Francis X. Johnson
M.S. in Operations Research; M.A. in Public Policy; Certificate Program in Energy Analysis and Policy; Ph.D. studies in Geography and Environmental Engineering; Ph.D. student in ECS, research focuses on Transformations in Bioenergy Systems in relation to Climate and Development.
PhD Candidate
Phone: +46 73 707 85 24
E-mail: francis@kth.se
Research
A sweeping transition is underway in the use of biomass resources for energy production. Biomass accounts for a greater share of global energy consumption than all other renewables and nuclear power combined. However, the majority of biomass use is still for traditional purposes in cooking and heating in developing countries, which provides lower quality energy service with greater health impacts in comparison to modern fuels. Modern bioenergy for heat and power as well as biofuels for transport have gained a high profile in recent years, since both can contribute simultaneously to energy security, climate and rural development objectives. Bioenergy is the stored form of solar (and thus renewable) energy but its long-term sustainability will depend on higher resource efficiency and improvements in land use practices. Bioenergy is also connected to the broader biomass resource base originating in the agricultural and forest sectors, which together provide food, feed, fuel and fibre for expanding populations. This research examines the multi-scale transformation that is occurring in bioenergy systems in relation to the policy context of climate and development objectives
Short biography
Francis X. Johnson has a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1991), a Master of Science in Operations Research from George Washington University in Washington, DC (1988), a Bachelor of Science in Systems Science & Engineering, University of Pennsylvania (1985) and completed the Ph.D. requirements except for Dissertation (ABD) in Geography & Environmental Engineering at The Johns Hopkins University (1998). He was a Fulbright Scholar in Sweden in 1993-94.
He is a Senior Research Fellow in Energy and Climate at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) since 2009 and Research Fellow since 1999. From 1991-1998, he was a Senior Research Associate in the Energy Analysis Program at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (USA). He has twenty years of experience in economic and environmental analysis of biofuels, bioenergy strategies, climate mitigation, and energy efficiency. He has served as an expert evaluator or advisor to UNIDO, FAO, DG-Energy (European Commission) and the Environment Committee of the European Parliament. He has recently co-edited a book on the Food vs. Fuel issue (ZED books) and is co-editor of a forthcoming book on bioenergy from sugarcane in Africa.
