We know how to save the climate in mathematical models. Can we do it in the real world?
The POLET (Perspectives on technOLogical change and Energy Transitions) research group explores this question by analyzing change and continuity in energy systems.
We strive for rigorous, accessible and informative scholarship that facilitates a dialogue between energy system modellers, socio-technical transition scholars, political scientists and historians
participants in a POLET workshop in 2017
Research themes
Contexts
We analyse how transitions happen in diverse national contexts and in different historical settings.
Read our publications and projects about different contexts.
Technologies
We focus on technologies that make difference for climate mitigation.
Read our publications and projects about fossil fuels, new renewables, and nuclear power.
Concepts
We aim to develop theories of energy transitions that would allow us to analyse the feasibility of climate change.
Our conceptual work covers energy security, theories of energy transitions and feasibility of climate action.
Futures
Tackling climate change requires action which will shape our future.
We analyse scenarios of climate mitigation to identify historical precedents for climate action.
Projects
MISTRA Electric aims to identify feasible pathways to low-carbon electrification of industry, heating and transport in Sweden in order to achieve the national net-zero emissions vision by 2045.
MANIFEST (Mechanisms and Actors of Feasible Energy Transitions) aims to develop a new scientific understanding of the feasibility of climate action by unpacking the mechanisms of decarbonizing the electricity sector worldwide.
CINTRAN (Carbon Intensive Regions in Transition - Unravelling the Challenges of Structural Change) aims to understand the structural change of carbon-intensive regions across Europe. Our team is developing a diagnostic approach to analyze the feasibility of low-carbon transitions in coal-dependent regions.
ENGAGE (Exploring National and Global Actions to reduce Greenhouse gas Emissions) explores the feasibility of pathways that can meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement. It is operated by a global consortium of nearly 30 partners including Central European University, which co-leads the work on defining feasibility of climate mitigation based on empirical evidence.
Contractions (Analyzing past and future energy industry contractions: Towards a better understanding of the flip-side of energy transitions) analyses the mechanisms and the historic rates of decline of energy industries and comparing these to the decline rates expected in the future energy transitions.
Publications
V. Vinichenko, J. Jewell, J. Jacobsson, A. Cherp. (2023). Historical diffusion of nuclear, wind and solar power in different national contexts: implications for climate mitigation pathways. Environmental Research Letters. Open Access. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acf47a
M. Hyun, A. Cherp, J. Jewell, Y. J. Kim & J. Eom. (2023). Feasibility trade-offs in decarbonisation of power sector with high coal dependence: A case of Korea. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition. Open Access. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rset.2023.100050
L. Nacke, A. Cherp, J. Jewell. (2022). Phases of fossil fuel decline: Diagnostic framework for policy sequencing and feasible transition pathways in resource dependent regions. Oxford Open Energy. Open Access. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ooenergy/oiac002
V. Vinichenko, A. Cherp, J. Jewell. (2021). Historical precedents and feasibility of rapid coal and gas decline required for the 1.5°C target. One Earth. Open Access. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.09.012
A. Cherp, V. Vinichenko, J. Tosun, J. Gordon & J. Jewell. (2021). National growth dynamics of wind and solar power compared to the growth required for global climate targets. Nature Energy. Gated. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00863-0. Free SharedIt link (view only) code on GitHub: https://github.com/poletresearch/RES_article.
J. Jewell & A. Cherp. (2020). On the political feasibility of climate change mitigation pathways: Is it too late to keep warming below 1.5°C? Wiley Interdisciplinary Rev (WIRE) Climate Change. Open Access. DOI: 10.1002/wcc.621.