Prof Jim Watson

Biography

I am Research Director of the UK Energy Research Centre, which is based at Imperial College, London. From Dec 2008 to Jan 2013, I was Director of the Sussex Energy Group at the University of Sussex.

My other roles include:

• Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa panel on green technologies
• Member of DECC and Defra's social science expert panel
• Council Member of the British Institute for Energy Economics
• Member of Carbon Connect's Future Electricity Series steering group
• Trustee of Renewable World, a charity bringing renewable energy to low income communities in the developing world

I have been a specialist adviser to the House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee for its inquiry into The UK's Energy Supply: Security or Independence? (Apr-Oct 2011); and the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee for its inquiries on the Draft Climate Change Bill, Climate Change: The Citizen's Agenda and Energy Efficiency and Fuel Poverty (Mar 2006 to Jun 2009).

In have also been Chair of the British Institute for Energy Economics in 2011; a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics working party on new approaches to biofuels (Sep 2009 to Apr 2011); a Lead Expert with the UK government Foresight project on Sustainable Energy Management and the Built Environment (2007-2009); and a member of the IPPR New Era Economics panel (2010-12).

From June to August 2008, I was a Visiting Scholar with the Energy Technology Innovation Policy group at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

I have been at SPRU since 1993, initially as a DPhil research student and since 1997 as a member of staff. My first degree in Electrical Engineering is from Imperial College London. The degree was linked to an engineering apprenticeship with the Rover Group from 1988 to 1992.

 UK energy policies

• UK energy security. I am co-leading, with Professor Catherine Mitchell, an ESRC/EPSRC research cluster: Energy Security in a Multi-Polar World (2009-12). I have also been commissioned to write papers on UK energy security for a Policy Network pamphlet (2009) on climate change politics edited by Anthony Giddens and Roger Liddle and a report for Greenpeace on UK gas security (2010).
• The role of decentralised and community energy in UK energy policy frameworks. My research activities include:
• A UEA/Sussex/EdF project on Community Innovation for Sustainable Energy (CISE), funded by the EPSRC/EdF People, Energy and Buildings programme
• A UCL-led project: Challenging Lock-in Through Sustainable Energy (CLUES). This project was developed by a group of former lead experts with the UK government Foresight project: Sustainable Energy Management and the Built Environment.
• Previous research on the economic and policy implications of the micro-generation of electricity in UK households through the ESRC Unlocking the Power House project (2004-06)
• The impact of new nuclear power investment on the UK energy system, including the implications for UK energy security. This is a joint research activity with Alister Scott, SEG Visiting Fellow.

Innovation policies for a sustainable UK economy

• Low carbon innovation policy in the UK, and the scope for a more active role for government. This includes a Harvard Kennedy School discussion paper: Setting Priorities in Energy Innovation Policy: Lessons for the UK (2008)
• UK infrastructure transitions for sustainability. I am leading governance research within the UK Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium (2011-15), which focuses on energy, transport, water, waste and ICTs
• Uncertainties for carbon capture and storage (CCS). I am leading a UK Energy Research Centre project (2010-12) which is using historical analogues to inform the analysis of uncertainties for CCS technologies, and to inform UK policy. This builds on previous SEG research on policy frameworks for innovation in cleaner coal technologies

Energy, climate change and development

• Energy and environment policies in China. I have led a series of research projects since the late 1990s. This has included a Tyndall Centre project: China’s Energy Transition (2009) and a study for the UK government with Tsinghua University on low carbon innovation and technology transfer to China (2011)
• Low carbon technology transfer to India. I worked with colleagues on two phases of research with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India funded by the UK government (2006-08). This work was commissioned following the G8 summit at Gleneagles.
• Contributing to the energy and climate change research domain within the ESRC STEPS Centre – a joint SPRU/IDS centre on social, technological and environmental pathways to sustainability.
• I have led a number of smaller, commissioned projects on low carbon growth and innovation for funders such as DFID, UNCTAD and UNDP

Current DPhil research students:

