Research

Project Team

Prof Nilay Shah, Dr Mirabelle Muûls, Dr Antonio Del Rio Chanona, Dr Ralf Martin, Dr Nadin Moustafa, Dr Shefali Khanna

Description

Organisations are increasingly expected to set net zero targets, which will include evaluating both their own operations (Scope 1 & 2) and the emissions in their value chain (Scope 3). The CO₂ footprint of the value chain often significantly exceeds that of their own operations. This project aims to provide tools for more accurately estimating carbon footprints and finding optimal decarbonisation solutions. 

The project is split into 2 phases:

1. Phase 1 will complete a broad multi-sector and global analysis of organisational carbon accounting and decarbonisation, by analysing current carbon accounting methodology, identifying best practices by organisations and current trends in how carbon footprints are calculated, as well as evaluating regulation and policy in this area. This will enable the identification of more focused, narrower research for Phase 2.
2. Phase 2 will complete a deeper analysis of the challenges and opportunities related to organisational carbon accounting and decarbonisation to net zero. It will focus on identifying routes for decarbonisation in specific industry sectors and allow for an inventory of strategies to be created specifically for different industries.

Project Team

Prof Nilay Shah, Prof Mary Ryan, Prof Martin Trusler, Prof Ifan Stephens, Paola Sáenz Cavazos

Description

This project seeks to identify and analyse the complete range of key technologies used in direct air capture (DAC), incorporating a more specific look towards potential nature-based solutions. A qualitative scoring methodology will be developed to assess the technologies on characteristics such as energy-efficiency, geographical flexibility, investment requirements and timescales. The project will also include commentary on the social, ethical and environmental impacts of DAC. With this greater understanding of the field, a high-level landscape review will be conducted of the regulatory and commercial drivers and potential business partnerships and models will be explored. Finally, these findings will be brought together to provide a roadmap of priority technology research fields.

Project Team 

Dr Will Pearse, Dr Emma Moffett, Prof Guy Woodward

Description

The objective of this project is to identify research gaps in biodiversity and natural systems and define the focus for later projects in the centre. This initial project will create a platform for quantitative analysis and forecasts of biodiversity and the services it provides for humanity. This will be achieved with a quantitative literature review on the relationships between biodiversity and the environment and functions of it. From there the relationships will be used in order to parametrise models of biodiversity and how it affects and responds to ecosystem functions.

Project Team

Prof Joeri Rogelj, Prof Nilay Shah, Dr Mirabelle Muûls, Prof Martin Trusler, Dr Michel Alexandre Cardin, Dr Hamish Beath

Description

This research seeks to identify the levers necessary for achieving a net zero carbon future with as low residual emissions as possible. As a broad scoping piece, it will identify distinct and parallel transition pathways to achieving a zero-carbon society with a focus on energy and behaviour change. The first step will be to identify the variety of transitions in major drivers of environmental impacts, such as mobility, energy, food, digital etc, using reviews of literature and public databases of existing scenarios. The review uses IPCC Global Pathways that show global factors but will need further research in order to take it to a national/regional level and increase the project's level of detail.

From this preliminary research, specific industries, technologies and geographies will be selected which can have significant impacts on the environment. These could be key technologies or places where policy and legislation could cause change. This project will link to the other projects in the Centre and is intended to have a holistic approach to identifying key themes of focus, such as societal enabling conditions, to embark on a transition pathway. 

Project Team

Nilay Shah; Sara Giarola

Description

With evolving policies increasingly incorporating Scope 3 emissions and the development of the Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS) globally, the necessity for integrated DAC and CO₂ utilization process becomes apparent. Furthermore, the evaluation of different CDR and CO₂ utilization technologies led to identifying potential system integrations. Current technologies for Direct Air Capture (DAC) of CO₂ utilization have been designed out of necessity to be “general purpose” technologies which are able to stand alone and be able to operate continuously and independently. This means that for example there are limited opportunities for integration (e.g. material and energy stream integration) with adjacent processes, as the latter cannot be assumed.

In this project, we shall explore the case where the DAC process is integrated with sample CO₂ utilisation technologies. As exemplars of the latter, following consultation with Hitachi and following some high-level analyses, we shall include processes such as methanol synthesis, hydrocarbon synthesis and polycarbonate polyol processes. These products are considered economically promising as there are demands for them in shipping, aviation and consumer products respectively. We shall explore how the DAC process can be integrated with the CO₂ conversion step through alternative integration options such as mechanical work, direct use of steam, indirect use of heat, co-production of hydrogen and CO2 in the DAC unit etc. Low TRL options for integrated capture and conversion in the same reactor will also be investigated. The project will be agnostic in terms of the specific technology researched and will focus on the overall process needed to reduce cost and increase the value of carbon. We shall also consider the extent to which atmospheric conditions and climate affect the performance of the process.

