Jonathan Busch

Lecturer in Sustainable Development, University of Leeds

Jonathan Busch

Jonathan joined SRI as a Research Fellow in November 2011, appointed jointly between the School of Earth and Environment and the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure in the School of Civil Engineering. His research is in the fields of Ecological Economics and Industrial Ecology,  studying the technological, economic and social basis for a transition to sustainable, low carbon infrastructure systems.

Since joining SRI,he has worked on the EPSRC Undermining Infrastructure project, the EPSRC/ESRC iBuild (Infrastructure Business Models, Valuation and Innovation for Local Delivery) centre and the NERC/ESRC funded CVORR (Complex Value Optimisation for Resource Recovery) project. His current work is with CCCEP (the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy), contributing to the research programme on enabling rapid transitions in mitigation and adaptation, focusing on the roles of government, market and civil society actors in low carbon infrastructure innovation and deployment.

Prior to joining SRI, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Physics department where he also completed my PhD on theoretical implementations of quantum information processing.

Qualifications

  • PhD Theoretical Physics, University of Leeds (2010)
  • MSci (Hons) Physics, Imperial College London (2006)

Memberships/Fellowships

Member of the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy
Member of the International Society for Industrial Ecology
Member of the International Society for Ecological Economics

Research Interests

  • Low carbon infrastructure transitions
  • Alternative and local infrastructure business models
  • Complex systems and socio-technical systems modelling

Current Projects

CCCEP – enabling rapid transitions in mitigation and adaptation [ESRC]
This project aims to develop a quantitative framework to test policy interventions for systemic low carbon transitions where the co-benefits and roles of government, market and civil-society actors are emphasized.

Previous Projects

CVORR (Complex Value Optimisation for Resource Revocery) [NERC/ESRC]
The CVORR project is developing a value assessment framework for product/waste systems based on a concept of complex value that encompasses economic, social, environmental and technical dimensions. Jonathan’s work on this project was the development of the framework and particularly the creation of modelling tools that enable the accounting of complex value across a whole system.

iBuild (Infrastructure Business Models, Valuation and Innovation for Local Delivery) [EPSRC/ESRC]
The iBuild centre studies the delivery of infrastructure at local scales based on developing new understanding of the economics and valuation of infrastructure. Jonathan’s work on this project was a package on the scaling of local infrastructure business models where the role of alternative local actors is crucial.

Undermining Infrastructure [EPSRC]
The Undermining Infrastructure project developed a criticality assessment framework for low carbon infrastructure transitions, where resource scarcity presents a significant risk. Jonathan developed a novel, enhanced stocks and flows model for low-carbon technologies and materials that enables a dynamic criticality assessment.

Teaching Interests

Jonathan has been part of the teaching team on SOEE 5582M Tools and Techniques in Ecological Economics for the past three years, teaching System Dynamics and Agent Based Modelling.