This research uses the Farm Business Survey (FBS) to explore the key factors influencing farmers' adoption of renewable energy systems. It aims to understand how age, education, location, and farm characteristics drive this adoption.
Department: Agri-Food Economics & Marketing
Supervised by: Jorge Campos Gonzalez
The placement is centred on agricultural economics, specifically examining farmers' adoption of renewable energy systems. The research will leverage multiple years of the Farm Business Survey (FBS), which provides detailed data on farmers (e.g. age, education) and farms (e.g., location, size, type, profitability). The aim is to identify the main drivers behind the adopting or non-adoption of renewable energy systems in agriculture. The research will employ statistical methods to describe the main differences between adopting and non-adopting. These descriptive analyses will feed basic econometric models (e.g. Probit or Logit) to estimate these characteristics' influence as adoption determinants. This placement is part of a larger UKRI-funded project titled "Transformational Blueprint for a Blue Economy on UK Terrestrial Farms," which aims to evaluate the adoption of innovative practices like land-based aquaculture and anaerobic digestion on farms across the UK. The placement will primarily focus on the initial data analysis and modelling phase.
Data analysis using descriptive and advanced statistical methods (30%). Literature review and synthesis (30%). Drafting parts of the research report/paper (30%). Regular meetings and discussions for progress review (10%).
Essential: Basic understanding of statistical analysis and econometrics. Basic knowledge of statistical software (e.g. GRETL, STATA, SPSS) or programming language (e.g., R, Python) for data analysis Desirable: Knowledge of agricultural economics and renewable energy.
The student will gain advanced skills in statistical and econometric analysis, experience in academic writing, and insights into sustainable agricultural practices. There's potential for co-authorship in subsequent publications.
School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, Whiteknights Campus, University of Reading, Off-campus work or special travel requirements are not anticipated.
Flexible. Full-time over 6 weeks or part-time over 12 weeks.
Monday 10 June 2024 - Friday 13 September 2024
The deadline to apply for this project is 5pm on Friday 26th April 2024. To make an application, please go to the following link and complete the application form: https://forms.office.com/e/LDxskffW5H. Please remember the title of the project (listed at the top of the page) as you will need this to locate the project on the application form.