Developing and assessing rapid energy decarbonisation scenarios considering technical constraints

In order to meet the increasingly challenging decarbonisation targets, the delivery of relevant interventions considering technical network constraints is critical. Regardless, lead-in time, speed of delivery and technical constraints for interventions to reduce carbon are still not fully considered in the context of the remaining carbon budget.

This PhD aims to address these issues of time, carbon budgets and energy system change for direct application in city scale planning. Specific objectives include:
(i) Model technical constraints, e.g., electricity network reinforcements and relevant construction lead-in times, to implement interventions at local authority scale across buildings and transport sectors.
(ii) Identify needed change in demand patterns and financial processes to reach the highest technically and economically feasible carbon reduction rate.
(iii) Identify the latest points in time when key decarbonisation interventions can be made to meet climate change targets.
(iv) Develop new methods for projecting the net carbon saving at a city level - including techniques to support improved near-term forecasting of energy demand and emissions.