ClimateChange@Hutton - Economy and Energy

A simplistic view of climate change and the economy is often taken, that there is direct conflict between economic development and preventing further climate change and environmental damage. This ignores the potential of the ‘green economy’ and the development of new industries that create jobs and wealth while at the same time reducing or even reversing carbon emissions. At the same time, existing industries can often be adapted to make them resilient to climate change and to reduce their emissions. This is particularly true of energy production, where a transition from hydrocarbon-based to renewable energy production is already taking place in Scotland and many other countries.

At the James Hutton Institute we study several economic and industrial sectors that are strongly linked to carbon emissions and the environment in general. We are exploring the impacts of these sectors on the environment and the ways in which ‘best practice’ guidelines can be developed to reduce these impacts. We are also looking into why certain industrial practices succeed or fail, and ways in which the economy could be adjusted or regulated to improve the successes of low-emission businesses. We are also researching ways in which renewable energy can be integrated into social, political and governance processes in a fair way aligned with the Just Transition framework.

Within the Hutton ‘family’ itself, we have a commercial arm that commercialises promising research developments and provides significant input to the Scottish economy. From the breeding of new crop varieties to the development of novel sensors and technologies, we are working directly to transform the Scottish economy into a resilient, low-emission and successful example for the rest of the world.

Contact Annabel Pinker or Matt Hare for further information.