Now open for application
Closed for application
Scolarship code CU3.45

Energy transition, Air Quality and Low Carbon technologies and policies

  • Reference person
    Marialuisa
    Volta
    marialuisa.volta@unibs.it
  • Host University/Institute
    Università degli Studi di Brescia
  • Internship
    N
  • Research Keywords
    Energy transition
    Low carbon and air quality policy
    Integrated Assessment modeling
  • Reference ERCs
    PE7_3 Simulation engineering and modelling
    SH7_6 Environmental and climate change, societal impact and policy
    SH7_9 Energy, transportation and mobility
  • Reference SDGs
    GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
    GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
    GOAL 13: Climate Action
  • Studente
  • Supervisor
  • Co-Supervisor

Description

In 2019, approximately 79% of global GHG emissions came from the sectors of energy, industry, transport, and buildings (IPCC 2023). Renewable energy, energy efficiency (technological and behavioral) measures, transport electrification, distributed energy production, bioenergy new energy vectors, CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) energy storage are energy transition options with different costs and effectiveness on GHGs and atmospheric pollutant emissions.The research activity aims at the study, definition, implementation of methodologies to structure multidisciplinary knowledge in Integrated Assessment Models to design energy transition policies, optimizing environmental objectives (CO2 emissions neutrality at 2050 and air quality improvement) and economic values (technological costs of primary and secondary energy carriers, health benefits), assessing the health impacts.The research will assess measures in road traffic, heating, shipping, hard-to-abate industry, waste treatment, agriculture and energy production and conversion, CCS. Database and models will be collected, developed and tested over Northern Italy.

Suggested skills:

Mathematical modelling (fundamentals). Use (fundamentals) of office, statistical, mathematical software suites. Interest in interdisciplinary contamination. Teamwork aptitude.

Research team and environment

The Integrated Assessment Modelling Lab is a research group at DIMI-UNIBS. The group has a twenty-year experience in descriptive (prognostic and data-driven) and decision (multi-objective, cost-effective, cost-benefit, multi-criteria) modelling of environmental systems and Integrated assessment modeling. The research group is involved in national and EU project aiming at identifying air quality and low carbon efficient policies (including energy, end-of- pipe and behavioral measures) and assessing population exposure and health impact. The group cooperates with atmospheric chemistry and physics, technology, socio-economics, health impact experts.