Our research uncovers the hidden costs of technology deployment and end-of-life management. By developing the science and engineering of “soft technology,” we can innovate the processes of deployment as rigorously as we innovate the hardwares used.
TECHNOLOGY AND POLICY EVOLUTION
We explore how technologies evolve and what drives this evolution, from engineering design changes and materials innovation to site-specific conditions, government investment and private sector decision making. Our goal is to make innovation faster, more cost-effective, less risky, and ultimately more attractive to public and private sector investment.
SCIENCE OF SOFT TECHNOLOGY
We develop new concepts, methods, and models to better understand and manage technology deployment and decommissioning processes — to enable more systematic thinking about everything required “beyond hardware”. Our goal is to support the deliberate and equitable design and use of technologies for climate mitigation and adaptation.
DECARBONIZATION of hard-to-abate sectors
We explore the design and feasibility of low-carbon energy systems for industrial applications (e.g., in the chemical industry) under different regional conditions. We seek to identify design characteristics of low-cost, reliable, zero-carbon energy systems and deployment pathways, to support technology and policy development.
TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION FOR SUSTAINABility
We develop new metrics to better understand the past and potential future contributions of technologies to sustainable development. Our goal is to better understand the technology characteristics, including scale, component supply industries, and resource use, that can support sustainable development.
Our lab uses advanced analytical techniques to comprehensively evaluate technology options for climate change mitigation and adaptation. We employ concepts from engineering, economics, and complexity science to advance decarbonization strategies, theories of technological change, and to inform investment and policy decisions in the context of climate change.
COST EVOLUTION OF ADVANCED ELECTRICITY METERING INFRASTRUCTURE
Advanced electricity metering infrastructures (AMI) or smart metering systems are critical building blocks of efficient and resilient electricity networks. As such, significant public sector investments have supported smart meter deployments over the past two decades. Yet what is the technology improvement return on these investments? How have smart metering hardware, project management, and installation approaches evolved?
In this project, we build a global database of smart meter rollouts and associated deployment costs, and study the evolution of hardware and soft cost components since the early 2000s. We explore factors that have enabled and hindered successful deployment at the level of individual AMI projects and compare installation experiences across countries. We also explore the dual role of systems integration efforts in enhancing AMI capabilities while increasing project complexity and costs.
Tracing the costs of local opposition to energy infrastructure: Empirical insights from the case of wind energy
Climate change mitigation targets call for a significant scale-up of zero-carbon energy capacity, likely increasing the density of new energy infrastructure close to population centers and raising the risks of local opposition. Although social resistance to energy infrastructure can enable local communities to shape more participatory management structures, it may also cause project delays and added planning costs. Several prior studies have investigated the reasons for local opposition to energy infrastructure, but no empirical study exists to document project-level costs of local opposition to energy projects and compare these costs across countries with different policy approaches.
Here we advance research on energy infrastructure opposition and costs by developing a framework for identifying project- and system-level costs of local opposition to zero-carbon power projects, using wind power projects as an example to illustrate broader insights. Using a novel dataset of project-level costs in five countries, we show that costs related to local opposition have been stable or increasing, even as capital expenditures for wind projects have trended downwards and countries have taken more active approaches to managing local opposition.
Characterizing coal PLANT phase-out processes for emipirically grounded GHG EMISSIONS Projections
The phase-out of carbon-intensive infrastructure is vital to climate change mitigation scenarios as envisioned in energy-economic and integrated assessment models. Coal-fired power plants are assumed to retire rapidly even in regions where plants are relatively new, depending on plant emissions factors and sectoral emissions constraints. In reality, retirements are multi-year, multi-stakeholder processes that result in various outcomes, ranging from plant conversions to adjacent new builds that leverage grid connection points. However, past phase-out experiences at 2,782 coal-fired units globally have yet to be systematically documented and analyzed.
In this project, we construct a database of historical coal phase-outs and their characteristics in China, India, Europe, and the U.S., four regions that together cover 90% of past retirements. We will analyze temporal and spatial trends in phase-out processes, identify best practices, and construct a set of empirically grounded projections for phase-out timelines and associated emissions.
Techno-economic feasibility of electrolytic hydrogen production systems for the chemical industry
The production of hydrogen via water electrolysis powered by dedicated renewables is a possible solution for reducing emissions from steam methane reforming. However, policies (e.g., emission standards), plant designs, and siting strategies have yet to be explored that enable cost competitiveness and reduce local grid impacts.
This project studies cost-optimal plant designs and operational strategies for the decarbonization of the European ammonia industry, using the current, centralized industry structure as a starting point to identify feasible decarbonization pathways under a range of emissions standards. This project is a collaboration with Prof. Zhongming Lu (Division of Environment, HKUST) and the RRE Lab at ETH Zurich.
emerging CHAllenges in managing the energy and climate impacts of rapid digitalization
The growing use of digital services, including cloud computing and artificial intelligence applications, is increasingly affecting energy systems. Governments, technology developers, and advisory bodies around the world are actively working on solutions that help support industry growth while aiming to keep climate impacts in check. However, the rapid growth of digital service markets, together with the geographical separation of energy and service use in cloud computing, pose unique challenges to regulators and private companies alike.
This project explores technology and policy responses to digital infrastructure growth across countries and dives into emissions reporting guidelines and practices to evaluate their suitability for the digital economy. The project is a collaboration with Prof. Masaru Yarime (Divisions of Public Policy/Environment, HKUST).
We study clean energy innovation, energy systems, and sustainability, with a focus on how technology and policy evolution can shift system performance. Our goal is to build a desirable, equitable, and cost-effective transition to clean energy systems.
