Current Position
Research Fellow.

Role at Council
Theme Co-ordinator: Energy and Emissions.

Research Interests
Rob Byrne has been working in the energy field for more than ten years; as an engineer, a project manager and, more recently, in policy analysis. He is particularly experienced in energy and development in an African context, having spent a total of five years on renewable energy projects in a number of countries (Botswana, Tanzania and Kenya). Rob is currently a Research Fellow with the Sussex Energy Group in SPRU (Science & Technology Policy Research) at the University of Sussex. He continues to work on energy and development research, including projects with the STEPS Centre (SPRU and Institute of Development Studies collaboration – see www.steps-centre.org) and a DECC-funded UK-China study on low carbon technology transfer. Rob also teaches at Sussex on environmental economics (undergraduate), and two masters level courses: climate change economics and policy, and low carbon development. He is a Tyndall energy theme coordinator at Sussex. Rob gained his BEng in Engineering Design and Appropriate Technology at Warwick (1996), his MSc in Science and Technology Policy at SPRU (2005) and his DPhil in Science and Technology Policy Studies, also from SPRU (2011). The topic of his thesis is the evolution of the solar home system markets in Kenya and Tanzania.