Mark Howells

Academic career:

2020- : Professor of Systems Analysis for Sustainable Development

2020- : Principal Research Fellow – Imperial College.

2011-2020: Professor and Head of Division: Energy Systems Analysis – The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden.

2003-2008: International Research Affiliate – Stanford University

2006-2010: Energy Planner / Economist – IAEA

2000-2006: Head of Energy Modelling Group – Energy Research Centre, University of Cape Town

Professional responsibilities:

2018- : Scientific Advisory Board Member – The Payne Institute

2017- : Editor in Chief – Energy Strategy Reviews

2016-2020: Honorary Adjunct Professor – Centre for Energy Policy, University Technology Sydney

Research

Mark’s research focuses on Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) and he currently leads the CCG consortium – comprising Loughborough, Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Imperial College and the Open University – in delivering the UK Government’s £35M CCG programme (2021-2025). CCG is a UK-ODA funded research programme helping developing countries take a path of low carbon development whilst simultaneously unlocking profitable investment in green infrastructure, opening up new markets and supporting delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

He led the development of some of the world's premier open-source energy, resource, and spatial electrification planning tools. He has been published in Nature Journals, coordinates the European Commission's think tank for Energy, and is regularly used by the United Nations as a science-policy expert, and is a key contributor to UNDESA's Modelling Tools for Sustainable Development Policies. He is a key contributor to the Open Tools Integrated Modelling and Upskilling for Sustainable-Development (OpTIMUS) community of practice that aims to improve the rigour, ease of use and ecosystem needed to improve evidence-based policy making.

Mark holds a joint appointment as Principal Research Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London.

Key publications

• Balderrama JP, Subieta SB, Lombardi F, Stevanato N, Sahlberg A, Howells M, Colombo E, Quoilin S. (2020) Incorporating high-resolution demand and techno-economic optimization to evaluate micro-grids into the Open Source Spatial Electrification Tool (OnSSET). Energy for Sustainable Development, 56, 98-118.
• Palombelli A, Gardumi F, Rocco M, Howells M, Colombo E. (2020) Development of functionalities for improved storage modelling in OSeMOSYS. Energy, 195, 117025.
• Nerini FF, Sovacool B, Hughes N, Cozzi L, Cosgrave E, Howells M, Tavoni M, Tomei J, Zerriffi H, Milligan B. (2019) Connecting climate action with other Sustainable Development Goals. Nature Sustainability, 2(8), 674-680.
• Sridharan V, Broad O, Shivakumar A, Howells M, Boehlert B, Groves DG, Rogner HH, Taliotis C, Neumann JE, Strzepek KM, Lempert R. (2019) Resilience of the Eastern African electricity sector to climate driven changes in hydropower generation. Nature Communications, 10(1), 1-9.
• De Strasser L, Lipponen A, Howells M, Stec S, Bréthaut C. (2016) A methodology to assess the water energy food ecosystems nexus in transboundary river basins. Water, 8(2).
• Mentis D, Howells M, Rogner H, Korkovelos A, Arderne C, Zepeda E, Siyal S, Taliotis C, Bazilian M, de Roo A, Tanvez Y. (2017) Lighting the World: the first application of an open source, spatial electrification tool (OnSSET) on Sub-Saharan Africa. Environmental Research Letters, 12(8), 085003.

Teaching

Mark’s teaching focused on systems analysis for sustainable development.