PhD Candidate: Modelling biodiversity impacts of future energy systems in Norway
The NTNU Department of Energy and Process Engineering has a vacancy for a PhD Candidate for three years for a project funded by the Norwegian Research Council and in close collaboration with NINA (Norwegian Institute for Nature Research).
Norway is committed to contribute to reaching the aims of the international community regarding e.g. the UN Sustainable Development goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. However, between some SDGs, potential conflicts might exist and we need to have an understanding of these if we want to reach as many goals as possible. Maximizing renewable electricity production may , for example, come at a certain cost for terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Right now, we do not have models that allow us to identify these trade-offs.
It is therefore our aim to develop approaches that can quantify the biodiversity impacts of renewable energy systems within the framework of life cycle impact assessment and using a systems-wide approach. The main objective of the project is to assess overall biodiversity impacts of the Norwegian electricity production and distribution system using a holistic life-cycle perspective, for both the current electricity system and future production scenarios.
Professor Terese Løvås is the Head of the Department of Energy and Process Engineering. You will report to Professor Francesca Verones at NTNU, as well as Dr. Roel May and Dr. Bård Stokke at NINA.
