Professor Subhes C Bhattacharyya

An internationally renowned specialist of energy for international development with more than 30 years of experience in  global energy-environment issues, Professor Subhes specialises in energy, regulatory and environmental studies with a focus on developing country energy systems. He has extensively investigated energy access issues in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa since 2002 and has led award-winning research in this area through funded projects. He has also extensively worked on energy sector management issues such as energy sector regulation and restructuring in developing countries, and policy issues related to  energy security, climate change, natural resource utilisation and sustainable development. Subhes mainly focuses on applied, multi-disciplinary research that combines engineering, economics, and regulatory and environmental analysis. His research benefits from his past industry experience and his personal knowledge of working with developing country situations. Subhes’ research is supported by various modelling efforts, including end-use type long-range energy-environment system modelling, operations research and other decision support systems as well as regulatory and investment analysis tools. He provides advice on energy related issues on a regular basis.

He is the author of the best-selling book: Energy Economics: Concepts, Issues, Markets and Governance (Springer, 2011). He has also edited a number of other books particularly on rural electrification, mini-grids and energy in Asia. His research project OASYS South Asia received Green Gown Award for Community Innovation at the national and international categories in 2015.

Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development

Click here to view a full listing of Subhes C Bhattacharyya's publications and outputs.

• Rural Electrification through Decentralised Off-grid Systems in Developing Countries, (Ed.) S.C. Bhattacharyya, Springer, ISBN 978-1-4471-4673-5, 297p, 2013
• Energy access programmes and sustainable development: A critical review and analysis, Energy for Sustainable Development, 16(3):260-71
• Integration of wind power into the British system in 2020, Energy – the International Journal, (with Ngoc Anh Le), 36(10): 5975-83, 2011
• Changes in the GHG emission intensity in EU-15: Lessons from a decomposition analysis, Energy – International Journal, 35(8), pp. 3315-22, 2010 (with W. Matsumura)
• <start_e>Electricity capacity expansion in Thailand: An analysis of gas dependence and fuel import reliance, Energy, 33(5), pp. 712-23, 2008 (with Thanawat Nakawiro and Bundit Limmeechokchai).

Subhes’ interest in energy research includes the following:

<start_a> a)   Energy Access and Sustainable living in developing countries

• Research to identify ways of supplying energy to the bottom billion and supporting sustainable living in developing countries. 
• Strategies and enabling conditions for the provision of clean and affordable energy for the poor.
• Sustainability analysis and development impacts of energy interventions for rural development.
• Vulnerability and mitigation of climate and security of energy supply in developing countries and their impact on sustainable development. 

<start_b> b)   Policy issues

• Low carbon energy pathways in developing countries - covering resource-rich and resource poor countries.
• Energy pricing, taxation and subsidies in developing countries for supporting sustainable energy in developing countries
• Policies for fossil fuels and renewable energies.

 c)   Energy modelling

• Modelling energy demand in developing countries: Energy Demand analysis and demand management - in industry, transport and residential sectors.
• Extension of the index decomposition methodology – This is an area of was applied to an analysis of climate change analysis
• Electricity system expansion studies for conventional studies and to capture vulnerability and energy security aspects.

• Energy and Sustainable Development
• Energy Economics
• Energy Regulation
• Oil and gas economics

Subhes holds a PhD and an Advanced Masters degree in Applied Economics with specialisation in Energy Economics from the University Pierre Mendes France, Grenoble II, Grenoble, France. He also holds a Master of Engineering in Energy Planning and Policy from the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand and a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Bengal Engineering College, University of Calcutta, India.

Subhes teaches a course on Sustainable Development at the graduate level and a course in Energy Economics for the undergraduate students.

He has taught the following courses as part of his earlier employments:

Energy Economics – the tools, Energy Economics – the Issues, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development, Economics of regulation and restructuring of energy industries, Petroleum Policy and Economics (for distance learning), Energy Data Analysis, Energy Demand Analysis and Forecasting, Oil and Gas Economics, and Economics of Energy Projects.

1. Green Gown Award International 2015 - for Community Innovation for OASYS South Asia Project given by Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges, UK.

2. Green Gown Award National 2015 - for Community Innovation for OASYS South Asia Project given by Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges, UK.

Member of EPSRC Peer Review Panel – since 2009.

Member of Energy Institute College - since 2015.

1. Fellow, Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
2. Fellow, Energy Institute (FEI)
3. Senior Fellow, Higher Education Academy (SrF HEA)
4. Institute of Engineers (India) life member.

Subhes’ areas of expertise for consulting purposes include energy pricing, energy regulation, energy access, off-grid electrification, renewable energy policies, etc.

Subhes has worked with consulting firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers (India), National Economic Research Associates (NERA) and Development Consultants Limited (India). He has also worked as a short-term consultant for the World Bank.

Subhes is supervising a number of students first supervisor and a few others as second supervisors. The following are a list of projects being investigated by these students:

1) Vulnerability assessment of oil and gas infrastructure to climate change impact in the Niger Delta;

2) Managing the structure, regulation and infrastructure investment decisions in the natural gas industry in Ghana;

3) Monetisation of natural gas resources in Nigeria

4) Analysis of agricultural practices for environmental protection and management of the rural Red River Delta region of Vietnam;

5) Impact of human activity on protected areas: Case of Nech Sar National Park in Ethiopia

6) Impact of climate change on the youth of small island communities

7) Low carbon retrofitting of residential buildings in Nigeria;

8) Smart demand-side and supply-side solutions to manage peak electricity demand from the residential sector of Saudi Arabia       

Decentralised off-grid electricity generation in developing countries: Business

models for off-grid electricity supply – RCUK (EPSRC – DfID), Research, Start date: 21/10/2009, end date 20/10/2014; PI of the project; Collaborators – School of Environment and Development, Manchester University, Edinburgh Napier University, University of Dundee, The Energy and Resources Institute and TERI University (India).

Agent-based Modelling of Electricity Networks, Co-Investigator, EPSRC, 2013-2016.

Global Innovation Initiative – Consortium for Rapid Smart Grid Impact, Co-PI, US Department of State, 2014-2018.

Subhes was the Co-Editor of International Journal of Energy Sector Management since its inception in 2007 until end of 2012.

He is now an Associate Editor of Energy for Sustainable Development – since 2012. He is also in the Editorial Board of Environmental Research Letters and AIMS Energy.

He is a member of EPSRC Peer Review College and Energy Institute College. He reviews grant applications, application for promotion to academic positions, and book proposals for publishers on a regular basis.

He was an external examiner of MSc Taught Programmes in the Business School of the University of Aberdeen (and CASS Business School, City University London.