Research areas
A list of my publications is accessible via Google Scholar or ORCiD. Some additional items, such as posters presented at conferences, are available from ResearchGate.
Below is an overview of the (primary) research areas I am currently working on. If you have great ideas for collaboration or a thesis on these topics, get in touch!
Energy system models are tools to support deliberation about which technologies do deploy, and where, to achieve the energy transition. Ideally, they identify for us the 'optimal' answer to such questions. Except, such an optimal answer is often not viable nor desirable in practice. So, is there no alternative?
In fact, there are many technically-feasible, economically-comparable alternatives. They are just normally hidden from view. That's why I work on optimisation methods that make these options available. An example is the SPORES algorithm. By bringing such options to the surface, I aim to expand the perception of what is possible, thereby supporting a more meaningful societal deliberation. Many of the projects that fund my current research are based on SPORES. Check out the full paper published in Joule.
When dealing with models of large-scale energy systems, such as for entire countries or continents, many technical details end up being overlooked for computational tractability or smoothed out by aggregation. Cross-scale modelling means finding ways to translate those essential technical details for a given research question into information that larger-scale, coarser models can handle.
The methods above allow me to investigate urgent research questions around the energy transition, above all the trade-offs between equally viable options to make our energy systems carbon-neutral. For instance, what changes, in practice, between directly electrifying our heat, transport and industry use of energy versus letting green hydrogen substitute conventional fuels.
A recent work that I have co-authored uses a combination of SPORES, cross-scale modelling and other methods to look at hundreds of possible ways to make Europe carbon-neutral and energy self-sufficient. These include both fully electrified and highly hydrogen-based system configurations. You can explore the options and the trade-offs yourself at explore.callio.pe.