Introduction to the Lecture

How do we know which energy transitions are feasible if social and political factors are taken into account in addition to techno-economic? Scholars adopt a range of positions on this question from agnosticism ('it all depends on political will') to mathematical modelling seeking to incorporate all relevant variables. Yet, most of the existing methods do not provide a rigorous assessment of feasibility. I will present a new approach using empirical data on the speed of energy transitions and existing policies. I will illustrate these methods using the case of solar and wind power expansion and coal phase-out.

Profile of the Speaker

Jessica Jewell is an Associate Professor in Energy Transitions at the Department of Space, Earth and Environment at Chalmers University and a Professor at the Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation at the University of Bergen. Her research focuses on the feasibility of climate action and quantifying the dynamics and mechanisms of energy transitions using a variety of disciplinary approaches and methods. She is a recipient of a European Research Council's Starting Grant as well as the Principal Investigator of a project funded by the Norwegian Research Council and a leader of work packages in collaborative research projects supported by European and Swedish funding agencies.

Dr. Jewell is also a Guest Research Scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and a Senior Fellow at the Breakthrough Institute as well as a member of several editorial boards including Energy Research and Social Science, Oxford Open Energy, and the Routledge series on Energy Transitions. She was a contributing author in the IPCC 5th assessment report, a lead author in the Global Energy Assessment and in a report for the UN Secretary General on the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative. She also led the development of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) model of short-term energy security. Previously, she worked at IIASA in Vienna and the IEA in Paris.