Jim Watson

This article is part of the Climate project of Spinwatch.

Biography

Jim Watson's autobiographical notes on the Sussex University website are as follows:

I am Director of the Sussex Energy Group at SPRU and Deputy Leader of the Tyndall Centre's Climate Change and Energy Programme.

I am also a Lead Expert with the UK government Foresight project on Sustainable Energy Management and the Built Environment, a Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, a Council Member of the British Institute for Energy Economics (BIEE), and a Trustee of the Koru Foundation, a renewable energy charity

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.

Innovation in Cleaner Energy Technologies

I am working with colleagues on UK and international policies to support the development and deployment of sustainable, low carbon energy technologies. This includes work on specific low carbon technologies (see below) and more general research and outreach (e.g. by contributing to a 2008 Sussex Energy Group workshop on UK energy innovation policy)

I have been studying the development of gas turbine and 'cleaner coal' technologies for power generation since 1993. Current work includes research on the economic and policy issues for cleaner coal technologies including carbon capture and storage (CCS) within a Sussex Energy Group project: Cleaner Fossil Fuels and Carbon Capture and Storage. This includes collaboration with the Managment and Economics Department at the University of Linkoping in Sweden on innovation within the multinational electrical equipment industry.

Between 2004 and 2006, I led a project funded by the ESRC Sustainable Technologies Programme: Unlocking the Power House. The project was a collaboration with Southampton University and Imperial College. It focused on the possible impact of micro-generation on the relationship between household consumers and energy companies, and the wider implications for energy policy.

Nuclear power

I am collaborating with Alister Scott on the return of nuclear power as an option in the UK and other countries. This includes an analysis of the potential impacts of new nuclear investment on UK energy security, and the broader consequences for the rest of the energy system.

Energy, Climate Change and Development

I have conducted research on energy and environment in China since the late 1990s. I currently lead a project within the Sussex Energy Group and the Tyndall Centre on Chinese energy futures. I am working with colleagues at SPRU, IDS and TERI (India) on a number of projects focusing on low carbon growth and technology transfer."

Publications, Contact, Resources and Notes

Publications

• Jim Watson and Alister Scott, New nuclear power in the UK: A strategy for energy security?, Energy Policy, 2009, vol. 37, issue 12, pages 5094-5104

Contact

Address:Freeman Centre North Wing, 1st Floor, University of Sussex

Falmer, Brighton

Email: W.J.Watson@sussex.ac.uk

Phone:(01273) 873539 or (01273) 678166