Macro-economic implications of a low-carbon mobility transition

Reducing global carbon emissions to keep temperature under reasonable limits is one of the biggest challenges of our time. A world within 2 degrees of global warming requires a radical shift from a fossil fuel-based economy to a low-carbon economy. Global decarbonisation efforts, in line with the Paris Agreement, support the transition towards a green economy, but still they are not enough to reach the climate goals. Technological innovation plays a key role in the transition towards a green economy, i.e. developing new low-carbon technologies, their market development, and a general increase of resource efficiency along supply chains. Incentives to radical and systemic technological innovation will be needed to unleash investments and move in the direction towards green economies at different scales.

With the transport sector accounting for nearly one-quarter of global energy-related CO2 emissions, a more resource-efficient and less carbon-intensive mobility becomes imperative. The development of new low-carbon mobility technologies such as e-mobility may rapidly change the transport market in ways that are unexpected or game-changing. Thus, first-mover countries which come up with more efficient and new technologies should be able to benefit from such disruptive innovation, experiencing higher production, trade and income. International market development will be crucial too.
In your PhD you will be expected to introduce a state-of-the-art representation of technological innovation in the Environmental Global Applied General Equilibrium (ENGAGE) model of UCL-ISR. This implies mastering, combining and modelling a broad range of theories including different strands of economic theory and innovation theory. Special attention will be given to disruptive innovation related to e-mobility, batteries, and transportation in general. In doing so, you are required to apply advanced computational techniques to solve large systems of simultaneous equations, which involves a meticulous compilation and analysis of global data. You are expected to represent this research area within the UCL ISR macro-economic modelling team and contribute to our research strategy.