Project Team

Prof Tim Green, Dr Mirabelle Muûls, Dr Elina Spyrou, and Sandra Bernick

Description

Achieving national energy targets depends critically on how we plan and deliver energy transitions at the regional and local level. Balancing national ambition with local impacts requires careful coordination across technical, environmental, economic, and social dimensions. This project offers an opportunity to explore how innovative regional planning approaches can help create a just, inclusive, and resilient energy transition.

Scope of the Project

As climate change and the sixth mass extinction gather pace, the importance of biodiversity and nature-based solutions for society is clear. The benefits that nature provides for us, such as carbon capture, supporting food production, and the filtration and cleaning of water and air, are the key to building a sustainable global economy. Our recent work has produced the world's largest database of how changes in biodiversity affect the delivery of these benefits, with >220,000 direct measurements of biodiversity and services. This PhD will incorporate evolutionary information into this database in order to form an understanding of how ecosystem services have evolved. This information will be used to predict how ecosystem function will change in under-studied parts of the world, on the basis of known evolutionary relationships between species. To do this, the student will make use of existing software and statistical tools, such as Phylogenetic Generalised Linear Mixed Models. This work will be carried out in collaboration with Hitachi. The student will also have the opportunity to direct data collection carried out by a team of MSc students and paid research assistants, to allow them to focus on data analysis and methods development.

Aims of the Project

The project aims to:

• Understand how ecosystem services have evolved
• Predict how ecosystem function will change in under-studied parts of the world on the basis of known relationships between species

PhD Student
Lucy Somekh

Supervisor
Will Pearse

Scope of the Project

Exploring and understanding the implications of societal transformations towards carbon neutrality is bolstered by an extensive body of scenario literature, yet the available information is often highly aggregated and lacks the granularity necessary for in-sector decision-making. This complexity is compounded by a wide range of interpretative possibilities, resulting in a lack of clarity and creating uncertainty for businesses. While mitigation research predominantly addresses sovereign and broad sectorial changes, it leaves a significant gap in understanding the specific roles and potential trajectories for individual businesses and corporations. Consequently, defining what constitutes a Paris-aligned company pathway remains an ambiguous and challenging task.

In this project, we shall explore novel methods to translate the information from aggregated global deep decarbonisation scenarios to the sectorial and corporate level. The project will start by developing downscaling methods from aggregate to granular sectorial information using statistical and machine learning approaches. Subsequently granular sectorial information will be linked to information regarding current corporate structures and their potential to transform over time. The project will aim to develop a method that is applicable to all sectors. If time and resource constraints require a focus on a specific subset of sectors, energy and mobility will be considered in first instance.

This project will build on the PDRA work of the Hitachi-Imperial Centre Project 3.1 (Societal transitions). Further synergies can be explored with Project 1 on carbon accounting to understand how corporate transformations are linked to downscaled sectorial pathways.

Aims of the Project

The project aims to:

1. develop a method to downscale aggregate deep decarbonisation pathway information to sector-specific information
2. develop a method to map current business activities of corporate actors onto detailed sector-specific transformation pathways
3. describe corporate transformation futures in line with deep decarbonisation pathways in line with the Paris Agreement

PhD Student
Georgia Ray

Supervisors
Joeri Rogelj, Rossella Arcucci, and Hamish Beath

Scope of the Project

To meet international emission reduction targets effectively, substantial investments from global climate finance, domestic budgets, and the private sector are essential. The integration of innovative financing mechanisms that blend climate finance with development budgets and private investments is crucial. The use of digital technologies offers opportunities for scaling up and robustifying capital deployment by promoting and tracking decarbonisation across various layers of complex value chains. Novel risk sharing and funding vehicles can enhance access to finance for all value chain stakeholders while promoting environmental sustainability, economic viability, and social equity.

One example of a system where this is salient is the food system. Agriculture, forestry, and changes in land-use contribute over a quarter of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. These activities and the wider agri-food system cut across a variety of sectors and play a pivotal role in the economy, in all regions and including urban areas. The transformations needed to support low-carbon systems and sustainable soil and land-use remain however underfunded.

Aims of the Project

• Develop novel decarbonisation investment frameworks for land use intensive sectors.
• Study the integration of blockchain solutions, ground observation and remote sensing for the implementation of novel investment vehicles and risk sharing arrangements.
• Granularly track emission abatement across different GHGs to ensure effective targeting. of reliable decarbonisation goals.
• Explore opportunities for piloting of solutions with selected market participants.

PhD Student
Junhao Song

Supervisors
Will Knottenbelt
Enrico Biffis