Accomplished BBC environmental journalist to join university research project

Nation.Cymru staff

A BBC journalist is set to work with academics at Cardiff University on an in-depth reporting project exploring the global clean energy transition.

Matt McGrath, an experienced journalist who has covered environmental issues for over 30 years, will be supported by Professor Richard Cowell from the Department of Geography and Planning for the residency lasting five months.

His project, titled Flying on dead donkeys: the unintended consequences of the global clean energy transition, will explore what is actually happening on the ground as countries attempt to move away from fossil fuels.

Through reporting from across the UK and Europe, he will investigate some of the surprising technologies, trade-offs and unintended consequences emerging as governments, businesses and communities try to build a cleaner energy system.

Matt McGrath said: “The clean energy transition is one of the biggest changes to the way we live and power our economies in generations, but the reality is proving far messier and more interesting than the simple story of replacing fossil fuels with renewables.

“I want to look behind the targets and the headlines at what is actually being built, bought, burned and changed – and at some of the strange consequences that emerge when ambitious climate policies meet the physical world.

“Cardiff University is an ideal place to do that. Richard Cowell’s work on energy, infrastructure and the way major transitions play out in real places gives me the opportunity to bring academic insight together with journalism and reporting from the field.”

Frontiers is the science journalism initiative funded by the European Research Council. The project allows science journalists to cover frontier science topics within research institutions, ensuring journalistic independence.

Ten journalists were selected for its fourth and final round of fellowships. This closing call, open to journalists at all career levels, attracted sixty competitive applications.

The cohort brings together nine different nationalities from across Europe and the Americas.

Professor Richard Cowell’s research focuses on the governance challenges of delivering low carbon energy systems. In particular, his work on Local Area Energy Plans in Wales is unearthing the real-world challenges of developing strategies that can align multiple actors. His work has also exposed the difficult legacy effects of previous fossil fuel spaces for the building of innovative energy system projects.

Speaking about the collaboration, Professor Cowell said: “I am very excited about our School working with Matt McGrath on his residency project.”

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