Associate Professor
Director of the Asian Energy Studies Centre
Interdisciplinary research on smart energy transitions, comparative energy policies in Asian cities, smart grids, urban solar, energy communities
| Office: | AAB 1231 |
| Tel: | (852) 3411 5941 |
| Fax: | (852) 3411 5990 |
| Email: | daphnemah@hkbu.edu.hk |
Dr. Daphne Mah is the Director of the Asian Energy Studies Centre and an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Hong Kong Baptist University. Named as one of the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University in 2022, Daphne has a rich academic and research background focusing on the social aspects of smart energy transitions, interdisciplinary studies across energy technologies (smart grids, solar power, wind energy, nuclear power, building energy efficiency), energy governance, and sustainability policy studies with a geographical focus on East Asia.
Since 2010, Daphne has led 32 research projects as a principal investigator, including major external grant-funded studies, totaling over HK$11.4 million. She has published extensively in top-tier journals, including Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, Energy Research & Social Science, Energy Policy, Geoforum, Journal of Cleaner Production, Environmental and Planning C, and The China Review. She is a founding convener of the Asian Low-Carbon Universities-Cities Network (ALUN) and the Hong Kong Solar Partnership, as well as a co-founding editor of the Journal of Asian Energy Studies. Daphne also serves as Chairperson of the Hong Kong Geographical Association (2023-2025).
Daphne received the Chevening Scholarship for her studies in the UK and was awarded the Performance Award in Scholarly Work at Hong Kong Baptist University in 2022. Before her academic career, she worked as a journalist for Ming Pao Daily News and led campaigns for Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong).
Global and regional energy governance, sustainability, climate change and energy policies (renewable energy, nuclear power, governance for energy, emission trading), environmental policy and politics in global cities, China and Hong Kong
Mah, D., Hills, P., Li, V. O. K., Balme, R. (Ed.). (2014). Smart Grid Applications and Developments. London: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-6281-0.
Mah, D., Hills, P., Li, V., & Balme, R. (2014). Introduction and Overview. In D. Mah, Hills, P., Li, V. O. K., Balme, R. (Ed.), Smart Grid Applications and Developments (pp. 3-20). London: Springer.
Mah, D., Leung, K. P. Y., & Hills, P. (2014). Smart grids: The Regulatory Challenges. In D. Mah, Hills, P., Li, V. O. K., Balme, R. (Ed.), Smart Grid Applications and Developments (pp. 115-140). London: Springer.
Wang, A., & Mah, D.(corresponding author) (2026). A systematic review on varieties, effectiveness and determinants of consumer engagement in the context of electricity market reforms from a European-Asian comparative perspective. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 226, 116430.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2025.116430
Mah, D., Cheung, D. M. W., Cheung, W. K., Wang, A., Siu, A.W.-H., Leung, M. K. H., Wang, M. Y., Wong, M.W.-M., Lo, K. & Cheung, A.T.-F. (2025). Understanding the up-scaling mechanisms of urban energy transitions: An application of a capital-based framework to a comparative case study of two solar communities in Hong Kong. Energy Research and Social Science, 127, 104164.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2025.104164
Kim, H., Caesary, D., Jang, J., & Mah, D. N. y. (2024). Who engages in electricity conservation and to what effect after real-world, high-resolution feedback? An empirical analysis of Korean households with smart meters. Heliyon, 10(17), e36951
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36951
Lo, K., & Mah, D. N. Y. (2024). State capitalism, fragmented authoritarianism, and the politics of energy policymaking: Policy networks and electricity market liberalization in Guangdong, China. Energy Research & Social Science, 107, 103348.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103348
Deng, L., Mah, D., Cheung, D. M. W., & Lo, K. (2023). Civic activism and petition politics in energy transitions: Discursive tactics, networking, and media mobilization in an anti-nuclear movement in China. Energy Research & Social Science, 95, 102889.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102889
Cheung, D., Mah, D., Siu, A., McLellan, B. C., Lam, V. & Lee, G. (2022). Understanding Smart Energy Transitions as a New Source of Distrust: The Perspectives of Hong Kong Citizens on the Risks of Regional Intercity Energy Collaboration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). China Perspectives (130), 31-41.
