ADVENT (ADdressing Valuation of Energy and Nature Together)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Aberdeen
Department Name: Inst of Biological and Environmental Sci
Abstract
The UK Government is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the environment. Delivering on these parallel objectives, however, involves numerous tensions. Future low-carbon energy pathways that, for example, depend on the sourcing of feedstocks through hydraulic fracking have implications for the availability of clean water and hence for the ecosystem services such resources provide to other industrial, domestic or agricultural users. Likewise, pathways that envisage more wind farms have implications for the quality of the natural landscape and the cultural ecosystem services people derive from the visual enjoyment of those landscapes.
The central objective of this project is to explore future UK low-carbon energy pathways and quantify their differing implications for stocks of natural capital (e.g. groundwater and natural habitats) and for the provision of ecosystem services (e.g. irrigation, visual amenity, recreation). In addition, the project will apply methods of economic valuation to estimate in money terms the value of the ecosystem service changes associated with different future energy pathway. Ultimately, the project seeks to provide policy makers with tools that allow them to take a whole-systems perspective on energy futures in a way that integrates energy and environmental considerations into a single framework.
The research programme will begin with workshops bringing together members of the valuing nature and energy futures research communities. The aim will be to encourage discussion between the participants and to arrive at a shared understanding of the conceptual framework that should underpin the research as well as to establish the baseline of existing knowledge.
Part of that knowledge base will be a description of the particular future energy pathways to be explored in the project. The next task for the research team will be to develop a detailed life cycle characterisation of each pathway. Drawing on previous research, the project will then identify the anticipated ecosystem service impacts of each particular element of a pathway. And, where available, collate evidence regarding the estimated value of those various impacts.
For numerous elements, however, those impacts and/or values may be unknown. Indeed, the project will seek to fill those knowledge gaps through a set of case studies. These will explore aspects of bioenergy, carbon capture and storage, visual disamenity, impacts on marine recreation biodiversity consequences and the impacts of infrastructure to reduce energy demand.
Drawing on the results, the research will then seek to integrate the available evidence so as to assess the environmental impacts of each energy pathway in its entirety. To that end, the project will build on previous work by extending two complementary modelling platforms. The first is a micro-economic model that allows for a spatially-disaggregated exploration of the impacts of each pathway. The second employs macro-economic modelling to understand how natural capital use in different pathways impacts on the broad functioning of the economy and concomitant implications for growth, jobs and trade. To provide a holistic assessment of each pathway, a further work stream will quantify the international implications for natural capital and ecosystems services of UK decisions on future energy systems.
The findings will be made available to academics and policy makers through an extensive programme of dissemination and knowledge exchange. In addition, through training a cohort of PhD studentships, the project seeks to leave a legacy of academic capacity focused on the interface between energy and the environment. Together, the new knowledge and expertise delivered by the project will provide a major contribution to ensuring that energy and natural capital policies can be developed in a coherent manner for the maximal benefit of society as a whole.
The central objective of this project is to explore future UK low-carbon energy pathways and quantify their differing implications for stocks of natural capital (e.g. groundwater and natural habitats) and for the provision of ecosystem services (e.g. irrigation, visual amenity, recreation). In addition, the project will apply methods of economic valuation to estimate in money terms the value of the ecosystem service changes associated with different future energy pathway. Ultimately, the project seeks to provide policy makers with tools that allow them to take a whole-systems perspective on energy futures in a way that integrates energy and environmental considerations into a single framework.
The research programme will begin with workshops bringing together members of the valuing nature and energy futures research communities. The aim will be to encourage discussion between the participants and to arrive at a shared understanding of the conceptual framework that should underpin the research as well as to establish the baseline of existing knowledge.
Part of that knowledge base will be a description of the particular future energy pathways to be explored in the project. The next task for the research team will be to develop a detailed life cycle characterisation of each pathway. Drawing on previous research, the project will then identify the anticipated ecosystem service impacts of each particular element of a pathway. And, where available, collate evidence regarding the estimated value of those various impacts.
