Research Overview

• Energy Policy, various aspects of renewable energy and energy efficiency policy, nuclear power  and particularly onshore and offshore wind power focusing on planning issues and financial support mechanisms
• Environmental policy, focusing on decision making and governance issues, including ecological modernisation theory
• Particular theories of governance including policy network theory, usage of discourse, rational choice and interest group theory
• Food and countryside issues, especially foxhunting and The Countryside Alliance

Current Research

He is currently researching and writing about:

a) The politics of advocacy for and narratives for solar power. This involves a comparison between the USA (especially the southern USA) and the UK. This is being done in collaboration with academics at Oregon State University.

b) 'Low carbon politics' in a range of countries and how cultruasl politics affects deployment of different technologies (forthcoming book with Routledge).

d) The possibilities for China helping to meet the Paris targets on climate abatement, and the relationship of ecological modernisation theory to the case of China and carbon abatement (forthcoming book with Routledge).

c) Follow-up from the ESRC funded project 'Delivering Renewable Energy Under Devolution' - featuring a paper on the impact of the case study on federalist theory

d) Renewable energy policies in different countries, including a study of the emergence of renewable energy policies in South Africa

e) Research into factors associated with success in organising community renewable energy schemes. Dr Toke organised a conference to that effect hosted by the School of Social Science in November 2013. A report of this conference was posted at http://blogs.scotland.gov.uk/coastal-monitoring/2013/12/19/community-renewable-energy-schemes-in-scotland/

Collaborations

there were His most recent collaborations are:

a) He worked with academics form various universities to produce a Special Issue of the journal 'Environmental Politics' on the subject of the interaction of climate change and energy security. He has co-edited this Special Issue with Sevasti-Eleni Vezirgiannidou of the University of Birmingham. The Special Issue appeared in the July edition of 'Environmental Politics', and includes two papers where he is an author. See http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fenp20/22/4#.UuzoktGPO1s

b) As mentioned earlier (see biography), he has also been collaborating with academics from Cardiff University, Queens University Belfast and Robert Gordon University on the ESRC funded project 'Delivering Renewable Energy Under Devolution' (DREUD). He is the lead author of the first output published in a journal, in the Political Quarterly. This is about renewable energy and the Scottish independence debate. See http://realfeed-intariffs.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/scottish-renewable-energy-targets-may.html This paper received considerable press attention. However, after this significant developments occurred in the UK energy policies, especially decisions taken by the UK Government concerning Electricity Market Reform, and this prompted a re-think of these conclusions. This re-think can be seen at http://issuu.com/therobertgordonuniversity/docs/the_dreud_report_2013

 c) As mentioned above he is collaborating with political scientists from Oregon State Univeristy in the USA to research the politics of advocacy of solar power.

Research Funding and Grants

• Delivering Renewable Energy Under Devolution (co-investigator in project funded by ESRC  which began in January 2011 and which finished at the end of January 2013)
• SEANERGY 2020- investigating and disseminating best practice in marine spatial planning for offshore renewables (partner in 2 year ALTENER project funded by the EU which started in May 2010)
• Offshore wind power planning issues (funded by ASSC small grant from University of Bimringham - 2009)
• EU Renewable Directive (funded privately by commission from World Future Council- 2007-2008)
• Feed in Tariffs and UK energy strategy (funded privately by commission form World Future Council - 2007)
• The use of combined heat and power as a means of integrating high levels of fluctuating renewable energy sources into the electricity grid (funded through DESIRE EU FP6 programme, 2005-2007)
• The Politics of the Countryside Alliance (funded through ESRC, 2005)
• The Politics of Food and Farming (funded through Leverhulme Trust, 2004)
• Accounting for the Outcome of  Windfarm Planning Applications (funded through ESRC, 2002-2005)
• A comparison of GM food policies in EU and US (funded through British Academy, 2003)
• The Politics of GM Food (funded through ESRC, 2001-2002)