2023 in Review – and a Preview of 2024
The end of the western calendar year 2023 was celebrated by those of us not on holidays or tied-down with work. Although we run on an Academic Calendar that will only finish in March, it seems like a good opportunity for reflection on the achievements since January.
Before anything else, as head of the lab, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those who have supported us across the year – particularly to Hung-san for supporting so much of the admin behind-the-scenes that is needed to keep the lab running!
Newcomers
In Spring we welcomed 4 new Master`s students (Kazumichi, Ryuki, Shohei and Taichi) followed by 2 more in October (Pat and Jeanny). Madhuri started her PhD officially in April, while Bintang (PhD from April, 2024) and Gayatri (Master`s from October, 2024) joined as pre-degree research students. Mark also joined us as a Post-Doc from October.
In addition, we have had the great good-fortune to have Prof. Jordi Cravioto and Prof. Harifara Rabemanolontsoa joining our lab seminar and giving the students the benefit of their wisdom and experience. (We sincerely appreciate it, and hope to continue welcoming them in the coming years!)
Visitors come and gone
This was not a typical year for our student cohort, as we welcomed a number of short-term visitors to the lab. Over the past year or so we have had 3 CSC visiting PhD students: Eva, Yiming and Yonglin. Eva graduated and is now working as an academic in China, Yiming and Yonglin are in the final stages of their respective PhDs and have (or are about to) leave for home. They have each made a useful and unique contribution to the lab.
We also had Gaku visiting from The University of Edinburgh for around 6 months as part of his Master`s in Chemical Engineering, undertaking project work on the utilisation of coffee production waste streams for energy. (looking forward to seeing the final report in early 2024)
Narovana joined our group for around 2.5 months, and was our first visiting exchange student from Madagascar, looking at alternative advanced materials for energy efficiency and reduction of lifecycle impacts. We hope she is the first of many to come to the school.
Associate Professor Mehdi Baneshi was also a part of the lab as a visiting professor to the school from April to September. His insights and comments in the lab seminar were very welcome, and we hope that the visit leads to new collaboration opportunities.
Lab alumnus Takuma Watari also spent some time with us, and the fruits of that collaboration are expected to emerge in the new year.
Graduates
In March we graduated 5 Master`s students: Shiori, Sota, David, Athaya and Lindy. Their theses were on the following topics:
- Athaya: Energy security assessment and investigation of the related impacts of COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
- David: Long-term techno-economic performance evaluation of common off-grid microgrid topologies: A case study of Guatemala
- Lindy (Patcharee): Developing a Framework for Assessment of Hydrogen Adoption Readiness in Energy Systems: A Case Study in Japan
- Shiori: Evaluation of the potential for second-life utilisation of EV batteries for energy storage under different utilisation patterns
- Sota: Current and Future Criticality Assessment of the Copper and its By-products in Japan and Globally
Hiroya, Ko, Kyohei and Zun are hopeful that they`ll be successfully keeping the trend going when they graduate in March, 2024!
Between September and November we also graduated 3 PhD students: Luo, Andrew and Jason:
- Dr Yilun Luo: Investigating the mechanism of interactions between carbon pricing policy and capacity mechanism
- Dr Andrew Curtis: A Framework for Assessing Energy Exporting Countries’ Vulnerability and Energy Security: Current Fossil Fuel-Dependent Economy and Future Hydrogen Economy
- Dr Jiazhen Yap: Clarifying Progress and Potential of the Transition to a Hydrogen Economy: A Study of Historical Developments, Societal Perceptions, and Expert Perspectives
We hope to stay connected and will be watching their careers unfold in future.
