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Theo Arvanitopoulos

Thesis title: The environmental and socioeconomic impact of energy demand and supply in the UK industry

The UK government has identified “Clean Growth” as one of the four grand challenges for the UK industry, with goal to improve industrial energy efficiency by at least 20% by 2030. My thesis tackles three aspects of the challenges faced by the industrial sector and the impact of delivering green growth. First, I develop a new econometric approach based on linear state-space modelling to explore the role of economic growth and energy price on historical trend in energy efficiency.

Although increasing energy efficiency is necessary to reduce emissions, it is equally important to identify the determinants directly responsible for reducing emissions. Therefore, I employ a panel time-series methodology that accounts for cross sectional dependence to assess the long-term relationship between industrial processes and emissions.

The transition to renewables posits the issue of net job creation as outdated carbon intensive technologies become obsolete leading to job losses. I develop an econometric framework, based on Vector Error Correction model, that estimates the employment impact for the power sector.


Biography

My research interests lie in the areas of:

  • energy and environmental economics
  • emissions mitigation policies
  • growth empirics
  • applied econometrics

Parallel to my academic research, I have engaged in policy projects with the OECD, the UK Committee for Climate Change (CCC), the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Minderoo Foundation. Prior to joining UCL ISR, I have worked as a research assistant at the European Institute, London School of Economics. I hold a MSc in Economics from the University of Nottingham, with specialization in time series and panel econometrics. I also hold a BSc in Economics from the University of Macedonia.

Publications and other work

T. Arvanitopoulos, V. Monastiriotis and T. Panagiotidis (2021) Drivers of convergence: The role of first- and second-nature geography. Urban Studies https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098020981361

T. Arvanitopoulos and P. Agnolucci  (2020) The long-term effect of renewable electricity on UK employment. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 134: 110322 doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110322

P. Agnolucci and T. Arvanitopoulos (2019) Industrial characteristics and air emissions: Long-term determinants in the UK manufacturing sector. Energy Economics 78: 546-566 doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2018.12.005

P. Agnolucci, V. De Lipsis, and T. Arvanitopoulos (2017) Modelling UK sub-sector industrial energy demand. Energy Economics 67: 366-374 doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2017.08.027