The Davidson Lab focuses on the engineering implications and institutional conflicts inherent in deploying low-carbon energy at scale. We have particular interests in understanding the political systems of Asia (with a focus on China and India) as well as the western U.S. Our research topics include renewable resource assessments, power system operations, and political economy of markets. Read more about the lab.

Research topics


We are recruiting across all levels–PhD, MS and undergraduate students, and staff researchers!

Please see the academic programs and mentoring opportunities page for more information.



News

Job Opening: Research on China Power Grid

Join a dynamic team modeling the engineering implications of large amounts of renewable energy and the effects of different electricity market designs on carbon emissions in China

September 25, 2023

China has the largest power grid in the world, and it is rapidly changing to accommodate to low-carbon goals. The Research Assistant will join a dynamic team modeling the engineering implications of large amounts of renewable energy and the effects of different electricity market designs on carbon emissions in China.... [Read More]

Quantifying the cost savings of global solar photovoltaic supply chains

Helveston, J.P., He, G., & Davidson, M.R. Nature.

October 26, 2022

Achieving carbon neutrality requires deploying renewable energy at unprecedented speed and scale, yet countries sometimes implement policies that increase costs by restricting the free flow of capital, talent and innovation in favour of localizing benefits such as economic growth, employment and trade surpluses. Here we assess the cost savings from... [Read More]

Risks of decoupling from China on low-carbon technologies

Davidson, M. R., Karplus, V. J., Lewis, J. I., Nahm, J., & Wang, A. Science.

September 15, 2022

China plays, and will likely continue to play, an indispensable role in research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) and manufacturing of low-carbon technologies that are necessary to address climate change. For example, China’s scale-up capabilities that are underpinned by manufacturing process improvements, supply chain optimization, and deep government support have contributed... [Read More]

Geodata v0.1 package launched

Open-source python package that helps to wrangle high-dimensional weather model data and diverse geospatial datasets to address questions of renewable energy planning and siting (and more)

May 13, 2022

Geodata is a Python library of geospatial data collection and “pre-analysis” tools. Geospatial and gridded datasets of physical variables are ubiquitous and increasingly high resolution. Long time-series gridded datasets can be generated as part of earth system models, and due to their geographic coverage they can have wider applications, including... [Read More]

Static Electricity: Institutional and Ideational Barriers to China’s Market Reforms

Davidson, M. R., Pearson, M. M. Studies in Comparative International Development.

May 10, 2022

China’s “economic juggernaut” is often noted to have arisen from successful market reforms carried out in the context of high state capacity. In contrast, we demonstrate that crucial reforms to replace central planning with markets have stalled as a result of major barriers of two types: institutional and ideational. Focusing... [Read More]

The Challenges of Coal Phaseout: Coal Plant Development and Foreign Finance in Indonesia and Vietnam

Gao, X., Davidson, M., Busby, J., Shearer, C., Eisenman, J. Global Environmental Politics.

October 15, 2021

Global coal use must be phased out if we are to minimize temperature increases associated with climate change. Most new coal plants are being built in the Asia Pacific and rely on overseas finance, with Indonesia and Vietnam the leading recipients. However, the politics of coal plant finance are changing,... [Read More]