The rationale for retrofit: A multi-level, interdisciplinary perspective on the energy efficient retrofit of existing residential buildings

The research in this thesis ultimately emanates from the international efforts to mitigate the impacts of anthropogenic climate change. The unprecedented international effort to transition societies to a low carbon future will have wide ranging political, social and economic consequences. The nature of the modern, complex, joined-up world entails that changes in any particular domain will have consequences that are wide-ranging, and often intangible. This thesis entails three distinct empirical pieces of research in relation to a key facet of many national climate mitigation efforts, namely the energy efficient retrofit of existing residential buildings. It develops a multi-level, interdisciplinary perspective that incorporates three different views on the rationale for retrofit. At the macro, government level the research considers the multiple benefit framing of energy efficiency in relation to the rationale for retrofit policy. Using the multiple streams theory of policy formation, descriptions of retrofit policy rationale in 4 national contexts are developed with the implications of potentially varying policy rationales considered. At the household level retrofit routinely takes place alongside general home renovations in a process that is connected to a wide variety of influences and background conditions. The micro-level research uses Q-methodology to develop holistic narratives of the home renovation process that provide a more heterogeneous understanding of households that have the potential to retrofit. A third article then combines the macro and micro-levels to consider the comparative economic rationale for government and households to invest in retrofit, considering the distributional properties that are a feature of many climate policy interventions. Finally, the thesis develops an integrated, interdisciplinary viewpoint by considering the political, social and economic perspectives on the rationale for home energy retrofit in conjunction

Energy technology phase-out: Using international analogues to inform ‘net zero’ heat decarbonisation policy

The phasing-out of fossil fuel heating and the transition to low carbon heating is in some ways unprecedented. It is characterised by urgency, given the critical importance of the heat sector in achieving Scottish and UK statutory decarbonisation commitments, but also uncertainty, due to the significant challenges associated with possible solutions such as electrification, low carbon heat networks, biofuels and low carbon hydrogen. This report reviews international evidence of relevant historic phase-out experiences from across the energy sector; it also considers more recent relevant experiences in the transport and electricity sectors. The cases reviewed here include natural gas grids, personal transport, electricity supply, electricity metering, transport biofuels and condensing boilers. A number of cross-case insights are also drawn, on topics including the timing of phase-out policies, industrial strategy aspects and overall policy rationales

A Review of Heat Decarbonisation Policies in Europe

European countries vary greatly in terms of how residential buildings are heated. These differences, built up over decades, reflect particular national resource endowments, economic resources and technical infrastructures. They also reflect different governance approaches and policy choice. This report reviews the heating technologies and heat policies of nine European countries: the UK (with a focus on Scotland), the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, France, Germany and Ireland). The report assesses how government policy has been used to change the way heat has been delivered, and current approaches to policy-driven heat decarbonisation. The report sets out in detail the policy instruments – financial incentives, regulations and tax structures – that are used to drive countries toward zero-carbon heating

Characterisation of the nociceptive phenotype of suppressible galanin overexpressing transgenic mice

The neuropeptide galanin is widely expressed in both the central and peripheral nervous systems and is involved in many diverse biological functions. There is a substantial data set that demonstrates galanin is upregulated after injury in the DRG, spinal cord and in many brain regions where it plays a predominantly antinociceptive role in addition to being neuroprotective and pro-regenerative. To further characterise the role of galanin following nerve injury, a novel transgenic line was created using the binary transgenic tet-off system, to overexpress galanin in galaninergic tissue in a suppressible manner. The double transgenic mice express significantly more galanin in the DRG one week after sciatic nerve section (axotomy) compared to WT mice and this overexpression is suppressible upon administration of doxycycline. Phenotypic analysis revealed markedly attenuated allodynia when galanin is overexpressed and an increase in allodynia following galanin suppression. This novel transgenic line demonstrates that whether galanin expression is increased at the time of nerve injury or only after allodynia is established, the neuropeptide is able to reduce neuropathic pain behaviour. These new findings imply that administration of a galanin agonist to patients with established allodynia would be an effective treatment for neuropathic pain

The role and impact of innovation agencies: an international review

This report presents an overview of the scholarly literature and case study data regarding the role and deisng of public sector agencies in accelerating technological innovation

Industrial Strategy in Scotland: A review of cluster-based initiatives

Scotland’s low carbon transition is increasingly framed as an opportunity for the commercialisation of low carbon technologies, green economic growth and the creation of green jobs. This report considers historic efforts of industrial clustering in Scotland. It provides a brief review of international research on industrial clusters. The research covers issues such as the characteristics of industrial clusters, including geographic proximity and knowledge exchange networks and the dynamics of cluster growth. It also provides an overview of policy mechanisms to encourage cluster formation and efforts to shift away from historically entrenched but unsustainable clusters. The report describes three case studies of industrial clustering in Scotland along with the challenges that these faced from a policy perspective

Targeted disruption of the orphan receptor Gpr151 does not alter pain-related behaviour despite a strong induction in dorsal root ganglion expression in a model of neuropathic pain

BACKGROUND: Gpr151 is an orphan GPCR whose function is unknown. The restricted pattern of neuronal expression in the habenula, dorsal horn of the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion plus homology with the galanin family of receptors imply a role in nociception. RESULTS: Real-time quantitative RT-PCR demonstrated a 49.9 ± 2.9 fold highly significant (P < 0.001) increase in Gpr151 mRNA expression in the dorsal root ganglion 7 days after the spared nerve injury model of neuropathic pain. Measures of acute, inflammatory and neuropathic pain behaviours were not significantly different using separate groups of Gpr151 loss-of-function mutant mice and wild-type controls. Galanin at concentrations between 100 nM and 10 μM did not induce calcium signalling responses in ND7/23 cells transfected with Gpr151. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that despite the very large upregulation in the DRG after a nerve injury model of neuropathic pain, the Gpr151 orphan receptor does not appear to be involved in the modulation of pain-related behaviours. Further, galanin is unlikely to be an endogenous ligand for Gpr151