DrMarcello Contestabile

My work focuses on the techno-economic and policy dimensions of the energy transition, climate mitigation and sustainable transport. I combine a strong grounding in science and technology with expertise in innovation processes, energy economics and environmental policy. I am particularly interested in how policy, regulation and institutional design can accelerate the shift to low-carbon systems while supporting innovation, competitiveness and long-term prosperity.

I am currently Senior Research Fellow in Sustainable Transport at Imperial College London and a Fellow at Earthna, where I contribute to research and policy analysis on sustainable mobility, climate strategy and the transition to low-carbon energy systems.

Previously I served as Chief Economist at the Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute (QEERI), part of Qatar Foundation, where I built a research programme on the economics and policy of energy and the environment. In this role I advised stakeholders and led the development of Qatar TIMES, an energy systems model designed to inform national climate policy. Alongside this role, I was Joint Professor at the College of Public Policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

Prior to that, I worked as Managing Consultant at E4tech (now part of ERM) in London, as Research Fellow at the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) in Saudi Arabia and Research Fellow at Imperial College London. While at Imperial, I secured national, European and industry-funded research grants exceeding $1M, and did consulting and advisory work for a technology park, a major oil and gas company and a venture capital firm; I was also seconded to the UK Department for Transport.

Earlier in my career I worked as an R&D scientist in a startup developing lithium-ion batteries.