Frauke Urban

Prof. Dr. Frauke Urban is Professor and Docent in the Management of Sustainable Energy Systems at the Department for Industrial Economics and Management (INDEK) at KTH. She was the Head of the Division Sustainability, Industrial Dynamics and Entrepreneurship (SIDE) for 3 years in  2020 - 2023. She was one of the Coordinators of research area 3 on Sustainable Energy Systems – Technology and Business Perspectives as part of the Research Initiative on Sustainable Industry and Society (IRIS) 2019 - 2023.

Prior to joining KTH she was Reader (Associate Prof.) in Environment and Development at SOAS, University of London, UK; Research Fellow in Climate Change and Development at IDS, University of Sussex, UK; and Research Fellow in Energy, Environment and Development at the University of Groningen, Netherlands.  She was also a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Heidelberg, Germany and a Visiting Researcher at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China; the University of New South Wales UNSW, Sydney, Australia; the University of Auckland, New Zealand and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) in Germany.

Frauke works on decarbonisation of energy systems, transport and industries; low carbon energy transitions, innovation in renewable energy; energy & climate policy; green economy and sustainable development. She has about 20 years of experience in research, teaching, outreach and policy advice. Her most recent research is in the field of decarbonisation of transport (aviation, maritime shipping and road transport), decarbonisation of industry (steel and refineries) and climate impacts of payment services. Her most recent projects have been funded by the Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten) and the Swedish Central Bank Riksbanken.

Frauke has published over 50 papers in peer-reviewed international journals such as Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Applied Energy, Energy Research and Social Sciences, Energy Policy, Energy for Sustainable Development, Climatic Change, Ecological Economics, Environmental Innovations and Societal Transitions, Journal of Environment and Development, World Development, Sustainable Development etc. She is also the editor/author of the Handbook on Climate Change and Technology, the textbook on Energy and Development, the textbook on Low Carbon Development, the author of a monograph on low carbon energy transitions, the editor of a book on hydropower dams in Asia and Africa and the editor of four volumes of a reader collection on Low Carbon Development.

Frauke is currently the Principle Investigator for a project funded by the Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten) with 13.8 million SEK, which aims to analyse the sustainable energy transformations in aviation, with a focus on biofuels, electric aircrafts and hydrogen. This is a cooperation between KTH and University of Linköping, and part of the Graduate School of Energy System. The project employs 3 PhD students and 4 senior researchers for the time frame 2020-2024. See more here: SETA | KTH andSustainable Energy Transformations in Aviation - Linköping University (liu.se)

Frauke is also involved in a research project funded by Riksbanken on the climate impacts of payment services and the climate impacts of digital currency (with Niklas Arvidsson, Fumi Harahap and Anissa Nurdiawati). Recent reports: Working paper nr (riksbank.se) and Working paper nr (riksbank.se)

Within the IRIS initiative, Frauke is conducting research on decarbonisation of energy- and carbon-intensitive industries and the transport sector (including maritime shipping).

Frauke has also been the Principal Investigator for various other research projects, including projects funded by the UK Economics and Social Research Council ESRC, such as a project on large hydropower dams in Asia and Africa (worth 725.000 GBP / app. 8.5 million SEK), for which she led a team of 20 international researchers.

Frauke has been teaching in higher education since 2005, at post-graduate, under-graduate and PhD level, including at SOAS, University of London; IDS, University of Sussex; University of Groningen; University of Heidelberg and she has given guest lectures and seminars at various universities across the world. She was the PhD Coordinator at CeDEP, SOAS from 2014-2017 and has supervised a number of PhD students, including 5 as first supervisor.