Dr Joel Adam Gordon

Dr Joel Adam Gordon is an energy-transition specialist working across nuclear power, hydrogen, technology deployment and public acceptance. His work focuses on a central question facing the energy transition: which emerging technologies and deployment ambitions are realistically achievable, and under what conditions?

His nuclear research examines the development and deployment prospects of small modular reactors (SMRs) and wider nuclear-energy pathways. He develops evidence-based and probabilistic approaches to assess technology maturity, project progression, deployment timelines and the feasibility of scaling nuclear capacity. This work helps distinguish between announced ambition and credible deployment, identifying the technological, industrial and institutional conditions that shape whether projects progress.

Joel also has extensive expertise in hydrogen and technology acceptance. His doctoral research developed a large evidence base on public acceptance and prospective adoption of hydrogen technologies, examining the influence of safety, trust, cost, technology performance, environmental perceptions and consumer differences.

He previously conducted postdoctoral research at Lund University's International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics and has published extensively across energy and sustainability research. His work combines probabilistic modelling, deployment analysis, mixed methods and large-scale quantitative research to provide independent evidence on emerging energy technologies and transition pathways.