Climate Mitigation – Renewable Energy and Green Economy Transition

About this opportunity

Applicants for this opportunity must be eligible for Omani Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation funding.

GHG emissions from a high intensity fossil fuel based economy (particularly from the land transport sector) are currently critical issues for Oman and other jurisdiction.

The Oman Vision 2040 focuses on the environment and natural resources. In particular, the Vision seeks to protect the environment and ensure sustainability of natural resources to support the national economy. Related objectives for delivering this strategic direction include secure renewable energy generation from a diversified portfolio of energy resources to achieve rational consumption and energy security, and transition to a green and circular economy that addresses national needs while moving consistently with global trends.

There are close parallels between the strategic direction in the Oman Vision 2040 and the United Kingdom approach to the rollout of solar and wind energy generation, in particular through building regulation and standards for solar and offshore wind generation. In contrast, renewable energy generation from solar and wind in New Zealand is in its infancy with only one solar farm authorized to date and only 21 operational terrestrial wind farms. The Offshore Renewable Energy Bill is currently before the House of Representatives.

This research project will provide PhD candidates with the rare opportunity to interrogate how renewable energy can be delivered at the scale and pace to enable transition to a green and circular economy within the relatively short 2040 time horizon. It will focus critically and comparatively on the experience in New Zealand, Oman, and the United Kingdom and provide recommendations for delivering the strategic direction outlined in the Oman Vision 2040. A key issue interrogated by the research project will be the presence of any regulatory framework barriers that may inhibit the rollout of solar and wind energy generation at pace and scale.

Overall, energy security and sovereignty will become increasingly important as we more move forward in addressing the triple planetary crise in an uncertain world.

The conclusions and recommendations in the thesis will therefore be relevant for future urban planning in other jurisdictions.

Supervision of this PhD project will bring together the combined research and teaching excellence of Te Piringa Faculty of Law and the Centre for Environmental, Resources, and Energy Law at Waikato, and the Department of Land Economy and the Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance at Cambridge. The student may be based in Cambridge for a period of up to 6 months.

Ministry of Education in Oman

The University of Waikato has recently established a new international agreement with the Ministry of Higher Education in Oman, and as part of this agreement PhD students will be able to travel to New Zealand to study at Waikato full-time, on a premium stipend, and with their tuition fees covered for the duration of their study up to four years.

The Ministry will also advertise available research projects at Waikato through their channels for a period of three months.

Location

The University of Waikato, Hamilton Campus.

Scholarship Value

This opportunity is intended only for applicants eligible or intending to apply through the Omani Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation scholarship pathway. No University, supervisor-held or project-specific funding is currently available to support this PhD outside that scholarship pathway.

• Eligible for Omani Ministry of Higher Education, Research & Innovation funding.

• Applicants must be eligible to enrol in a PhD programme at the University of Waikato.