The Sussex Energy Group Newsletter
December 2014
Foreword by Florian Kern and Gordon MacKerron
Welcome to the last SEG newsletter in 2014.
After what was a very busy year, we wish everyone a good Christmas and all the best
for 2015.
Over the last few months energy and climate policy debates have become more
polarized as we approach the May 2015 General Election. Progress with low carbon
options has faltered, with threats to the future of onshore wind, reduced investment
plans for offshore wind and a long, drawn-out process over the proposed Hinkley
Point nuclear development. Globally momentum seems to be building up towards a
possible climate deal in Paris next year and planning for our international engagement
around the COP has already started.
At SEG, Gordon MacKerron now co-directs with Florian Kern, allowing Steve Sorrell more time to direct CIED,
which includes contributions from Manchester and Oxford as well as a large cohort of researchers at SPRU.
We are hopeful that our search for a new long-term Director and Professor of Energy Policy is close to
completion, with a new round of interviews soon to take place, though a new Director cannot be in place before
May at the earliest. Recruitment for CIED continues with interviews for a Senior Research Fellow having taken
place last week and more interviews scheduled for this week.
We are planning to lead a large bid – with partners at Sussex and with London-based consultants – for a £15m
programme of research on energy and economic growth in developing countries, to be funded by DFID. Johan
Schot, SPRU’s new director is also engaging SEG and the rest of SPRU in an ambitious new research
strategy on global transformations.
It is especially pleasing to see that some of our junior researchers are engaging effectively in the wider energy
system: recent examples include Colin Nolden (seconded to DECC) and Emily Cox (working with the Royal
Academy of Engineering on energy security).
Finally, over the last couple of months we have been engaged in a major upgrading of our communications
strategy, including upgrading our websites and implementing a more systematic approach to blogging and
social media. If you don’t already do so, please follow us on: @SussexNRGGroup and @CIEDresearch and
check out our blog at http://blogs.sussex.ac.uk/sussexenergygroup/.
The Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand (CIED)
The Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand (CIED) was officially launched in June at a joint event with
the All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group at Portcullis House, London. Approximately 80 energy
experts attended. The panel discussion on ‘Can the UK achieve an energy efficiency revolution’ was chaired
by Dr Alan Whitehead MP and included Clive Maxwell (DG Households and Consumers, DECC), senior
representatives from Forum for the Future and the Energy Saving Trust and two of the CIED Directors.
Despite the official launch date, the Centre has now been running for over a year and is beginning to deliver
research outputs. Highlights of the first year include:
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Building the team of 11 researchers across 3 institutions (Sussex, Oxford and Manchester) together with a Centre
Manager and a Communications and Engagement Officer - with further recruitment underway.
Establishing six research projects on topics as diverse as 3D printing, district heating schemes, energy service
companies, urban transport initiatives and rebound effects in transport.
Submitting or publishing nine journal articles, together with two book chapters, three working papers and 17
conference papers/presentations.
Creating a clear visual identity for the Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand and launched CIED website.
Extending the SEG Advisory Group to include energy demand experts, thereby allowing it to cover the CIED.
Extensive activity and stakeholder engagement, including a secondment to DECC, research workshops, blog
posts, twitter, media engagement, research briefings and working with the other EPSRC Centres on End Use
Energy Demand
Funding secured for two projects linked to CIED
Funding has been awarded for two projects linked to the Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand. These
projects are led by other institutions, but are designed to contribute to the CIED work programme.
The first, led by Karen Turner at the University of Strathclyde, involves the use of macroeconomic modelling to
explore the global energy savings and economy-wide rebound effects from different types of energy efficiency
improvement. This two-year project begins in January 2015 and includes Sussex Energy Group’s Steve
Sorrell, Lee Stapleton and Sarah Schepers who will contribute to the project design and research conduct as
well as lead a programme of stakeholder engagement.
The second project, led by Janette Webb of the University of Edinburgh, will investigate the prospects for, and
practicalities of, transforming heat provision in UK cities - focusing in particular on district heating schemes.
