Integrated Optimisation of Urban Form and Energy: A Sustainable District in North India

Aryan Bansal

An integrated modelling framework for designing a sustainable, mixed-income new town of 250,000 people on North India's peri-urban fringe, a blank-slate site modelled on the Zirakpur corridor in Punjab. Demographic projections across income tiers drive a bottom-up energy-demand model and, through simulated annealing, a 25 km² master plan of land use, density, roads and green space. A multi-period mixed-integer optimiser then sizes the district's renewables-led energy system out to 2055, co-optimising what to build (rooftop, ground-mount, carport and floating solar, batteries, vehicle-to-grid, biomass and waste-to-energy) with how to operate it across 864 representative time-slices a year. By coupling urban form and energy in a single framework, it exposes the density-versus-solar trade-off, cutting the town's energy cost by over a third and its carbon by more than half against business-as-usual, while keeping its essential services resilient to grid blackouts. The archetype transfers to other fast-growing Indian towns.

Supervisor 1: Dr. Koen Van Dam, Department of Chemical Engineering
Supervisor 2: Professor Raoul Bunschoten, TU Berlin

Urban Energy Systems - transforming communities and cities, and building smart and sustainable cities

Daoud Issa Bosheh

Jordan is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world, imports almost all its energy, and is urbanising rapidly pressures that converge most acutely in its cities. Daoud’s project examines how an integrated urban energy systems approach, can address these interlinked challenges. He critically evaluates modelling tools and international best practice for their transferability to resource-constrained Global South contexts and develops policy-relevant recommendations for Jordan's coupled water-energy transition.

Supervisor 1: Dr. Koen H. van Dam, Department of Chemical Engineering
Supervisor 2: Professor Raoul Bunschoten, TU Berlin

Gender Considerations In The Energy Sector At a Household Level

Fabia Abdus

Social inclusiveness is as important as environmental effectiveness in the sustainable energy transition. This research explores how gender influences household energy use, investigating differences in energy-related behaviours, decision-making and lived experiences. Using real-world data from households, the project examines how these differences shape energy consumption patterns and identifies opportunities to improve energy policies and frameworks. By recognising diverse household experiences, the research aims to contribute to a more equitable and socially inclusive energy transition.

Supervisor 1: Dr. Rocio A Diaz-Chavez, Centre for Environmental Policy

Sustainable Energy Development for Remote Off-Grid Indonesian Islands: Banda Neira

Mufty Putratama Sumarto

This project evaluates off-grid electrification options for Banda Neira, a remote, diesel-dependent island in Maluku, eastern Indonesia. Four pathways with proposed technology configurations are scored using the Sustainable Urban and Rural Energy Decision-Support System (SURE-DSS) across five community capitals: physical, financial, natural, social and human. It also analyses the avoided emissions and lifetime cost of each configuration. Drawing on secondary data and benchmarked against an established Scottish off-grid case study, it tests whether this combined approach can guide just, sustainable energy planning for remote island communities in a developing-country setting.

Supervisor 1: Dr. Judith Cherni, Centre for Environmental Policy

Spatial Techno-Economic Optimisation of Solar-Powered Irrigation in Egypt

Thibault Gellé

This project develops a spatial modelling framework to evaluate where solar-powered irrigation could be economically viable in Egypt. It links daily crop water demand, agricultural land use, groundwater depth, canal proximity and local energy options to estimate pumping requirements and system costs across regions. By comparing solar PV with diesel and grid-powered alternatives, the project identifies the locations, crops and infrastructure conditions under which solar irrigation is most attractive, while also considering sustainability constraints and farmers’ ability to access affordable irrigation solutions.

Supervisor: Dr. Benedict Winchester, Department of Physics