Simon Wright

Dr Simon Wright

Senior Research Fellow, Energy and Circularity

Biography

As a Senior Research Fellow in Energy and Circularity, Simon brings 20 years of experience working in academia, industry and consultancy on a broad range of sustainability issues.

As an academic, Simon’s research interests revolve primarily around the field of sustainability transitions, in particular the role of government and other key stakeholders in accelerating the transition to renewable energy and a more circular economy. Simon’s current research portfolio encompasses regional transitions to renewables; renewable energy and circularity in agriculture; pathways to net zero; community energy; microgrids; and the acceleration, implementation and measurement of the circular economy.

Simon is a member of the Sustainability Transitions Research Network (STRN) and Circular Australia Research Taskforce; a board member on community energy cooperatives and a regional spokesperson for the Climate Council. Simon also holds a Visiting Fellowship at Nottingham University (UK).

In 2022, Simon was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to Canada and Europe to investigate employment pathways and reskilling programs for mining communities transitioning to renewables.

Research
  • Sustainability transitions
  • Renewable energy
  • Circular economy
  • Environmental innovation
  • Community energy
  • Role of government and other key stakeholders
Publications
Full publications list on CRO

Recent publications

  • Wright, S., Frost, M., Wong, A., & Parton, K. (2024). Australian microgrids: Navigating complexity in the regional energy transition. Energy research and social science, 113, Article 103540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2024.103540
  • .Wright, S. (2024). Sustainability Transitions. In L. Matthews, L. Bianchi, & C. Ingram (Eds.), Concise Encyclopaedia of Corporate Social Responsibility (pp. 184). Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Wong, A., Frost, M., Parton, K., & Wright, S. (2023). Regional Microgrids: The Missing Jigsaw Piece in the Australian Power Distribution Puzzle. Confidential Report.
  • Wright, S., Frost, M., Wong, A., & Parton, K. A. (2022). Australian renewable-energy microgrids: A humble past, a turbulent present, a propitious future. Sustainability, 14(5), 2585.
  • Wright, S. (2020). A state of innovation: The role of government in the design and orchestration of sustainability transitions. [Doctoral Thesis, University of Technology Sydney, University of Technology Sydney]. OPUS. https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/handle/10453/140952