Now accepting applications for 2015 MSc in Energy Policy for Sustainability
Applications are now open for our MSc in Energy Policy for Sustainability to start in September 2015. Our MSc
aspires to educate a new generation who will play leadership roles in the challenge to create a sustainable
energy system, as well as train future energy policy professionals working in the public, private and not-forprofit sectors.
The course builds upon a world-leading research base at SPRU and the Sussex Energy Group and is unique
in combining ideas from economics, innovation and policy studies. Alumni have provided very positive
feedback on the course and have landed fascinating jobs. To find out more, contact co-convenors Dr Steve
Sorrell (s.r.sorrell@sussex.ac.uk) or Dr Florian Kern (f.kern@sussex.ac.uk).
2015 Tyndall Assembly to be held at Sussex
The University of Sussex will host the 2015 Tyndall Assembly, from
September 9-11 next year.
The Assembly brings together world-leading climate policy researchers based in Tyndall institutions including
Cambridge, Cardiff, Oxford, Southampton, Manchester, Newcastle, University of East Anglia, and the
University of Fudan in China. The assembly will include lectures, seminars, debates, future planning of climate
change research priorities, and plans for future collaboration and funding opportunities across the network, as
well as engagement events with stakeholders from Government, NGO and private sectors.
The Assembly will take place at the conference centre in Bramber House, and is being coordinated by the
Sussex Tyndall representatives and SEG members, Phil Johnstone, Claire Carter, and Sandra Pointel.
This assembly is a timely one as it takes place a few months before the vital COP meeting in Paris, and is
therefore a fantastic opportunity to stimulate debate and bolster the varied forms of climate change research
that takes place at Sussex. Building on the Climate Change Network, Tyndall @ Sussex will strengthen
collaborations between different arms of climate change policy research at Sussex, in the months leading up
to the assembly.
David Ockwell presented to the UNFCCC’s Technology Executive Committee (TEC) in October on
strengthening National Systems of Innovation as a means to foster climate technology transfer to developing
countries.
This draws on Rob Byrne and David Ockwell’s recent research on off grid solar in Kenya.
SEG Director wins best paper prize
Congratulations to Dr Florian Kern, Senior Lecturer at SPRU and Co-Director of
the Sussex Energy Group, who was awarded the prestigious prize for the best
paper at the 5th International Conference on Sustainability Transitions, in August
2014.
Florian wrote the winning paper Creative destruction or mere niche creation?
Innovation policy mixes for sustainability transitions with co-author Dr Paula
Kivimaa while she was a senior visiting fellow at SPRU last year.
The work was supported by the Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand grant,
which is funded by the RCUK Energy Programme.
Jim Watson earns special advisory role with House of Lords
Jim Watson has been appointed as a specialist adviser with the House of Lords Science and Technology
Committee for their inquiry on electricity infrastructure resilience.
The inquiry is currently taking evidence in public, and will report early next year. See UK Parliament for more
details.
Jim was also involved in two reports on gas published by the UK Energy Research Centre (where he is
Research Director) The press release and further details are on the UKERC and Sussex University websites.
Thesis on Developing Community Energy Projects
Mari Martiskainen successfully defended her thesis in August for a DPhil in Science & Technology Policy
Studies at SPRU.
Using a theoretical framework from Strategic Niche Management, Mari’s PhD, titled “Developing Community
Energy Projects: experiences from Finland and the UK”, analysed why and how community energy projects
are developed. Key findings of the thesis highlighted that issues such as the role of community leadership,
utilisation of pre-existing skills and tacit knowledge are often key to projects’ success, but not necessarily
recognised by previous academic literature or picked up by policy makers.
PhD researcher authors influential report on electricity shortfalls
PhD researcher Emily Cox focuses on electricity security in the context of a low-carbon transition. She is
developing a methodology which can be used to assess low-carbon transition pathways for their resilience,
affordability and sustainability.
Emily was recently invited to work for the Royal Academy of Engineering on a project for DECC and the
Council for Science and Technology; the project examined the social and environmental costs of electricity
shortfalls. Emily’s report was published at the end of November and is called 'Counting the Cost: the economic
and social costs of electricity shortfalls in the UK’
She has also been a contributor to the Rampion offshore wind array project as a member of the project liaison
consultation team (Ed Davey granted permission for the project in June).
