Caspar Donnison is an interdisciplinary scientist, whose research covers the fields of environmental economics, environmental science, sociology, and policy.

His primary area of research is in assessing the potential for decarbonization using biomass resources. He has led publications exploring the sustainability, social acceptability, and policy of the carbon dioxide removal technology bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). He has also worked closely with industry and policymakers on supply chain feasibility of BECCS, as a researcher with the £20 million Industrial Decarbonisation and Research Innovation Centre (IDRIC) in the UK.

More recent research has involved understanding public engagement with novel climate technologies, having collaborated with sociologists and consulted for Supergen Bioenergy Hub on public engagement. He is currently researching public attitudes towards the dual-use of land for solar energy and agriculture (‘agrivoltaics’) in the US.

He has a strong interest in communicating climate science and decarbonization, and has engaged with policymakers and politicians, such as through the Californian Assembly select committee system, the Western Governors' Association, and LLNL’s ‘Roads to Removal’ symposiums. He has also contributed to policy reports and submitted scientific evidence to UK Parliamentary inquiries, including most recently the House of Lords 2024 methane inquiry, where he submitted his published climate science research on the impact of the livestock sector.

Background

• 2024 – present, Energy Systems Postdoctoral Researcher, LLNL.
• 2021 – 2023, Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Davis, USA.
• 2016 – 2021, Graduate student researcher, University of Southampton, UK, and University of California, Davis, USA.
• 2018, Secondee to UK Government Office for Science, London.
• 2014-2016, Shipping Analyst, Clarksons Research, London.

Mentions in Popular Press

• The Guardian, ‘Methane emissions: Australian cattle industry suggests shift from net zero target to ‘climate neutral’ approach’, Aston Brown, May 7, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/08/methane-emissions-australian-cattle-industry-suggests-shift-from-net-zero-target-to-climate-neutral-approach
• DeSmog, ‘The Livestock Industry’s “Climate Neutral” Claims Are Too Good To Be True’, Joe Fassler, December 14, 2023, https://www.desmog.com/2023/12/14/the-livestock-industrys-climate-neutral-claims-are-too-good-to-be-true/

Ph.D. Environmental Science and Environmental Economics, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK, 2022

B.A. Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE), Pembroke College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, 2013

• Delafield, G., Smith, GS., Day, B., Holland, RA., Donnison, C., Hastings, A., Taylor, G., Owen, N., Lovett, A. Spatial context matters: Assessing how future renewable enrgy pathways will impact nature and society (2024). Renewable Energy 220, 119385.
• Donnison, C.L., Murphy-Bokern, D. Are claims of climate neutrality in the livestock sector too good to be true? (2023), Environmental Research Letters. 10.1088/1748-9326/ad0f75
• Donnison, C., Trdlicova, K., Mohr, A., Taylor, G. A net-zero storyline for success? News media analysis of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) in the United Kingdom (2023), Energy Research & Social Science, 102, 10353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103153
• Freer‐Smith, P., Bailey‐Bale, JH., Donnison CL., Taylor, G. The good, the bad, and the future: Systematic review identifies best use of biomass to meet air quality and climate policies in California. 2023. GCB Bioenergy 15 (11), 1312-1328. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/gcbb.13101
• Delafield, G., Donnison, C., Roddis, P., Arvanitopoulos, T., Sfyridis, A., Dunnett, S., Ball, T., Logan, K. G. (2021). Conceptual framework for balancing society and nature in net-zero energy transitions. Environmental Science and Policy, 125(August), 189–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.08.02
• Donnison, C., Holland, R. A., Harris, Z., Taylor, G. Land-use change from food to energy: meta-analysis unravels effects of bioenergy on biodiversity and cultural ecosystem services (2021), Environmental Research Letters, 16, 113005. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac22be
• Donnison, C., Holland, R. A., Hastings, A., Armstrong, L., Eigenbrod, F., & Taylor, G. Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS): Finding the win - wins for energy, negative emissions and ecosystem services - size matters. (2020), Global Change Biology Bioenergy, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12695

For a full list, see: Google Scholar | ResearchGate

• 3rd place at both the LLNL Research SLAM finals and the Bay Area Research SLAM finals, 2024.
• IOP Trusted Reviewer, Environmental Research Letters, 2024.
• Faculty Research Award, University of Southampton, 2022.

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