• Jenny Lieu, on policy transfer and renewable energy policies in China
• Nick Jagger on skills requirements for a low carbon energy system
• Jose Opazo on innovation and low carbon transitions in Latin America
• Jonathan Dolley on sustainability and resilience in peri-urban agriculture in China
• Tammy Ann Sharp on the role of carbon capture and storage in the UK energy system
• Nicolette Fox on the impact of smarter electricity systems on consumer practices
• Matt Gross on the impact of smarter elecricity systems on consumer demand profiles

Completed DPhil research students:

• Dierk Bauknecht (2011): 'Transforming the Grid: Electricity system governance and network integration of distributed generation'
• Mehdi Majidpour (2011): 'The Dynamics of Technological Catching-up: The Case of Iran’s Gas Turbine Industry'
• Rudi Haum (2011): 'Transfer of Low-Carbon Technology under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: The Case of the Global Environment Facility and its Market Transformation Approach in India'
• Zeeda Fatimah Mohamad (2009): 'The role of universities in national catching-up strategies: fuel cell technology in Malaysia and Singapore'

Watson, Jim, Kern, Florian and Markusson, Nils (2013) Resolving or managing uncertainties for carbon capture and storage: lessons from historical analogues. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. ISSN 00401625 (In Press)

Mytelka, Lynn, Abdel Gelil, Ibrahim, Aguayo, Francis, Boyle, Grant, Breukers, Sylvia, de Scheemaker, Gabriel, Kemp, Rene, Monkelbaan, Joachim, Rossini, Carolina, Watson, Jim and Wolson, Rosemary (2012) Policies for capacity development. In: Global energy assessment: toward a sustainable future. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 1745-1802. ISBN 9781107005198

Watson, Jim (2012) Climate change policy and the transition to a low-carbon economy. In: Complex new world: translating new economic thinking into public policy. Institute for Public Policy Research, London, pp. 95-108.

Byrne, Robert, Smith, Adrian, Watson, Jim and Ockwell, David (2012) Energy pathways in low-carbon development: the needs to go beyond technology transfer. In: Low-carbon technology transfer: from rhetoric to reality. Earthscan Routledge, pp. 123-142. ISBN 9781849712699

Watson, Jim and Byrne, Robert (2012) Low-Carbon Innovation in China: The Role of International Technology Transfer. In: Low-Carbon Technology Transfer: From Rhetoric to Reality. Routledge, Abingdon and New York, pp. 63-84. ISBN 9781849712699

Markusson, Nils, Kern, Florian, Watson, Jim, Arapostathis, Stathis, Chalmers, Hannah, Ghaleigh, Navraj, Heptonstall, Philip, Pearson, Peter, Rossati, David and Russell, Stewart (2012) A socio-technical framework for assessing the viability of carbon capture and storage technology. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 79 (5). pp. 903-918. ISSN 0040-1625

Markusson, Nils, Kern, Florian, Watson, Jim, Arapostathis, Stathis, Chalmers, Hannah, Ghaleigh, Navraj, Heptonstall, Philip, Pearson, Peter, Rossati, David and Russell, Stewart (2012) A socio-technical framework for assessing the viability of carbon capture and storage technology. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 79 (5). pp. 903-918. ISSN 0040-1625

Watson, Jim, Kern, Florian, Gross, Matt, Gross, Rob, Heptonstall, Phil, Jones, Felicity, Haszeldine, Stuart, Ascui, Francisco, Chalmers, Hannah, Ghaleigh, Navraj, Gibbins, Jon, Markusson, Nils, Marsden, Wendy, Rossati, David, Russell, Stewart, Winskel, Mark, Pearson, Peter and Arapostathis, Stathis (2012) Carbon Capture and Storage: Realising the Potential? Project Report. UK Energy Research Centre, London.

Pearson, Peter and Watson, Jim (2012) UK Energy Policy 1980-2010: A history and lessons to be learnt. Other. Parliamentary Group for Energy Studies, London.

Watson, Jim, Byrne, Robert, Morgan Jones, Molly, Tsang, Flavia, Opazo, Jose, Fry, Caroline and Castle-Clarke, Sophie (2012) What are the major barriers to increased use of modern energy services among the world's poorest people, and are interventions to overcome these effective? Project Report. Collaboration for Environmental Evidence, Bangor.

