###Cost-benefit analysis of decarbonising heating in the UK
Project ID: 2228bd1200 (You will need this ID for your application)
Research Theme: Energy and Decarbonisation
UCL Lead department: Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction
Lead Supervisor: Zhifu Mi
Project Summary:
Heating makes up almost one third of carbon emissions in the UK. The challenging task of decarbonising heating is essential to reach the UK’s commitment to Net Zero emissions by 2050. A range of measures can be used to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, carbon emissions from heating system. These decarbonisation measures might reduce air pollutants from gas combustion and bring health benefits, which have not been investigated well. In this project, a hybrid model will be developed to assess both direct and indirect benefits of decarbonising heating in the UK, deepening understanding of the nexus between heating decarbonisation, economy, air quality and health. Specifically, this project will • Estimate the costs of low carbon heating solutions using life cycle analysis; • Estimate the direct benefits of low carbon heating solutions using carbon price; • Estimate the indirect benefits on air quality using an atmospheric chemistry model; • Estimate the indirect benefits on health using an integrated exposure response model; • Conduct cost-benefit analysis for low carbon heating under different scenarios.
The student will be based at The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London (UCL), and supervised by Prof. Zhifu Mi who won the 2022 UCL “Award for Outstanding Research Supervision” and Prof. D’Maris Coffman. The student will also collaborate with the research team of EPSRC project “Heat Accumulation from Renewables with Valid Energy Storage and Transformation”.
We are looking for a highly capable candidate, with a Master’s degree in management, environmental sciences, built environment, energy engineering or other relevant disciplines. The candidate needs to be familiar with at least one programming software package, such as MATLAB, R and Python. It would also be useful (but not essential) for the candidate to have some expertise in any of the followings: carbon accounting, energy policy, atmospheric chemistry model, cost-benefit analysis, scenario modelling, and operational research.