Systems Engineering Research, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford: Environmental and Biological Systems Engineering - Sustainable Energy and Production

Sustainable Energy and Production

We are interested in designing low-carbon energy, industrial and urban systems and understanding the transition pathways for environmental and resource sustainability. Areas of the current focus are decarbonisation of heavy industries and energy storage.

Selected Recent Publications:

Williams, F., Yang, A., & Nhuchhen, D. R. (2023). Decarbonisation pathways of the cement production process via hydrogen and oxy-combustion. Energy Conversion and Management, 300. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2023.117931

Devlin, A., Kossen, J., Goldie-Jones, H., & Yang, A. (2023). Global green hydrogen-based steel opportunities surrounding high quality renewable energy and iron ore deposits. Nature Communications, 14. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-38123-2

Devlin, A., & Yang, A. (2022). Regional supply chains for decarbonising steel: Energy efficiency and green premium mitigation. Energy Conversion and Management, 254. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2022.115268

Weidner, T., Yang, A., Forster, F., & Hamm, M. W. (2022). Regional conditions shape the food–energy–land nexus of low-carbon indoor farming. Nature Food, 3, 206-216. doi:10.1038/s43016-022-00461-7

Yang, A., Weidner, T., & Hamm, M. (2021). Energy optimisation of plant factories and greenhouses for different climatic conditions. Energy Conversion and Management, 243. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2021.114336

Chao Chen, Aidong Yang (2021). Power-to-methanol: The role of process flexibility in the integration of variable renewable energy into chemical production, Energy Conversion and Management, Volume 228, 113673, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2020.113673.C

Weidner, T., Graça, J., Machado, T., & Yang, A. (2020). Comparison of local and centralized biowaste management strategies – A spatially-sensitive approach for the region of Porto. Waste Management, 118, 552-562. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2020.09.013

Weidner, T., & Yang, A. (2020). The potential of urban agriculture in combination with organic waste valorization: Assessment of resource flows and emissions for two European cities. Journal of Cleaner Production, 244. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118490

Veldhuis, A. J., Glover, J., Bradley, D., Behzadian, K., Lopez-Aviles, A., Cottee, J., . . . Yang, A. (2019). Re-distributed manufacturing and the food-water-energy nexus: opportunities and challenges. PRODUCTION PLANNING & CONTROL, 30(7), 593-609. doi:10.1080/09537287.2018.1540055

Till Weidner, Aidong Yang, Michael W. Hamm (2018). Consolidating the current knowledge on urban agriculture in productive urban food systems: Learnings, gaps and outlook. Journal of Cleaner Production, 209, 1637-1655. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.11.004 

Skeldon, A. C., Schiller, F., Yang, A., Balke-Visser, T., Penn, A., & Gilbert, N. (2018). Agent-based modelling to predict policy outcomes: A food waste recycling example. Environmental Science and Policy, 87, 85-91. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2018.05.011

Garmulewicz, A., Holweg, M., Veldhuis, H., & Yang, A. (2018). Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold?. California Management Review. doi:10.1177/0008125617752695

Yao, Y., Martinez-Hernandez, E., & Yang, A. (2018). Modelling nutrient flows in a simplified local food-energy-water system. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 133, 343-353. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.02.022

Veldhuis, A. J., Leach, M., & Yang, A. (2018). The impact of increased decentralised generation on the reliability of an existing electricity network. Applied Energy, 215, 479-502. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.02.009

Miah, J. H., Griffiths, A., McNeill, R., Halvorson, S., Schenker, U., Espinoza-Orias, N. D., Morse, S., Yang, A., Sadhukhan, J. (2018). Environmental management of confectionery products: Life cycle impacts and improvement strategies. JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION, 177, 732-751. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.073

Melissa Yuling Leung Pah Hang, Elias Martinez-Hernandez, Matthew Leach, and Aidong Yang (2017). Insight-based approach for the design of integrated local food-energy-water systems. Environmental Science & Technology, 51 (15), pp 8643–8653.

 Martinez-Hernandez, E., Leach, M., & Yang, A. (2017). Understanding water-energy-food and ecosystem interactions using the nexus simulation tool NexSym. APPLIED ENERGY, 206, 1009-1021. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.09.022

 Veldhuis, A. J., & Yang, A. (2017). Integrated approaches to the optimisation of regional and local food-energy-water systems. CURRENT OPINION IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, 18, 38-44. doi:10.1016/j.coche.2017.09.001

Martinez-Hernandez, E., Hang, M. Y. L. P., Leach, M., & Yang, A. (2017). A Framework for Modeling Local Production Systems with Techno-Ecological Interactions. JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY, 21(4), 815-828. doi:10.1111/jiec.12481

Leung Pah Hang, M. Y., Martinez-Hernandez, E., Leach, M. and Yang, A., 2016. Designing integrated local production systems:a study on the food-energy-water nexus. Journal of Cleaner Production, 135, pp. 1065-1084.

Leung Pah Hang, M. Y., Martinez-Hernandez, E., Leach, M., & Yang, A. (2016). Towards a coherent multi-level framework for resource accounting. Journal of Cleaner Production, 125, 204-215. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.03.031

Elias Martinez-Hernandez, Matthew Leach, and Aidong Yang. Impact of Bioenergy Production on Ecosystem Dynamics and Services—A Case Study on U.K. Heathlands. Environmental Science & Technology 49 (9), 5805-5812. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es505702j