Lucy Baker presents findings of ‘Rising Powers’ project at University of Cape Town
Lucy, a Research Fellow at Sussex Energy Group is currently in South Africa, working on an ESRC-funded
project, ‘the Rising Powers, Clean Development and the Low Carbon Transition in Sub-Saharan Africa’. This
three-year project examines how, why and to what extent China, Brazil and India are enabling the transition to
low carbon energy systems in Southern Africa, with a focus on South Africa and Mozambique.
She recently presented her research findings at a public seminar held at the Energy Research Centre of the
University of Cape Town. The seminar discussed the political economy of South Africa’s renewable energy
independent power producers’ programme (RE IPPPP). This included the nature of project finance, project
ownership, technology development and concerns over the economic and community development aspects of
the programme.
Lucy has also published a working paper on the Tyndall Centre website, “Renewable energy procurement in
South Africa: a new frontier”, as well as giving a paper presentation on “Renewable energy manufacturing and
South Africa’s minerals-energy complex” at the annual conference of the International Initiative for Promoting
Political Economy, Naples, 16-18 September 2014.
Major dissemination event for Sustainable Lifestyles Research Group bring work to an end
The four-year interdisciplinary research programme of the Sustainable Lifestyles Research
Group (SLRG) came to an end this year, with a major dissemination event Sustainable
Living: myths meanings and realities in London on June 3rd. The event featured plenary
presentations from SEG researchers Steve Sorrell, Andy Stirling, Rachael Durrant and Bex White, together
with panel discussions from invited experts.
Videos of all of the presentations at the event are available to view online and the results of the project are
currently being edited into a book. One stream of the SLRG’s work was a project on rebound effects for UK
households, led by Steve Sorrell in collaboration with Tim Jackson, Mona Chitnis and Angela Druckman of the
University of Surrey.
This work is continuing, with the results of the latest modelling exercise being presented at conferences of the
International Association of Energy Economics in New York (15-18th June) and Rome (Oct 28-31st), together
with the conference of the British Institute of Energy Economics in Oxford (Sept 17-18th).
SEG makes big strides in Communications and Engagement
The SEG communications team has been working hard to improve our visibility in the online and social media
space. We now have over 1300 Twitter followers (@SussexNRGGroup) and a widely read blog. You can
follow us by email to make sure you never miss a post. We share all our new blog posts via Twitter as well as
on our Facebook page. Please do ‘follow’ or ‘like’ us to keep up to date.
Sussex Energy Group researchers have been very active on the blog, and we have been enjoying the lively
debates on all things energy. Gordon MacKerron wrote ‘A response to Owen Paterson’s speech on climate
change in mid October - our most viewed post so far. Another post by Steve Sorrell responded to an ongoing
conversation in the US on whether energy efficiency improvements in developing countries could lead
to increased energy consumption. This debate was stimulated by a new report from the US Breakthrough
Institute, profiled in an op-ed in the New York Times. Both this and a follow-up blog by Steve were reposted on
the Energy Collective.
Steve Sorrell also co-authored a blog in ‘The Conversation’ and an article for The Parliament Magazine,
arguing the need for more ambitious and legally binding targets for the EU on energy efficiency, together with
an article in Energy World highlighting the research of the six EPSRC Research Centres on End Use Energy
Demand.
Ralitsa Hiteva and Jim Watson wrote the blog piece Britain’s infrastructure must be made to work in harmony
and here’s how for The Conversation last week to support the workshop they ran on Governance of
infrastructure interdependencies between the energy and water sectors in the UK.
Latest Publications
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Chitnis, M., S. Sorrell, A. Druckman and S. Firth (2014), ‘Who rebounds most? Estimating direct and indirect rebound effects for
UK socioeconomic groups’, Ecological Economics, 106, 12-32
Stapleton, L.M., Hanna, P., Ravenscroft, N. and Church, A. (2014) A flexible ecosystem services proto-typology based on public
opinion. Ecological Economics 106, 83–90.