For numerous elements, however, those impacts and/or values may be unknown. Indeed, the project will seek to fill those knowledge gaps through a set of case studies. These will explore aspects of bioenergy, carbon capture and storage, visual disamenity, impacts on marine recreation biodiversity consequences and the impacts of infrastructure to reduce energy demand.
Drawing on the results, the research will then seek to integrate the available evidence so as to assess the environmental impacts of each energy pathway in its entirety. To that end, the project will build on previous work by extending two complementary modelling platforms. The first is a micro-economic model that allows for a spatially-disaggregated exploration of the impacts of each pathway. The second employs macro-economic modelling to understand how natural capital use in different pathways impacts on the broad functioning of the economy and concomitant implications for growth, jobs and trade. To provide a holistic assessment of each pathway, a further work stream will quantify the international implications for natural capital and ecosystems services of UK decisions on future energy systems.
The findings will be made available to academics and policy makers through an extensive programme of dissemination and knowledge exchange. In addition, through training a cohort of PhD studentships, the project seeks to leave a legacy of academic capacity focused on the interface between energy and the environment. Together, the new knowledge and expertise delivered by the project will provide a major contribution to ensuring that energy and natural capital policies can be developed in a coherent manner for the maximal benefit of society as a whole.
Planned Impact
In addition to the academic community, we envisage three groups of key beneficiaries from the research: (i) government departments and public policy makers; (ii) private sector companies in the energy, water and agriculture sectors; and (iii) the public and society more generally. Our communication, engagement and dissemination plans are described in the Pathways to Impact document. Here we outline the expected impacts of these combined activities.
National Decision-Makers:
A fundamental objective of this project is to quantify and value the natural capital and ecosystem services impacts of different energy pathways. Moreover, based on that knowledge, the project will develop decision-support tools that provide a whole-system assessment of different energy futures. Accordingly, the project's outputs will have direct importance to numerous decision-making agencies including the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). Each of those agencies has immediate needs for tools that will allow them to assess and compare different possible energy pathways across both the energy and environment spheres. The project will also provide inputs for agencies involved in national policy making regarding natural capital, particularly the on-going development of natural capital accounts being pursued by the National Capital Committee (NCC), Office of National Statistics (ONS) and HM Treasury (HMT). The research team have long track-records of collaboration with each of these organisations ensuring the project's findings will have a pathway for direct dissemination to the relevant decision-making bodies.
Regional Decision-Makers:
In addition, the project will undertake a number of case studies whose regional focus will provide valuable input to local decision-makers. For instance, research on public attitudes to potential marine energy developments in the Bristol Channel-Severn Estuary (WP5.6) will be of interest to Local Enterprise Partnerships given the economic importance of tourism in the region. Similarly, the work on implications of changes in energy consumption in north-eastern Scotland will be of relevance to unitary authorities within the region with respect to strategic planning and decisions regarding future infrastructure investments.
Private Sector:
Outputs of the project will also be of direct relevance to a number of businesses and organisations in the private sector. The strategic planning of energy companies will be particularly enhanced by better understanding of potential environmental impacts from their operations and how natural capital considerations might constrain these in the future. Similarly, the water supply industry has an obvious interest in the implications of future energy pathways for water resources and how these could influence future investments in abstraction, treatment and distribution infrastructure. The agricultural sector also stand to benefit from project's outputs. In particular, the project will provide insights into possible future demands for bioenergy and spatial variations in the availability of water for irrigation purposes. In addition, the project will provide information directly relevant to businesses in the energy, water and food sectors with interests in developing corporate natural capital accounts.
Public and Wider Society:
The final group to be impacted by the project will be society more generally. The project's outputs will help ensure that the public's valuation of important natural assets such as green spaces used for recreation and landscapes enjoyed for their visual amenity are meaningfully represented in decisions concerning future energy pathways. These insights will also be relevant to the work of many environmental NGOs such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and county wildlife trusts.