Watson, Jim and Byrne, Robert (2011) China's low carbon technology ambitions: the relationship between indigenous innovation and technological transfer. In: Research Network "Governance in China" and Association for Social Science Research on China (ASC) Joint International Conference, 9-11 December 2011, University of Hamburg, Germany.

Watson, Jim and Devine-Wright, Patrick (2011) Centralisation, decentralisation and the scales in between. In: The Future of Electricity Demand: Customers, Citizens and Loads. Cambridge University Press, pp. 542-577.

Stechow, Christoph von, Watson, Jim and Praetorius, Barbara (2011) Policy Incentives for Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies in Europe: A Qualitative Multi-Criteria Analysis. Global Environmental Change, 21 (2). pp. 346-357. ISSN 0959-3780

Watson, Jim, Byrne, Robert, Stua, Michele, Ockwell, David, Zhang, Xiliang, Zhang, Da, Zhang, Tianhou, Zhang, Xiaofeng, Ou, Xunmin and Mallett, Alexandra (2011) UK-China collaborative study on low carbon technology transfer: final report. Project Report. SPRU, University of Sussex, Brighton.

Watson, Jim and Sauter, Raphael (2011) Sustainable innovation through leapfrogging: A review of the evidence. International Journal of Technology and Globalisation, 5 (3/4). pp. 170-189.

Byrne, Rob, Smith, Adrian, Watson, Jim and Ockwell, David (2011) Energy Pathways in Low-Carbon Development: From Technology Transfer to Socio-Technical Transformation. Working Paper. University of Sussex, Falmer.

Ockwell, David G, Haum, Ruediger, Mallett, Alexandra and Watson, Jim (2010) Intellectual property rights and low carbon technology transfer: conflicting discourses of diffusion and development. Global Environmental Change, 20 (4). pp. 729-738. ISSN 0959-3780

Praetorius, Barbara, Martiskainen, Mari, Sauter, Raphael and Watson, Jim (2010) Technological innovation systems for microgeneration in the UK and Germany - a functional analysis. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, 22 (6). pp. 745-764. ISSN 0953-7325

Watson, Jim, Scrase, Ivan and Stapleton, Lee (2010) Transforming the UK Energy System: Policies for the 2020 Renewables Target and Beyond. Unset. A report for Friends of the Earth. SPRU, University of Sussex.

Ockwell, David, Watson, Jim, Mallett, Alexandra, Haum, Ruediger, MacKerron, Gordon and Verbeken, Anne-Marie (2010) Enhancing developing country access to eco-innovation: the case of technology transfer and climate change in a post-2012 policy framework. Working Paper. OECD Publishing, Paris.

Markusson, Nils, Kern, Florian and Watson, Jim (2010) Assessing CCS Viability - A Socio-technical Framework. In: International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Technologies 10, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Watson, Jim and Johnson, Oliver (2010) Renewable Energy Technologies for Rural Development. Project Report. UNCTAD current studies on science, technology and innovation. Geneva: UNCTAD.

Wang, Tao and Watson, Jim (2010) Scenario Analysis of China's Emissions Pathways in the 21st Century for Low Carbon Transition. Energy Policy, 38 (7). pp. 3537-3546.

Watson, Jim (2010) UK gas security: threats and mitigation strategies. Project Report. A report commissioned by Greenpeace UK, , Brighton.

Watson, Jim and Scott, Alister (2009) New nuclear power in the UK: A strategy for energy security? Energy Policy, 37 (12). pp. 5094-5104. ISSN 0301-4215

Wang, Tao and Watson, Jim (2009) China's Energy Transition: Pathways for Low Carbon Development. Project Report. SPRU and Tyndall Centre, University of Sussex.

