Research to understand the energy transition


At the 3rd Renewable Energy Research Conference held at the University of Oslo between June 16th and 18th researchers from the Environmental Policy Research Centre (FFU) presented their latest research. The international conference brought together renewable energy researchers from natural and social science.
In her keynote address to the conference participants Prof. Dr. Miranda Schreurs, head of the FFU, looked at the role of Europe for the transition to a low carbon energy system from a comparative perspective.
Robert Brandt presented insights from his political analysis of instruments to regulate a locational setting of renewable energy to manage the necessary grid expansion. In his PhD project Brandt investigates the discourse on the electricity grid expansion in Germany to identify the politically most feasible option for managing that extension.
Moreover, Jens Marquardt presented his PhD research on the role of donor-driven renewable energy projects for energy transitions in Southeast Asia. Taking a multi-level perspective he gave insights into the meaning of power distribution and coordination in the electricity system of Indonesia. Both FFU colleagues presented their research in the conference session on “Transition Strategies, Policy and Scenarios.”
Both presentations are only two examples of various projects and PhD studies at the FFU that work on critical aspects of an energy transition from a social science perspective.