Blog

Beyond a Grid Constrained World 

Beyond a Grid Constrained World 

by Cornelia Helmcke

Throughout the summer of 2024, CEE Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Cornelia Helmcke travelled the Scottish Islands, hosting ‘townhalls’ on Orkney, Lewis, South Uist, Skye and Mull.  Local community groups, energy experts and residents were invited to collectively brainstorm constraints to the national electricity grid as perceived on the islands and how to overcome these. In this blog post, Cornelia reflects on her experiences and what she has learned from those who live ‘at the end of the line’. 

COP28 Reflections: An activist’s journey to the biggest climate conferences

COP28 Reflections: An activist’s journey to the biggest climate conferences

by Léa Weimann

From my first Climate Strike in December 2015, I knew that I wanted to participate in a Conference of the Parties (COP) on Climate Change. I wanted to take the energy, passion, and frustration I felt as a teenager protesting in the streets into the negotiating rooms that decide our future. Eight years later, the reality of that dream is very different from what I had imagined.

Lowering UK Electricity Prices to Achieve Net Zero?

Lowering UK Electricity Prices to Achieve Net Zero?

by Sean Field

The electrification of heat and transportation is vital to the UK achieving Net Zero. In this short piece, Sean explores how a weighted average wholesale electricity price could reduce electricity prices for consumers and substantially delink wholesale natural gas and electricity prices. This promises not just to insulate UK consumers from global natural gas price volatility, but also facilitate the electrification of heat and transport by making electricity cheaper, which is essential for meeting the UK’s net zero targets.

Grangemouth: A Story of Unjust Transition?

Grangemouth: A Story of Unjust Transition?

by Riyoko Shibe

Scotland has a proud – and extensive – energy history. For much of the 20th century, the refinery at Grangemouth was a major hub around which a community not only formed but flourished. However, this was not to last. After decades of stagnation, the refinery is set to close in 2025. What lessons can we learn from Grangemouth’s history? Can this Scottish town help inform the nation’s transition away from fossil fuels?

What I learned biking to work in Texas

What I learned biking to work in Texas

by Andy Guido Eskenazi

I don’t drive. Having lived in cities with robust public transportation systems and extensive bike lane networks, this was never an issue. However, my choice not to get behind the wheel was to be tested from December 2022 when I took a job in Austin, Texas.

Understanding Domestic Energy Practices as Situated Phenomena in Kenya

Understanding Domestic Energy Practices as Situated Phenomena in Kenya

by Serena Saligari

The process of transitioning to cleaner fuel sources is often portrayed as a simple linear progression. In the promotion of such transitions, economic factors regularly take priority. This piece, based on fieldwork in rural Kenya, challenges this singular approach. Energy sources, especially those relating to domestic use, may be socially embedded, making the decision to transition to alternative sources more complex than a simple economic choice.

New York City’s War on Pizza? Pollution and Politics in the Age of Outrage

New York City’s War on Pizza? Pollution and Politics in the Age of Outrage

by James Crooks

Outrage discourses have become increasingly commonplace in all forms of media. Recently, proposed regulations in New York City regarding wood- and coal-burning cook stoves – dubbed by some ‘New York’s War on Pizza’ – have been the focus. What can we learn from this and how can this episode inform our own communications strategies when promoting complex or nuanced climate or energy-related actions?

Tehran: The Petroleum Capital

Tehran: The Petroleum Capital

by Roya Khoshnevis

Since the beginning of the 20th century, Tehran’s development has been closely linked with the oil industry. However, this connection to oil and petroleum culture has created its own set of challenges for the country’s ability to moving toward renewable energy practices.

From the Roots Up: A Summer of Research on the St Andrews Forest  

From the Roots Up: A Summer of Research on the St Andrews Forest  

by Victoria Lee

With concrete goals and a focus on community planning, the St Andrews Forest is shaping up to be a great climate action initiative. But one vital next step in its development is identifying specific data that need to be collected from forest locations in order to quantify progress towards its goals of carbon sequestration, supporting biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Through the University’s 2022 Summer Teams Enterprise Programme (STEP), a team of seven St Andrews undergraduate students from across degree programmes and with diverse backgrounds were brought together to create a draft protocol for assessing the benefits of the Forest programme.

Archives