PhD Study : Affordable Clean Cooking Energy Sustainability Solutions (ACCESS)

Summary

This PhD will explore the challenge of providing affordable, reliable, clean, and sustainable energy for cooking. Approximately 3 billion people globally (890 million of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa) rely upon traditional biomass (wood, charcoal, dung etc) or kerosene as their primary fuel for cooking and heating water. Collection of biomass fuels contributes to deforestation with consequent adverse effects on climate change, flooding, soil erosion and desertification. Cooking fires further contribute towards climate change by increasing CO2 emissions whilst also causing respiratory health issues due to local air pollution. Women generally undertake most of the labours for fuel collection and tending fires, thus suffering disproportionately from adverse effects on health, wellbeing and lack of education/employment opportunities. Supply scarcity leads to price rises which make fuels unaffordable for low income households.

The combination of the abovementioned issues exacerbates the vulnerability of the poor and worsens the poverty trap. UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 targets affordable and clean energy for all by 2030. Many current SDG7 initiatives focus on household electrification, despite cooking and hot water production typically being the largest energy demands. It is recognized that cooking using traditional biomass fuels is an important cultural norm which cannot (and arguably should not) be eliminated entirely, but increased use of clean cooking solutions including electric cooking, biogas, LPG, ethanol and solar cookers has huge potential for reducing environmental and social harms associated with reliance on dirty fuels.

Access to a diverse range of energy solutions (so-called “fuel-stacking”) improves community resilience to fuel price fluctuations and mitigates risks of future environmental crises by enabling sustainable reforestation. This PhD study aims to develop a novel technical solution or new approach to address the ACCESS challenge for low-income households in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere across the Global South.

The work will focus on the needs of communities whose energy supply is constrained by existing infrastructure and/or affordability, for example:

• Remoteness from electricity grids and gas supply depots.
• Unreliable electricity and fuel supplies due to weak grids or poorly developed transport infrastructure.
• Unaffordable electricity grid connections, electricity tariffs or bottled gas prices.
• Scarcity of firewood and charcoal due to deforestation.
• Limited electricity supplies (eg solar home systems, batteries, or power-limited grid connections).

The study will begin with literature reviews to develop deeper understanding of the broad range of issues noted above. The candidate will then engage with academics and practitioners in sustainable energy and international development communities to explore the state-of-the-art in ACCESS solutions and identify a specific investigation or innovation challenge to pursue, for example, developing new:

• Solar concentrator cooker solutions which incorporate thermal storage to overcome time-of-use constraints and problems of intermittent clouds.
• Thermally insulated electric cooker solutions with energy storage to minimise maximum power consumption and ensure compatibility with intermittent power supplies.
• Easy-to-use and simple-to-maintain anaerobic digester and biogas cooker solutions for household settings and scales.
• Hybrid solutions involving multiple energy sources.

Essential criteria

Applicants should hold, or expect to obtain, a First or Upper Second Class Honours Degree in a subject relevant to the proposed area of study.

We may also consider applications from those who hold equivalent qualifications, for example, a Lower Second Class Honours Degree plus a Master’s Degree with Distinction.

In exceptional circumstances, the University may consider a portfolio of evidence from applicants who have appropriate professional experience which is equivalent to the learning outcomes of an Honours degree in lieu of academic qualifications.

• Clearly defined research proposal detailing background, research questions, aims and methodology

Desirable Criteria

If the University receives a large number of applicants for the project, the following desirable criteria may be applied to shortlist applicants for interview.

• Masters at 65%

Funding and eligibility

The University offers the following levels of support:

Vice Chancellors Research Studentship (VCRS)

The following scholarship options are available to applicants worldwide:

• Full Award: (full-time tuition fees + £19,000 (tbc))
• Part Award: (full-time tuition fees + £9,500)
• Fees Only Award: (full-time tuition fees)

These scholarships will cover full-time PhD tuition fees for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance) and will provide a £900 per annum research training support grant (RTSG) to help support the PhD researcher.

Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

Please note: you will automatically be entered into the competition for the Full Award, unless you state otherwise in your application.

Department for the Economy (DFE)

The scholarship will cover tuition fees at the Home rate and a maintenance allowance of £19,000 (tbc) per annum for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance).

This scholarship also comes with £900 per annum for three years as a research training support grant (RTSG) allocation to help support the PhD researcher.

• Candidates with pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, who also satisfy a three year residency requirement in the UK prior to the start of the course for which a Studentship is held MAY receive a Studentship covering fees and maintenance.
• Republic of Ireland (ROI) nationals who satisfy three years’ residency in the UK prior to the start of the course MAY receive a Studentship covering fees and maintenance (ROI nationals don’t need to have pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to qualify).
• Other non-ROI EU applicants are ‘International’ are not eligible for this source of funding.
• Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

Due consideration should be given to financing your studies. Further information on cost of living