Research Progress and Publications
Our lab has a wide range of topics and themes – which reflect the academic freedom that Kyoto University prides itself on, as well as the multi-disciplinary and international nature of our group. Combined, the members of our group published at least 12 journal articles (see table below), as well as presenting their work in international and domestic conferences. These outputs are a reflection of the efforts put in by all this year. With a number of papers still under review, and more close to submission, we look forward to the next year being at least as fruitful!
| Lead author from the group | Citation | Key themes |
| Zun | Cost Projection of Global Green Hydrogen Production Scenarios, Zun, M.T., McLellan, B.C., 2023, Hydrogen, doi: 10.3390/hydrogen4040055 | Hydrogen |
| Ben | Envisioning the linkages between consumption and production for sustainability: Outcomes from expert workshops in Malaysia, Amasawa, E., Kishita, Y., Mohamed, A.F., McLellan, B., Kojima, M., 2023, Circular Economy and Sustainability, doi: 10.1007/s43615-023-00308-8 | Sustainability |
| Ben | Just transitions at the local level: insights from coal communities in Japan, Mabon, L., Hiratsuka-Sasaki,A., Chapman, A.J., McLellan, B.C. , 2023, Local Environment, doi: 10.1080/13549839.2023.2249511 | Just transitions |
| Andrew | A Study of Potential Domestic Energy System Vulnerabilities from Major Exports of Green Hydrogen, Curtis A., McLellan B., 2023, Energies, doi: 10.3390/en16165881 | Energy security; Hydrogen |
| David | Techno-Economic Evaluation of Off-grid Microgrid Topologies: A Case Study in Guatemala, Sanchinelli Lenis,C.D., McLellan, B.C., 2023, Energy and Resources, doi: | Micro-grids |
| Jason / Ben | The Just Transition in Japan: Awareness and Desires for the Future, Chapman, A., B. McLellan, L. Mabon, J. Yap, S.C. Karmaker, K.K. Sen, 2023, Energy Research and Social Science, doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2023.103228 | Just transitions |
| Jason | Evaluating the Attitudes of Japanese Society Towards the Hydrogen Economy: A Comparative Study of Recent and Past Community, Yap J., McLellan B., 2023, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, doi: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.05.174 | Hydrogen |
| Raski | Review of Policies for Indonesia’s Electricity Sector Transition and Qualitative Evaluation of Impacts and Influences Using a Conceptual Dynamic Model, Zahari T.N., McLellan B., 2023, Energies, doi: 10.3390/en16083406 | Energy policy; Modelling; |
| Samin | Electricity price spike formation and LNG prices effect under gross bidding scheme in JEPX, Rassi, S., Kanamura, T., 2023, Energy Policy, doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113552 | Energy markets |
| Andrew | Framework for Assessment of the Economic Vulnerability of Energy-Resource-Exporting Countries, Curtis A., McLellan B., 2023, Resources, doi: 10.3390/resources12020027 | Energy security |
| Jason | A Historical Analysis of Hydrogen Economy Research, Development, and Expectations, 1972 to 2020, Yap J., McLellan B., 2023, Environments – MDPI, doi: 10.3390/environments10010011 | Hydrogen |
| Raski | Examining the effectiveness of policies for developing battery swapping service industry, Setiawan A.D., Zahari T.N., Anderson K., Moeis A.O., Hidayatno A., 2023, Energy Reports, doi: 10.1016/j.egyr.2023.03.121 | Policy; Energy storage; |
Research themes
While we have a wide range of themes that are broadly within the overlapping realms of energy, resources and sustainability, and we apply a variety of tools and approaches from social and natural sciences and engineering, it can be difficult to pin-point exactly what themes our work encompasses. The image below is a keyword network map from our past publications, that we have produced for the first time this year to show some of these interacting themes and (hopefully) highlight those most relevant to our work.
Moving forward to 2024…
Of course, we look forward to 2024 starting with a busy period for those trying to graduate having to pull their theses together. We anticipate the entrance of a new group of students, and hoping for a fruitful year of collaborative and individual research. Thematically, we will be focusing on Just Energy and Resource Transitions, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea Mining, Hydrogen, and Lifecycle Assessment, applying our key tools of modelling, policy analysis and stakeholder surveys.
We wish everyone a safe, peaceful, healthy and happy new year!
Ben McLellan and the Energy Economics Research Group
