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Professor John Barrett

Profile

Biography

I joined the Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) in February, 2011 as a Chair in Sustainability Research. My research interests include sustainable consumption and production (SCP) modelling, carbon accounting and exploring the transition to a low carbon pathway. I have an extensive knowledge of the use of Multi-Regional Environmental Input-Output modelling to understand the effectiveness of strategies and policies to deliver a low carbon economy.

My research is predominately funded by the UK Government (Defra) and the UK Energy Research Centre. These key areas of research have involved the building of global trade models to understand the embedded carbon emissions in goods and services and estimating the upstream carbon emissions from emerging energy technologies. The techniques that I developed as part of my research are now used by numerous government departments to understand the consumer emissions of the UK as well as the carbon emissions embedded in products.

John was one of the lead advisors to Defra in relation to the development of PAS2050 and was commissioned by Defra to lead on understanding the carbon footprint of trade. John has been selected as a lead author for the IPCC 5th Assessment for Working Group III.

John has appeared regularly on Radio 4 news and discussion programmes, written numerous policy reports on SCP issues for a wide range of audiences.

Current Research Projects

Current PhD Students

Areas of PhD Supervision

  • Sustainable consumption and production modelling
  • The carbon footprint of goods and services
  • The Carbon emissions of cities
  • Understanding the transition to a low carbon economy / society

I joined the Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) in February, 2011 as a Chair in Energy and Climate Policy. I am currently the Director of the Centre for Industrial Energy, Materials and Products (CIE-MAP) (more information available at www.ciemap.ac.uk). CIE-MAP is large research centre funded through the Research Council Energy Programme to understand how to reduce energy demand. Working closely with government and industry, the Centre for Industrial Energy, Materials, and Products conducts research to identify all the opportunities along the product supply chain that ultimately deliver a reduction in industrial energy use.

In addition, I am also a Co-Director of the UK Energy Research Centre, the multidisciplinary research centre established through the Research Council’s Energy Programme. I lead a research theme entitled, 'Energy, Economy and Society' that explores the relationship betwwen economic growth and energy demand.

My research interests include sustainable consumption and production (SCP) modelling, carbon accounting and exploring the transition to a low carbon pathway. I have an extensive knowledge of the use of Multi-Regional Environmental Input-Output modelling to understand the effectiveness of strategies and policies to deliver a low carbon economy. The techniques that I developed as part of my research are now used by numerous government departments to understand the consumer emissions of the UK as well as the carbon emissions embedded in products.

I was one of the lead advisors to Defra in relation to the development of PAS2050 and was commissioned by Defra to lead on understanding the carbon footprint of trade. I was selected as a lead author for the IPCC 5th Assessment for Working Group III. John has appeared regularly on Radio 4 news and discussion programmes, written numerous policy reports on SCP issues for a wide range of audiences.

Current Research Projects

Current PhD Students

  • Lucas Bunse
  • Kate Scott
  • Christian Hudson
  • Paul Brockway
  • Jannik Giesekem
  • John Hughes
  • Niall Kerr
  • William Goulart

Areas of PhD Supervision

  • Sustainable consumption and production modelling
  • The carbon footprint of goods and services
  • The carbon emissions of cities
  • Understanding the transition to a low carbon economy / society
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
  • Member of the International Society of Industrial Ecology
  • Member of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists
<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Research groups and institutes

  • Sustainability Research Institute