Improving the penetration of Renewable Energy using batteries: A cross national policy study
Location: University of Limerick
Project Leader: Dr Conor Little | Department of Politics and Public Administration
Contact: conor.little@ul.ie
Project
What we're Doing:
Project duration 2022-2023 - The project will involve a comparative cross-national study of the impact of policies intended to influence the use of stationary batteries to improve penetration of renewable energy at all levels of the electrical grid from generation (i.e. wind farms), to transmission and distribution, to customer-level (i.e. behind the meter).
Why are we doing it:
The project aims to contribute to the knowledge of policies such as grants and concessional loans, tax incentives, storage mandates, and modified feed-in tariffs, that are intended to facilitate low-cost energy storage systems, which will be essential for grid stabilization of intermittent renewable energy sources in the future. This contributes to addressing the major societal challenge of climate change by contributing to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation. It is part of a broader research project that aims to develop alternatives to lithium-ion batteries, thus mitigating the environmental and social problems that arise in battery production.
How well are we doing:
Project duration 2022-2023 - Project outputs after 12 months will include a report for communication to stakeholders and a proposal for the further development.
Partners
The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)
The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) an Irish governmental body established to promote and aid in the development of sustainable energy in Ireland.The SEAI was founded as the national energy agency of Ireland under the Sustainable Energy Act 2002 by the government, with the goal of increasing the use and development of affordable sustainable energy in Ireland. It is financed by Ireland’s EU Structural Funds Programme, which funded by both the Irish government and the EU
The Department of Economics is part of the University of Limerick’s triple accredited Kemmy Business School. We have fourteen faculty members, four full time teaching assistants, and several postdoctoral researchers and PhD students. Our faculty publish in leading international journals, ensure their research has an impact in the real world, and actively contribute to the development of public policy.
The Department of Politics and Public Administration represents a broad range of interests and areas within the discipline of political science. With internationally recognised experts in European, Africa, Latin American, Russian and post-Soviet politics, as well as Irish politics and public policy, the department has an international and cosmopolitan orientation. In addition to the diversity of area specialisms on offer, the study of politics in Limerick is also enriched by a variety of disciplinary approaches including: quantitive methods, political theory, international relations, international political economy, comparative politics, public policy analysis and critical theory.
