Fully funded PhD - Cities, Climate Change Strategies, and Natural Resources
I have a PhD opportunity with ONE Planet in Cities, Climate Change Strategies, and Natural Resources.
Cities worldwide and in the UK develop local climate plans (Salvia, 2021). Climate actions require large amounts of natural resources (e.g., sand, aggregates, lithium, cobalt) that should be sourced sustainably (Heidrich, 2022). To ensure effective local climate plans and avoid unintended consequences, such as trade-offs between infrastructure and resources, assessment methodologies like Life Cycle Assessment and Material Flow Analysis need to be developed to analyze the impacts of these strategies (Baars, 2021; Heidrich, 2022).
The student will evaluate the impact of city climate change strategies on infrastructure and natural resources. Collaborating with cities like Newcastle, Manchester, and North Tyneside, the study will assess whether local climate plans effectively reduce GHG emissions and help cities adapt to climate change without compromising natural resources or geopolitical relationships. The research will consider sectors under the control of Local Authorities (direct influence) and Scope 3 emissions.
The student will acquire innovative natural and social science tools, including GHG accounting methodologies, geospatial tools, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Material Flow Accounting (MFA), and network-based interview and analysis methods. The study aims to advance quantitative and qualitative measures of the perceived risks and values associated with climate change adaptation and mitigation infrastructures and natural resource management.
Research methods will include strategy analysis, emission and resource accounting (Research Questions 1 & 2), infrastructure mapping and LCA (RQ3), calculating mitigation impacts such as GHG accounting linked to the Tyndall Carbon Calculator (Manchester University), and assessing adaptation efforts like flood defenses (RQ3 & 4). Additionally, a risk matrix will be developed and applied for RQ5.
References:
Salvia, et al. (2021). Will climate mitigation ambitions lead to carbon neutrality? Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110253
Heidrich, O. (2022). LAYERS: A Decision-Support Tool to Illustrate and Assess the Supply and Value Chain for the Energy Transition. MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/12/7120
Baars, J., & Heidrich, O. (2021). Circular economy strategies for electric vehicle batteries reduce reliance on raw materials. Nature Sustainability. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00607-0
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