De Los Reyes, Julie Ann

De Los Reyes, Julie Ann
Research Departments・Position
Global Humanosphere
Program-Specific Faculty
Area
Geography, Political Ecology
Research Interests / Keywords
resource geographies, energy transition, nature-society relations, financialisation, environmental governance
Contact
jdlreyes@cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp

De Los Reyes, Julie Ann


Julie Ann de los Reyes is an Assistant Professor at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University. She obtained her PhD in Geography from the University of Manchester in the UK. Her research is concerned with the dynamics of energy transition in East and Southeast Asia, focusing in particular on coal investments (and disinvestments) and emerging hydrogen supply chains. Her previous work examined financialisation and (its impacts on) the geography of mining investments in the global gold mining industry, which was awarded 2018 Best PhD Thesis in Economic Geography by the Royal Geographical Society - Institute of British Geographers (Economic Geography Research Group) in the UK. She has been a recipient of prestigious grants and fellowship awards, including the EU’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, Erasmus Mundus Scholarship, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science’s Grant-in-Aid for early career scientists. Her articles have been published in high-impact journals such as Geoforum, Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, and the Journal of Peasant Studies.


Carbon lock-in, energy regime change, and prospects for coal phase-out/phase-down in the Philippine electricity sector

This research takes an inter- and transdisciplinary approach to understanding energy transition in the Philippines and the broader East/Southeast Asian region. Looking in particular at the dynamics of coal phase-out/phase-down, it aims to shed light on the conditions that impede the shift to low carbon sources in the power generation mix. It will map out the key actors, nationally and regionally, that are involved in the financing and production of energy, identify the sources of socio-economic, technological and infrastructural ‘lock-ins’; and recommend solutions to support the expansion of renewable energy. Moving beyond current understanding of transition as mainly, if not exclusively, a technological shift, the social relations that underpin such a process, i.e. that preserve or challenge the dominance of the incumbent fossil fuel energy regime, will be a key focus of analysis.


Japan in transition: Energy security, geopolitics, and the making of a hydrogen society

The research examines the politico-economic and socio-technical interventions shaping the transition to a ‘hydrogen society’ in Japan and its regional and global implications. Specifically, it will look at inter-state and state-firm strategies that structure the difference segments of production, storage, transportation, and utilisation comprising the hydrogen supply chain. Japan is a front runner in the development of hydrogen and in recent years, it has undertaken radical steps to realise its vision of a hydrogen society. This is presently occurring through a series of policy, financial, and technical directives and instruments.

Focusing on ongoing pilot projects, the research seeks to analyse how hydrogen is made viable, scalable and (qualify as) renewable, with a focus on the specific ways that diverse players, i.e. private actors, institutions and states, mediate these processes; the new geopolitical relations necessary to its emergence; and whether this provides a viable template to help create the foundations of a hydrogen-based energy system.