URL: https://doi.org/10.4000/chinaperspectives.14083
Mah, D., Cheung, D. M.-w., Lam, V., Siu, A., Sone, Y., & Li, K.-y. (2021) Trust gaps in energy transitions: Japan’s National Deliberative Poll after Fukushima, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 39(2):249-269
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2021.03.002
Mah, D., Siu, A., Li, K., Sone, Y., & Lam, V. (2021). Evaluating deliberative participation from a social learning perspective: A case study of the 2012 National Energy Deliberative Polling in post-Fukushima Japan. Environmental Policy and Governance.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.1923
Mah, D., Cheung, D. M.-w., Leung, M. K. H., Wang, M. Y., Wong, M., Wai-ming,, Lo, K., & Cheung, A. T.-f. (2021). Policy mixes and the policy learning process of energy transitions: Insight from the feed-in tariff policy and urban community solar in Hong Kong. Energy Policy.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112214
Ngar‐yin Mah, D., Siu, A., Li, K. Y., Sone, Y., & Lam, V. W. Y. (2021). Evaluating deliberative participation from a social learning perspective: A case study of the 2012 National Energy Deliberative Polling in post‐Fukushima Japan. Environmental Policy and Governance, 31(2), 125-141.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.1923
Yip, A. O. N., Mah, D. N. Y., & Barber, L. B. (2020). Revealing hidden energy poverty in Hong Kong: a multi-dimensional framework for examining and understanding energy poverty. Local Environment, 25(7), 473-491.Local Environment, 25(7), 473-491.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2020.1778661
Mah, D. N.-Y. (2020). Conceptualising government-market dynamics in socio-technical energy transitions: A comparative case study of smart grid developments in China and Japan. Geoforum, 108, 148-168.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.07.025
Mah, D. & Cheung, D. (2020). Conceptualizing Niche–Regime Dynamics of Energy Transitions from a Political Economic Perspective: Insights from Community-Led Urban Solar in Seoul. Sustainability, 12(12), 4818.
URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12124818
Yip, A. O.-n., Mah, D. N.-y., & Barber, L. B. (2020). Revealing hidden energy poverty in Hong Kong: a multi-dimensional framework for examining and understanding energy poverty. Local Environment, 25(7), 473-491. URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2020.1778661
Castan Broto, V., Mah, D. N.-y., Huang, P., Lo, K., Zhang, F., & Westman, L. (2020). Spatiotemporal perspectives on urban energy transitions: A comparative study of three cities in China. Urban Transformations 2, 11.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1186/s42854-020-00015-9
Fuller, S., Barber, L. B., & Mah, D. N.-y. (2019). Narratives of energy poverty in Hong Kong. Energy and Buildings, 191, 52-58. URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.03.015
Mah, D. N.-y. (2019). Community solar energy initiatives in urban energy transitions: A comparative study of Foshan, China and Seoul, South Korea. Energy Research & Social Science, 50, 129-142.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.11.011
Mah, D. N.-Y., Lam, V., Siu, A., Ye, H., Ogata, S., & Wu, Y.-Y. (2018). Understanding undergraduate students’ perceptions of dynamic pricing policies: An exploratory study of two pilot deliberative pollings (DPs) in Guangzhou, China and Kyoto, Japan. Journal of Cleaner Production, 202, 160-173.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.07.255
Mah, D. N.-y., Wang, G., Lo, K., Leung, M. K. H., Hills, P., & Lo, A. Y. (2018). Barriers and policy enablers for solar photovoltaics (PV) in cities: Perspectives of potential adopters in Hong Kong. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 92, 921-936.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.04.041
Lo, K., Mah, D. N.-Y., Wang, G., Leung, M. K. H., Lo, A. Y., & Hills, P. (2018). Barriers to adopting solar photovoltaic systems in Hong Kong. Energy & Environment. URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305X18757402