National Decision-Makers:
A fundamental objective of this project is to quantify and value the natural capital and ecosystem services impacts of different energy pathways. Moreover, based on that knowledge, the project will develop decision-support tools that provide a whole-system assessment of different energy futures. Accordingly, the project's outputs will have direct importance to numerous decision-making agencies including the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). Each of those agencies has immediate needs for tools that will allow them to assess and compare different possible energy pathways across both the energy and environment spheres. The project will also provide inputs for agencies involved in national policy making regarding natural capital, particularly the on-going development of natural capital accounts being pursued by the National Capital Committee (NCC), Office of National Statistics (ONS) and HM Treasury (HMT). The research team have long track-records of collaboration with each of these organisations ensuring the project's findings will have a pathway for direct dissemination to the relevant decision-making bodies.
Regional Decision-Makers:
In addition, the project will undertake a number of case studies whose regional focus will provide valuable input to local decision-makers. For instance, research on public attitudes to potential marine energy developments in the Bristol Channel-Severn Estuary (WP5.6) will be of interest to Local Enterprise Partnerships given the economic importance of tourism in the region. Similarly, the work on implications of changes in energy consumption in north-eastern Scotland will be of relevance to unitary authorities within the region with respect to strategic planning and decisions regarding future infrastructure investments.
Private Sector:
Outputs of the project will also be of direct relevance to a number of businesses and organisations in the private sector. The strategic planning of energy companies will be particularly enhanced by better understanding of potential environmental impacts from their operations and how natural capital considerations might constrain these in the future. Similarly, the water supply industry has an obvious interest in the implications of future energy pathways for water resources and how these could influence future investments in abstraction, treatment and distribution infrastructure. The agricultural sector also stand to benefit from project's outputs. In particular, the project will provide insights into possible future demands for bioenergy and spatial variations in the availability of water for irrigation purposes. In addition, the project will provide information directly relevant to businesses in the energy, water and food sectors with interests in developing corporate natural capital accounts.
Public and Wider Society:
The final group to be impacted by the project will be society more generally. The project's outputs will help ensure that the public's valuation of important natural assets such as green spaces used for recreation and landscapes enjoyed for their visual amenity are meaningfully represented in decisions concerning future energy pathways. These insights will also be relevant to the work of many environmental NGOs such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and county wildlife trusts.
Organisations
Publications
Milev G
(2021)
The environmental and financial implications of expanding the use of electric cars - A Case study of Scotland
in Energy and Built Environment
Logan K
(2021)
Phasing in electric vehicles: Does policy focusing on operating emission achieve net zero emissions reduction objectives?
in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
Shepherd A
(2021)
Scotland's onshore wind energy generation, impact on natural capital & satisfying no-nuclear energy policy
in Energy Reports
Hastings A
(2021)
Petroleum Industry: An Enabler or Pariah of Net Zero?
Logan K
(2021)
Low emission vehicle integration: Will National Grid electricity generation mix meet UK net zero?
in Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: Journal of Power and Energy
Delafield G
(2021)
Conceptual framework for balancing society and nature in net-zero energy transitions
in Environmental Science & Policy
Kho F
(2022)
Current understanding of the ecological risk of mercury from subsea oil and gas infrastructure to marine ecosystems.
in Journal of hazardous materials
Davies A
(2022)
Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from decommissioned oil and gas steel structures: Can current policy meet NetZero goals?
in Energy Policy
Liu Y
(2022)
The development of a new crop growth model SwitchFor for yield mapping of switchgrass.
in Global change biology. Bioenergy
Litskas V
(2022)
Use of Winery and Animal Waste as Fertilizers to Achieve Climate Neutrality in Non-Irrigated Viticulture
in Agronomy
Von Hellfeld R
(2022)
Expanding the Miscanthus market in the UK: Growers in profile and experience, benefits and drawbacks of the bioenergy crop.
in Global change biology. Bioenergy
Koppel DJ
(2022)
Current understanding and research needs for ecological risk assessments of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in subsea oil and gas pipelines.