Church, A., Fish, R., Haines-Young, R., Mourato, S., Tratalos, J., Stapleton, L., Willis, C., Coates, P., Gibbons, S., Leyshon, C.,
Potschin, M., Ravenscroft, N., Sanchis-Guarner, R., Winter, M., and Kenter, J. (2014) UK National Ecosystem Assessment
Follow-on: Cultural ecosystem services and indicators. UNEP-WCMC, LWEC, UK.
Ulrich Hansen and David Ockwell (2014) “Learning and technological capability building in emerging economies: The case of the
biomass power equipment industry in Malaysia”, Technovation 34 (10): 617-630
David Ockwell, Ambuj Sagar and Heleen de Coninck (2014) “Collaborative research and development (R&D) for climate
technology transfer and uptake in developing countries: Towards a needs driven approach” Climatic Change (DOI)
10.1007/s10584-014-1123-2 (published online)
Jim Watson, Rob Byrne, David Ockwell and Michele Stua (2014) “Lessons from China: Building technological capabilities for low
carbon technology transfer and development” Accepted by Climatic Change (DOI) 10.1007/s10584-014-1124-1 (published
online)
Watson, J., Kern, F. and Markusson, N. (2014) Resolving or managing uncertainties for carbon capture and storage: lessons
from historical analogues. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 81. pp. 192–204.
Smith, A., Kern, F., Raven, R. and Verhees, B. (2014) Spaces for sustainable innovation: solar photovoltaic electricity in the UK.
Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 81, pp. 115-130.
Kern, F., Kuzemko, C. and Mitchell, C. (2014) Measuring and explaining policy paradigm change: the case of UK energy policy.
Policy & Politics, 42(2). pp. 513-530.
Johnstone, P (2014) Planning reform, rescaling, and the construction of the post-political: the case of the Planning Act and
nuclear power consultation in the UK. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy.
Seyfang, Gill, Hielscher, Sabine, Hargreaves, Tom, Martiskainen, Mari and Smith, Adrian (2014) A grassroots sustainable
energy niche? Reflections on community energy in the UK. Journal of Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 13. pp.
21-44. ISSN 2210-4224.
Policy Briefing Notes
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David Ockwell and Rob Byrne (2014) Low carbon energy and development in low-income countries: Policy lessons from a study
of the off-grid photovoltaics sector in Kenya. STEPS Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton
Ockwell, D. and Byrne, R. (2014) CRIBs (Climate Relevant Innovation-system Builders): A powerful new focus for international
climate technology policy, Brighton: STEPS Centre
Working papers
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Byrne, R., Ockwell, D., Urama, K., Ozor, N., Kirumba, E., Ely, A., Becker, S. and Gollwitzer, L. (2014) Sustainable energy for
whom? Governing pro-poor, low carbon pathways to development: Lessons from solar PV in Kenya, STEPS Working Paper 61,
Brighton: STEPS Centre - ISBN: 978-1-78118-155-3
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Rolffs, P., Byrne, R. and Ockwell, D. (2014) Financing Sustainable Energy for All: Pay-as-you-go vs. traditional solar finance
approaches in Kenya, STEPS Working Paper 59, Brighton: STEPS Centre - ISBN: 978-1-78118-152-2
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Marshall, M., Byrne, R. and Ockwell, D. (2014) Gender and the construction of identity within climate technology innovation in
Kenya, STEPS Working Paper 62, Brighton: STEPS Centre - ISBN: 978-1-78118-156-0
 Byrne, Rob; Smith, Adrian; Watson, Jim and Ockwell, David (2014) ‘Energy pathways in low carbon development’ Energy
Pathways Briefing
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Sorrell, S. (2014), ‘Reducing energy demand: a review of issues, challenges and approaches’, SPRU electronic working paper,
SWPS 2014-22
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Gollwitzer, L. (2014). Community-based Micro Grids: A Common Property Resource Problem, STEPS Working Paper 68,
Brighton: STEPS Centre - ISBN: 978-1-78118-192-8
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Ockwell, D. and Byrne, R. (2014) CRIBs (Climate Relevant Innovation-system Builders): Policy recommendations on fostering
National Systems of Innovation under the UNFCCC, STEPS Working Paper 76, Brighton: STEPS Centre - ISBN: 978-1-78118210-9
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