Zerriffi Research Group at UBC

Mission

The Zerriffi Research Group (ZRG) is based at the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver Canada. We use inter-disciplinary approaches to research problems at the intersection of technology, environment and development. We pursue research with the aim of tackling major issues in this area and developing evidence-based policy recommendations for all stakeholders (e.g. governments at all levels, households, private sector, donors, etc.). Many of our projects explore questions around tradeoffs and decisions that have to be made that balance short and long-term development and environmental goals. The group is led by Dr. Hisham Zerriffi, Assistant Professor and the Ivan Head South/North Research Chair. In addition to Hisham Zerriffi, the group is made up of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and collaborators from UBC and beyond.

Organization Type Academia

Contact Information

Primary Contact
 Dr. Hisham Zerriffi
hisham.zerriffi@gmail.com 		Secondary Contact

Address Liu Institute for Global Issues
6476 NW Marine Dr.
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z2
Canada 		Website www.zerriffi.org
Phone 604-827-4468
Fax
Calling/Fax Instructions

Our Focus

Primary Initiatives, Target Populations, and Scope of Work:

We are not engaged in any interventions at the moment, but rather in a series of related research projects on various aspects of household energy.

Fuels/Technologies: Biogas
Biomass
Liquid Petroleum Gas
Solar
Wind
 Sectors of Experience: Agriculture
Behavior Change
Carbon Finance
Education
Energy
Environment
Forestry
Gender
Health
Infrastructure
Renewable Energy
Rural Development
Small Business
Water
 Countries of Operation:

Our Experience And Interest In The Four PCIA Central Focus Areas

Social/Cultural barriers to using traditional fuels and stoves:

As part of our research, we are interested in understanding household determinants of energy choice and the energy transition process. This, naturally, includes understanding various social and cultural factors affecting the transition from traditional fuels and stoves to cleaner technologies and fuels. See related publications.

Market development for improved cooking technologies:

A major focus of our research is on the role of markets in providing rural and low-income energy services. See related publications.

Technology standardization for cooking, heating and ventilation:

We have not worked specifically on this issue as of yet.

Indoor air pollution exposure and health monitoring:

We are currently engaged in a project that involves emission testing of stoves in India to understand health and environmental implications of a stove switch.

Relevant Publications or Studies

Zerriffi, Hisham. Rural Electrification: Strategies for Distributed Generation. Dordrecht: Springer. 2011

Brew-Hammond, Abeeku, Vijay Modi, Douglas Barnes, Minoru Takada, Amitav Rath, Hisham Zerriffi, Shonali Pachauri and Daniel Bouille. ‘Rural Energy and Access in Developing Countries’. Global Energy Assessment. Cambridge University Press (In Press)

Wesley Foell, Shonali Pachauri, Daniel Spreng and Hisham Zerriffi. “Household Cooking Fuels and Technologies in Developing Economies.” Energy Policy (Special Issue on Clean Cooking Fuels and Technologies in Developing Economies). V. 39, No. 12 (2011): pp. 7487-7496

Shrimali, Gireesh, Alexander Slaski, Mark C. Thurber, and Hisham Zerriffi. “Improved Stoves in India: A Study of Sustainable Business Models.” Energy Policy (Special Issue on Clean Cooking Fuels and Technologies in Developing Economies). V. 39, No. 12 (2011): pp. 7543-7556

Kowsari, Reza and Hisham Zerriffi, “Three Dimensional Energy Profile: A new conceptual framework for analyzing rural household energy use.” Energy Policy (Special Issue on Clean Cooking Fuels and Technologies in Developing Economies). V.39, No. 12 (2011): pp. 7505-7517

Hisham Zerriffi, “Innovative Business Models for the Scale-Up of Access Efforts for the Poorest.” Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability (Special Issue: Energy Systems) Vol. 3, No. 4 (September 2011).

Peng, Wuyuan, Hisham Zerriffi and Jiahua Pan. ‘Household Level Fuel Switching in Rural Hubei‘. ENERGY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. Vol. 14, No. 3 (2010)

Zerriffi, Hisham and Elizabeth Wilson. ‘Leapfrogging Over Development? The Promotion of Rural Renewables for Climate Change Mitigation‘. ENERGY POLICY Vol. 38, No. 4. (2010)

Our Contribution to the Partnership

We anticipate participating in a number of ways including attending meetings, webinars, etc. We also hope to lend our experience and expertise on a variety of cookstove related topics to the larger PCIA community.