Local Area Energy Plans: an effective tool for Net Zero energy transitions?

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The project has the following overarching, indicative aim - to improve our understanding of the potential for Local Area Energy Planning to become an effective tool for progressing sustainable, net-zero energy systems. The subject matter offers a vital, rich and under-explored terrain for research, with the following potential questions:IMPACT. Have Local Area Energy Plans contributed to the decarbonisation of local energy systems? To what extent? What are the causal mechanisms and enabling conditions?GOVERNANCE. How do Local Area Energy Plans respond to the diverse situations of different places? To what extent do they facilitate cross-sectoral integration and cross-scalar reflexivity in steering energy transitions?SYSTEMIC SHIFTS. How do Local Area Energy Plans inform wider policy debates over different energy decarbonisation pathways (e.g. the respective role of hydrogen, heat pumps, heat networks)?Whatever precise focus is chosen, the PhD proposal is a timely opportunity to cultivate UK research capacity in a fast-moving, international field, and address a strategic research gap.It is anticipated that the methodology will encompass the full array of Local Area Energy Plans in place or in progress across England and Wales by 2023-2024, including the comprehensive set being created in Wales by local authorities. In addition, the methodology is likely to entail detailed case study work, involving interview and documentary methods, focusing on the Local Area Energy Plans in particular localities and the facilitating role of sub-national government, particularly the Welsh Government and other strategic actors (e.g. UK Government, energy network companies). Participant observation and Action Research could both play a valuable role, perhaps built into the secondment opportunities to be provided for the student, or by using the intermediate results to inform learning events, involving Local Area Energy Plan participants from across public, private and third sectors.