A team from the Department of Physics (Dr. Leonardo Clarke (PI), Mr. Matthew Williams, and Prof. Michael Taylor ) has received a £65,000 continuation grant (2026–2027) from the DEGREES Initiative under the DEGREES Modelling Fund (DMF).
The award supports the project, 'High-Resolution Assessment of the Impact of Solar Radiation Modification on Caribbean Wind Farm and Solar PV Energy Sources and Generation,' which will focus ongoing research examining how Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) could influence future renewable energy resources and power generation in the Caribbean title.
Building on the team’s recent peer-reviewed study using global climate models, the project advances to island-scale, high-resolution analysis with particular focus on Jamaica. As national policy prioritizes expanded solar and wind energy capacity, understanding how SRM and conventional climate change scenarios may affect solar irradiance, wind speeds, and temperature is critical for long-term energy planning.
Grant activities focus on validating downscaled climate projections against observed datasets, including ERA5, and applying statistical bias corrections where necessary. The refined projections will then be integrated into a Python-based energy simulation framework to evaluate potential impacts on solar and wind generation, grid reliability, and Jamaica’s future energy system under both SRM and conventional climate change scenarios.
