DecarboN8 - An integrated network to decarbonise transport

政府间气候变化专门委员会2018年的最新报告强调，如果要将全球变暖限制在1.5摄氏度以内，就需要以前所未有的规模进行紧急的变革性变革。到2050年实现减排80%的目标是未来30年在技术、工程、政策和社会方面面临的巨大挑战。这对交通部门来说是一个巨大的挑战，交通部门的温室气体排放量占英国国内温室气体排放量的四分之一以上，近年来的排放量基本持平。DecarboN8项目将开发一个新的研究人员网络，与工业界和政府密切合作，能够设计出可以快速大规模部署的解决方案。它将为以下问题提供答案：1)如何在不同的地方快速切换到个人出行的电动汽车？私人车队的决策如何与重型车辆截然不同的脱碳策略相互作用？这需要将对这些备选方案不断变化的碳影响的理解与对能源系统如何工作以及如何受运输系统及其监管环境的实际操作的管制的认识结合起来；2)如何平衡基础设施扩展、智能系统管理和需求管理之间的关系？主要新建基础设施的隐含碳排放是否会抵消流量改善带来的收益？这些收益是否可以通过技术以其他方式实现？如果是这样，这种情况会多快发生，对社会有什么影响，对我们系统的恢复能力有什么影响？这些问题的答案在英国各地不太可能相同，但很少有人注意到答案在哪些地方可能不同，以及为什么不同。再加上地方政府区域、运输网络提供商（特别是公路和铁路）和服务运营商之间的界限，有可能缺乏联合的方法，并在无效技术上搁浅投资。DecarboN8网络由英格兰北部八所研究最密集的大学（达勒姆，兰开斯特，利兹，利物浦，曼彻斯特，纽卡斯尔，谢菲尔德和约克）领导，他们将与地方，区域和国家利益相关者合作，在北部创造一个综合的测试和研究环境，在这个环境中，国家和国际研究人员可以研究这些不同规模的脱碳挑战。DecarboN8网络由四个综合研究主题（碳途径、社会接受和社会准备、未来运输燃料和燃料、数字化、需求和基础设施）组成。这些主题构成了一系列12个研究研讨会的结构，这些研讨会将汇集新的研究兴趣，以更好地了解运输部门的具体挑战，然后共同努力制定综合解决方案。该方法将贯穿强调在“地方”处理现实世界的问题，以发展位于一系列背景下的知识。40万英镑的研究资金将用于发展新的合作，特别是对早期职业研究人员。我们将以公平、公开和透明的方式分发这些资金，以促进优秀的研究。该网络将通过识别和分类数据源、举办创新翻译活动、政策讨论论坛和突出机会和创新的重大活动，帮助开发一个更加综合的环境，测试和快速部署解决方案。这项研究将涉及整个行业、政府利益相关者和公民，以确保研究成果符合加速交通运输快速脱碳网络的雄心。

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2018 highlighted the need for urgent, transformative change, on an unprecedented scale, if global warming is to be restricted to 1.5C. The challenge of reaching an 80% reduction in emissions by 2050 represents a huge technological, engineering, policy and societal challenge for the next 30 years. This is a huge challenge for the transport sector, which accounts for over a quarter of UK domestic greenhouse gas emissions and has a flat emissions profile over recent years. The DecarboN8 project will develop a new network of researchers, working closely with industry and government, capable of designing solutions which can be deployed rapidly and at scale. It will develop answers to questions such as:1) How can different places be rapidly switched to electromobility for personal travel? How do decisions on the private fleet interact with the quite different decarbonisation strategies for heavy vehicles? This requires integrating understanding of the changing carbon impacts of these options with knowledge on how energy systems work and are regulated with the operational realities of transport systems and their regulatory environment; and2) What is the right balance between infrastructure expansion, intelligent system management and demand management? Will the embodied carbon emissions of major new infrastructure offset gains from improved flows and could these be delivered in other ways through technology? If so, how quickly could this happen, what are the societal implications and how will this impact on the resilience of our systems?The answer to these questions is unlikely to the same everywhere in the UK but little attention is paid to where the answers might be different and why. Coupled with boundaries between local government areas, transport network providers (road and rail in particular) and service operators there is potential for a lack of joined up approaches and stranded investments in ineffective technologies. The DecarboN8 network is led by the eight most research intensive Universities across the North of England (Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York) who will work with local, regional and national stakeholders to create an integrated test and research environment across the North in which national and international researchers can study the decarbonisation challenge at these different scales.The DecarboN8 network is organised across four integrated research themes (carbon pathways, social acceptance and societal readiness, future transport fuels and fuelling, digitisation, demand and infrastructure). These themes form the structure for a series of twelve research workshops which will bring new research interests together to better understand the specific challenges of the transport sector and then to work together on integrating solutions. The approach will incorporate throughout an emphasis on working with real world problems in 'places' to develop knowledge which is situated in a range of contexts. £400k of research funding will be available for the development of new collaborations, particularly for early career researchers. We will distribute this in a fair, open and transparent manner to promote excellent research.The network will help develop a more integrated environment for the development, testing and rapid deployment of solutions through activities including identifying and classifying data sources, holding innovation translation events, policy discussion forums and major events to highlight the opportunities and innovations. The research will involve industry and government stakeholders and citizens throughout to ensure the research outcomes meet the ambitions of the network of accelerating the rapid decarbonisation of transport.