Mah, D., Wu, Y., & Hills, P. (2017). “Explaining the role of incumbent utilities in sustainable energy transitions: A case study of the smart grid development in China”. Energy Policy, 109, 794-806.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.06.059
Mah, D., and Hills, P. (2014). “Participatory governance for energy policy-making: A case study of the UK nuclear consultation in 2007”. Energy Policy, 74, 340-351.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2014.08.002
Mah, D., and Hills, P. (2014). “Policy learning and central-local relations: A case study of the pricing policies for wind energy in China (from 1994 to 2009)”. Environmental Policy and Governance. Special Issue: Multi-level Governance and the Environment: Intergovernmental Relations and Innovation in Environmental Policy, 24(3), 216-232. May/June 2014.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.1639
Mah, D., Hills, P., Tao, J., (2014). “Risk perception, trust and public engagement of nuclear decision-making: Results of a Hong Kong survey and policy implications”. Energy Policy, 73, 368-390.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2014.05.019
Mah, D., and Hills, P. (2014). “An international review of local governance for climate change: Implications for Hong Kong”. Local Environment.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2014.920313
Mah, D. and Hills, P. (2014), “Collaborative governance for technological innovation: a comparative case-study of wind energy in Xinjiang”. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 32(3), 509-529.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1068/c11101
Mah, D., Wu, YY., Ip, J., Hills, P. (2013), “The role of the state in sustainable energy transitions: A case study of large smart grid demonstration projects in Japan”, Energy Policy, 63, 726-737.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.07.106
Mah, D., Van der Vleuten, J., Hills, P. and Tao, J., (2012). “Consumer perceptions of smart grid development: Results of a Hong Kong Survey and policy implications”, Energy Policy, 49, 204-216.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.05.055
Mah, D., van der Vleuten, J., Ip, J. and Hills, P. (2012) “Governing the transition of socio-technical systems: a case study of the development of smart grids in Korea”, Energy Policy, 45: 133-141.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.02.005
Mah, D. and Hills, P. (2012) “Collaborative Governance for Sustainable Development: Wind Resource Assessment in Xinjiang and Guangdong Provinces, China”, Sustainable Development (a SSCI journal), 20(2), 85–97.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.466
Tao, J. and Mah, D. (2009), “Between Market and State: Dilemmas of Environmental Governance in China’s SO2 Emission Trading”, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 27: 175-188.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1068/c0768
Mah, D. and Hills, P. (2008), “Central-local Relations and Pricing Policies for Wind Energy in China”, The China Review, 8 (2): 261-293.
URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23462745
Mah, D., Cheung, D. M.-w., Wong, M. W.-m., Wang, M. Y., & Lee, G. H.-f. (2020). Engaging the Community to Develop a Model for Sustainable Energy Futures: A Case Study of Two Prospective Solar Communities in Hong Kong - Final Report. Hong Kong: Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office, HKSAR Government. (Download)
Mah, D., K. Lo, & P. Hills. (2017). Hong Kong’s Solar PV Future: Stakeholder Perspectives (A Study Report). Hong Kong: Greenpeace; Worldwide Fund for Nature.
Mah, D., Wang, G., Lo, K., Hills, P., & Lo, A. Y. H. (2016). Policy Analysis on the Potential of Rooftop PV in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: CLP Power Hong Kong Limited.
Mah, D. & Hills, P. (2013), Opportunities, Drivers and Barriers to Electricity Market Reform in Hong Kong: Perspectives of Large Electricity Users. Hong Kong: Greenpeace East Asia (a commissioned study).
Mah, D. & Hills, P. (2010), Hong Kong’s Vulnerability to Global Climate Change Impacts: An Oxfam Report on a 2010 Public Survey and Policy Recommendations. Hong Kong: Oxfam. (Download)