, Student blogs

Why clean tech innovation and selfish action go hand in hand

SSCP DTP student Oliver Schmidt argues that technological innovation is key to empowering individuals to act on climate change. Some people argue that we already have all the technologies we need to ‘solve’ climate change, but the technological innovation driven by new funding initiatives still has a vital role to play. And what use is new technology without the ultimate motive for personal action – … Continue reading Why clean tech innovation and selfish action go hand in hand

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Energy, Mitigation, Policy, Student blogs

What my internship at the IEA taught me about life, love and the potential for renewable technologies

SSCP-DTP student Jonathan Bosch reveals his insights into modelling the growth of renewable energy technologies at the International Energy Agency. At the end of May 2015, I had just sweated my way through the most important meeting of my PhD so far, in which I attempted to prove my worth as a researcher. As a reward for surviving this gladiatorial feat, just eight months into my … Continue reading What my internship at the IEA taught me about life, love and the potential for renewable technologies

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Energy, Innovation, Mitigation, Paris 2015

How do we make renewable electricity cheap enough to leave coal in the ground?

Ajay Gambhir discusses the role of public funding on energy technology innovation The Global Apollo Programme proposal aims to get renewable electricity so cheap that we may as well give up on coal- and gas-fired generation by the mid-2020s – regardless of whether we care about climate change or not. This would be achieved by the world’s governments signing up to commit 0.02% of their annual GDP on … Continue reading How do we make renewable electricity cheap enough to leave coal in the ground?

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Emissions, Energy, Paris 2015

Apollo has landed: the role of the private sector in completing the race for 100% renewables

Dr Charles Donovan and Christopher Corbishley discuss the falling cost of renewables. In the lead-up to the UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP) in Paris, there was a lot of buzz in the mainstream business press about the need for research and development that could lead to breakthroughs in the cost of clean energy technologies. Over the summer, Financial Times commentator Martin Wolf called for a “moonshot … Continue reading Apollo has landed: the role of the private sector in completing the race for 100% renewables

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