Sustainable Energy: Research and Applications

Sustainable Energy: Research and Applications (SERA) is a new research cluster hosted by the Faculty of Business and Law (FBL) at The Open University (OU) in the UK. It addresses the multiple, cross-cutting implications of the ongoing global transition to renewable energy. In the context of FBL, the cluster focuses on the key implications of this monumental transition for diverse stakeholders of business and law, both in advanced and emerging countries.

By being open to contingent dynamics in various parts of the world, the cluster recognises the strategic importance of co-ordinated responses to the climate change crisis and the role of renewable energy in finding sustainable solutions. For developing a shared strategic understanding of the core underlying issues, and ultimately attaining the required outcomes and impacts, the multi-faceted and complex nature of the energy transition calls for cross-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder engagements.

Together with other clusters and centres in the faculty, SERA will also act as one of the links to the OU-wide sustainability hub. The cluster will build on past and current research work undertaken by founding members based in the faculty and by associate members based in other faculties and institutions, including those outside the UK. Examples of this body of work address market and nonmarket strategies, pro-market reforms, institutionalisation, dynamic capabilities, the EV transition and diverse social and technical innovations. As part of the UN SDG, and their efforts to improve access to affordable and clean energy, strategy contributions will be paramount until 2030, when the mammoth global push for universal energy access expires.

Team

Convenor

• Dr Charles Mbalyohere (Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management)

Members

• Dr Anna John (Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management), 
• Dr Olga Andrianova (Lecturer in Management), 
• Dr Khadija Tahera (Lecturer in Operations and Supply Chain Management), 
• Dr Fatima Yusuf (Lecturer in Accounting).

Associate members

• Prof Claudia Eckert (Professor of Design, OU), 
• Dr Lucy Baker (Senior Lecturer in Environmental Geography, OU), 
• Dr Frangton Chiyemura (Lecturer in International Development Education), 
• Prof Theo Papaioannou (Professor of Politics, Innovation and Development, OU), 
• Dr Denis Okello (Makerere University, Uganda), 
• Dr Harriet Nabushawo (Makerere University, Uganda).

Researchers and support team

• Anne Callan (OSC Project Researcher), 
• Sheena Daley (Business Development Manager, FBL), 
• Ivana Lickova (Head of Partnerships, Research & Enterprise, FBL).

Overview of SERA’s key activities

The cluster will engage in some of these key activities:

Themes and topics of research by SERA

Some of the research themes and topics to inform SERA’s founding work include:

• Socio-economic, environmental and strategy ramifications of the global renewable energy transition
• The transition to electric vehicles (EVs), including strategies for repurposing expired EV batteries
• Renewable energy technologies and the link to the global circular economy
• Sustainable business models to support the transition to renewable energy
• Aligning social and technical innovation strategies within the transition to renewable energy
• Accelerating affordable, reliable and sustainable electricity access, especially in developing countries
• Dynamic international partnerships to progress the energy transition.

Knowledge Exchange activities

In the past few years, we have worked with members of an existing consortium on developing expertise in the EV research area. As a result, our knowledge exchange (KE) plan strengthens the quality of knowledge exchange in the consortium, and in the cluster as a whole. This is based on the full range of possibilities along the value chain of the emerging EV industry, especially its implications in new frontiers and the global circular economy considerations that come into play. Other KE activities are based on the growing use of renewable energy technologies for a diverse range of end users. We are crossing new frontiers to establish partnerships, beyond those within the UK and other more developed countries. This growing circle of partners will contribute to growing these activities and thereby enlarging the strategic impact - for example the rate of access to relevant technologies for the energy-poorest stakeholders. The research-based outputs from these activities will add to the body of evidence, showing the impact of OU research in the developing world and our contribution to the critical end phase of the UN SDGs initiative. This evidence is expected to inform impact case studies for REF29, and the development of grant bids and research publications, among other contributions.

Importantly, key activities will focus on challenges and issues surrounding the energy transition in the UK itself.

Critical and rare earth minerals

The cluster also investigates some interfacing issues around critical and rare earth minerals. In some cases - for example electric mobility - the associated EV transition partly depends on the sustainable availability and uninterrupted supply of key critical minerals used in batteries. But some of SERA’s work corresponds with locations in Africa where some of the largest deposits of critical and rare earth minerals are to be found - for example, our work on renewable energy and our work on improving affordability and access generally. As the renewable energy and EV transitions gain momentum, it is fair also to expect the global demand for critical and rare earth minerals to experience massive strategic pressures. With the scramble for strategic access to these minerals gaining intensity by the day, and with governments placing emphasis on understanding the sustainable strategies to follow, the SERA cluster will contribute to the search for robust evidence and recommendations.

Contribution to key strategic priorities

SERA blog

There will be regular blog posts here, addressing some of the key issues arising from SERA’s work. Watch this space.