This proposal is concerned with determining the local structure of LaCoO3 and observing changes within this as the material undergoes some well characterised temperature driven electronic transitions. At low temperature (< 50 K) LaCoO3 is a non-magnetic insulator with the trivalent cobalt in the low spin state configuration t2g6eg0. At ~100 K the material becomes paramagnetic and with increasing temperature the high-spin t2g4eg2 configuration is populated. Above 648 K charge transfer between spin states occurs and disproportionation into Co2+ and Co4+ species is observed.