Automotive, Energy and Photonics engineering

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Browsing Automotive, Energy and Photonics engineering by Author "Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye"

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    Catalysing decentralised renewable energy investment in Nigeria: investor-focused risk evaluation and de-risking strategies
    (Elsevier, 2025-06-01) Abba, Yahajja Zara Ibrahim; Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye; Drew, Gillian H.
    Scaling up private investment in Decentralised Renewable Energy (DRE) is crucial for achieving universal electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa. Tailored de-risking actions based on investors' risk perceptions can facilitate investment. However, current literature provides a fragmented perspective of investor-specific DRE investment risks. Through a multi-step participatory approach involving an online survey, focus groups, and interviews, 40 multidimensional risk factors across six categories were evaluated using the analytical hierarchy process, to establish their significance among four investor groups: development finance institutions, domestic finance institutions, developers, impact investors. Overall, economic and financing risk categories emerged as most critical, while social and environmental risks were least prioritised. However, risk factor priorities varied among different investor groups, highlighting key mutual high-priority risk factors amounting to 37–58 % of risk weighting including currency volatility, low access to low-cost capital, revenue risk, and insecurity. Limited awareness of existing risk mitigation practices, cultural and behavioural barriers to energy use, and path dependence were identified as influential risk drivers. Evidence-based risk mitigation strategies such as priority sector lending mandates, portfolio aggregation, stronger policy implementation, social interventions, collaboration, and capacity development are recommended to facilitate DRE investment. This study serves as a reference for decision-makers to prioritise actions for catalysing DRE investment.
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    Fuelling hydrogen futures? A trust-based model of social acceptance
    (Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), 2025) Gordon, Joel A.; Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye; Haq, Anwar U. l.; Nabavi, Seyed Ali
    Public trust plays a fundamental role in shaping national energy policies in democratic countries, as exemplified by nuclear phase-out in Germany following the Fukushima accident. While trust dynamics have been explored in different contexts of the energy transition, few studies have attempted to quantify the influence of public trust in shaping social acceptance and adoption potential. Moreover, the interaction between public trust and perceived community benefits remains underexplored in the literature, despite the relevance of each factor to facilitating social acceptance and technology uptake. In response, this quantitative analysis closes a parallel research gap by examining the antecedents of public trust and perceived community benefits in the context of deploying hydrogen heating and cooking appliances across parts of the UK housing stock. Drawing on results from a nationally representative online survey (N = 1845), the study advances insights on the consumer perspective of transitioning to ‘hydrogen homes’, which emerged as a topical and controversial aspect of UK energy policy in recent years. Partial least squares structural equation modelling and necessary condition analysis are undertaken to assess the predictive capabilities of a trust-based model, which incorporates aspects of institutional, organisational, interpersonal, epistemic, and social trust. Regarding sufficiency-based logic, social trust is the most influential predictor of public trust, whereas trust in product and service quality corresponds to the most important necessary condition for enabling public trust. Nevertheless, trust in the government, energy sector, and entities involved in research & development are needed to facilitate and strengthen public trust. Overall, this study enriches scholarly understanding of how public trust may shape prospects for trialling novel low-carbon technologies, highlights the need for segment-specific consumer engagement, and advances scholarly understanding of the innovation-decision process in the context of net-zero pathways. As policymakers approach critical decisions on the portfolio of technologies needed to support residential decarbonisation, public trust will prove fundamental to fuelling hydrogen-based energy futures.
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    Navigating barriers to decarbonisation of UK’s aviation sector through green hydrogen: a multi-scale perspective
    (MDPI, 2025-06-20) Mirzania, Pegah; Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye; Rothe, Henrik; Gratton, Guy
    Aviation is widely recognised as one of the most carbon-intensive modes of transport and among the most challenging sectors to decarbonise. The use of green hydrogen (H2) in airside operations can help reduce emissions from air transport. While the pace and scalability of technology development, including H2-powered and ground support equipment, will be key factors, other financial, regulatory, legal, organisational, behavioural, and societal issues must also be considered. This paper investigates the key opportunities and challenges of using H2 in the aviation industry through eleven semi-structured interviews and a virtual expert workshop (N = 37) with key aviation industry stakeholders and academia. The results indicate that, currently, decarbonisation of the aviation sector faces several challenges, including socio-technical, techno-economic, and socio-political challenges, with socio-technical challenges being the most prominent barrier. This study shows that decarbonisation will not occur until the UK government is ready to have all the required infrastructure and capacity in place. Governments can play a significant role in directing the necessary ‘push’ and ‘pull’ to develop and promote zero-carbon emission aircraft in the marketplace and ensure safe implementation.