Watson, Jim (2009) Technology assessment and innovation policy. In: Energy for the future: a new agenda. Energy, climate and the environment . Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 123-146. ISBN 9780230221529

Watson, Jim and Scrase, Ivan (2009) CCS in the UK: Squaring coal use with climate change? In: Caching The Carbon: The Politics and Policy of Carbon Capture and Storage. Edward Elgar, pp. 158-185. ISBN 978-1848444126

Martiskainen, Mari and Watson, Jim (2009) Energy and the Citizen. In: Energy for the Future. Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 165-182.

Watson, Jim (2009) Is the move toward energy security at odds with a low-carbon society? In: Building a low carbon future: the politics of climate change. Policy Network, London, pp. 33-43.

Ockwell, David, Ely, Adrian, Mallett, Alexandra, Johnson, Oliver and Watson, Jim (2009) Low Carbon Development: The Role of Local Innovative Capabilities. Working Paper. STEPS Centre, Falmer.

Wang, Tao and Watson, Jim (2008) China's carbon emissions and international trade: Implications for the post 2012 regime. Climate Policy, 8 (6). pp. 577-587.

Sauter, Raphael and Watson, Jim (2008) Technological Leapfrogging: A Review of the Evidence. Unset. Report for UK Department of International Development. SPRU, University of Sussex,.

Haas, Reinhard, Watson, Jim and Eichammer, Wolfgang (2008) Transitions to sustainable energy systems. Energy Policy, 36 (11). pp. 4009-4011. ISSN 0301-4215

Watson, Jim (2008) Setting priorities in energy innovation policy: lessons for the UK. In: Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, , October 2008, Harvard Kennedy School.

Watson, Jim, Sauter, Raphael, Bahaj, Bakr, James, Patrick, Myers, Luke and Wing, Robert (2008) Domestic micro-generation: Economic, regulatory and policy issues for the UK. Energy Policy, 36 (8). pp. 3085-3096.

Bergek, Anna, Tell, Fredrik, Berggren, Christian and Watson, Jim (2008) Technological Capabilities and Late Shakeouts: Industrial Dynamics in the Advanced Gas Turbine Industry, 1986-2002. Industrial and Corporate Change, 17 (2). pp. 335-392. ISSN 0960-6491

Ockwell, David G, Watson, Jim, MacKerron, Gordon, Pal, Prosanto and Yamin, Farhana (2008) Key policy considerations for facilitating low carbon technology transfer to developing countries. Energy Policy, 36 (11). pp. 4104-4115. ISSN 0301-4215

Watson, Jim, Sauter, R and B, Praetorius (2008) On the dynamics of microgeneration diffusion in Germany and UK. In: Innovation for a Low Carbon Economy: Economic, Institutional and Management Approaches. Edward Elgar.

Wang, Tao and Watson, Jim (2007) Who Owns China's Carbon Emissions? Unset. Norwich: Tyndall Centre..

Sauter, Raphael and Watson, Jim (2007) Strategies for the deployment of microgeneration: implications for social acceptance. Energy Policy, 35 (5). pp. 2770-2779. ISSN 0301-4215

Watson, Jim, MacKerron, Gordon, Ockwell, David and Wang, Tao (2007) Technology and carbon mitigation in developing countries: Are cleaner coal technologies a viable option? Background paper for Human Development Report 2007. Discussion Paper. United Nations, Brussels.

Ockwell, David, Watson, Jim, MacKerron, Gordon, Pal, Prosanto and Yamin, Farhana, et al (2007) UK-India collaboration to identify the barriers to the transfer of low carbon energy technology: Final report. Project Report. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, London.

Sauter, Raphael and Watson, Jim (2007) Micro-generation: A Disruptive Innovation for the UK Energy System? In: Governing Technology for Sustainability. Earthscan.

Magnusson, Thomas, Tell, Fredrik and Watson, Jim (2005) From CoPS to mass production? Capabilities and innovation in power generation equipment manufacturing. Industrial and Corporate Change, 14 (1). pp. 1-26.

Watson, Jim (2004) Co-provision in sustainable energy systems: the case of micro-generation. Energy Policy, 32 (17). pp. 1981-1990. ISSN 0301-4215

Watson, Jim (2004) Selection environments, flexibility and the success of the gas turbine. Research Policy, 33 (8). pp. 1065-1080. ISSN 0048-7333