GeopoliticalEconomyofLowEmissionsTransition

This project examines three key, fast emerging geopolitical economies associated with transitioning to a net zero economy:

1. Global supply chains for electro-chemical energy storage
2. Emerging UK onshoring and friend-shoring agreements
3. International electricity interconnectors

These three new research areas are complementary to recent research on critical mineral supply chains. The project deploys approaches from economic geography and critical international political science to analyse economic and political opportunities and challenges associated with low emissions transitions, and their implications for UK energy. Methods include knowledge exchange with technical experts (e.g. electrical engineering, economic geology of critical minerals), including experts within UKERC’s research on Operating a Highly Renewable and Largely Electrified Energy System; analyses of primary documentation; and interviews with key actors in industry and government.

We will develop relationships with partners working on critical material geopolitics, including the Faraday Institutions and North-East Battery Alliance, and co-create the research with other UKERC researchers.