in Journal of environmental radioactivity
Albanito F
(2022)
Quantifying the land-based opportunity carbon costs of onshore wind farms
in Journal of Cleaner Production
Von Hellfeld R
(2023)
An approach to assess potential environmental mercury release, food web bioaccumulation, and human dietary methylmercury uptake from decommissioning offshore oil and gas infrastructure.
in Journal of hazardous materials
Clifton-Brown J
(2023)
Perennial biomass cropping and use: Shaping the policy ecosystem in European countries
in GCB Bioenergy
Davies A
(2023)
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Decommissioning Manmade Structures in the Marine Environment; Current Trends and Implications for the Future
in Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Logan K
(2023)
Decarbonising UK transport: Implications for electricity generation, land use and policy
in Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Von Hellfeld R
(2023)
Considerations for future quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) modelling for heavy metals - A case study of mercury.
in Toxicology
Koppel DJ
(2023)
Threshold values for the protection of marine ecosystems from NORM in subsea oil and gas infrastructure.
in Journal of environmental radioactivity
Guo M
(2023)
Advances in biorenewables-resource-waste systems and modelling
in Carbon Capture Science & Technology
Davies A
(2023)
Lifetime greenhouse gas emissions from offshore hydrogen production
in Energy Reports
Davies A
(2023)
A first estimate of blue carbon associated with oil & gas industry marine infrastructure
in Environmental Science: Advances
Argles APK
(2023)
Modelling the impact of forest management and CO2-fertilisation on growth and demography in a Sitka spruce plantation.
in Scientific reports
Clifton-Brown J.
(2023)
BUILDING THE POLICY ECOSYSTEM IN EUROPE FOR CULTIVATION AND USE OF PERENNIAL BIOMASS CROPS
in European Biomass Conference and Exhibition Proceedings
Dickson E
(2023)
Energy production from municipal solid waste in low to middle income countries: a case study of how to build a circular economy in Abuja, Nigeria
in Frontiers in Sustainability
Von Hellfeld R
(2024)
High resolution visualisation of tiemannite microparticles, essential in the detoxification process of mercury in marine mammals.
in Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)
Delafield G
(2024)
Spatial context matters: Assessing how future renewable energy pathways will impact nature and society
in Renewable Energy
Studentship Projects
Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
NE/M019691/1 | 30/06/2015 | 31/08/2021 | |||
1806209 | Studentship | NE/M019691/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2020 | Kathryn Logan |
Description | A number of papers published already and others are being finalised. |
Exploitation Route | Data could be used by other RCUK and UKERC researchers - already links to new Assess-BECCS project funded by UKERC |
Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Energy,Environment |
URL | http://www.ukerc.ac.uk/programmes/advent.html |
Description | ADVENT (ADdressing Valuation of Energy and Nature Together) |
Amount | £182,321 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NE/M019691/1 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2015 |
End | 08/2021 |
Description | Greenhouse Gas Removal Plus (GGR+): Sustainable Treescapes Demonstrator & Decision Tools |
Amount | £4,311,888 (GBP) |
Funding ID | BB/V011588/1 |
Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2021 |
End | 11/2025 |
Description | Perennial Biomass Crops for Greenhouse Gas Removal |
Amount | £3,908,830 (GBP) |
Funding ID | BB/V011553/1 |
Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2021 |
End | 10/2025 |
Description | Supergen Bioenergy Hub 2018 |
Amount | £5,323,434 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/S000771/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2018 |
End | 10/2023 |
Description | UK Energy Research Centre Phase 4 |
Amount | £18,206,734 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/S029575/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2019 |
End | 04/2024 |
Description | EAGE virtual conference presentation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Achieving Net Zero emissions requires the knowledge and skills of the oil and gas industry |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://eage.eventsair.com/annual-conference-online/ |
Description | Presentation at SPE Offshore Europe Technical Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Presented the need for CCS for Net Zero and highlighted the potential Market size in the UK and discussed the potential for the oil and gas industry to morph into a CCS industry or combine the two |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.spe-aberdeen.org/events/offshore-europe-2019/ |