Interdisciplinary collaboration on net zero in Indonesia
A new paper by Ferry Fathoni, Professor Jon Lovett and Muhammad Rifansha highlights the University of Leeds as a centre of international collaborative interdisciplinary research.
The paper uses the framework of historical institutionalism from the social sciences to explore how Indonesia is tackling the transition to renewable energy and net zero in the transport sector.
The paper is the second to be published from Ferry’s PhD research at Leeds, which is supervised by Jon Lovett from the School of Geography, Professor Kang Li from the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, and Professor Effie Kesidou from the Leeds University Business School. Co-author Muhammad is from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Institut Teknologi in Bandung (ITB), Indonesia.
Jon Lovett says: “The research is part of our ongoing research on hybrid renewable energy systems funded by the EPSRC and development of the ‘Indonesia Net Zero Network’ supported by the Leeds ‘International Strategy Fund’.”
“It’s been terrific to work with Ferry as he is a senior specialist in power development and storage management at Pertamina, the Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation. Pertamina sponsored Ferry’s PhD, and so his research will be going directly into the company’s future strategy.”
Ferry emphasises the importance of the work for his country and global climate change. He says: “Indonesia aims to achieve net-zero emissions in transportation by 2060, but balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability is challenging.
“Early efforts in low-carbon mobility and institutional reform have laid a foundation for this socio-technical transition. Currently, there is a shift in policy and improved stakeholder coordination, which will help guide the country toward a sustainable and equitable low-carbon future.”
The research is good news for the transition to alternatives to fossil fuels for powering transport. The change is steady and rapidly gaining pace, with policy change primarily through what historical institutionalism calls layering and conversion, rather than radical displacement, making the change stable and sustainable.
Read ‘A multi-level perspective on transition to renewable energy in the Indonesian transport sector.’
