Adjunct Professor, SAIS Europe; Principle Scientist at the Energy Transition department of TNO in the Netherlands, and Professor of Sustainable Energy Technology at the Faculty of Science of the University of Amsterdam. From 2007 to 2013 he was visiting senior research scientist at Columbia University’s Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy (Earth Institute) in New York. He is co-director of the International Energy Workshop (IEW), member of the Council of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and lead author for Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 4th and 5th Assessment Reports). He held several visiting professorships, most recently at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH, Stockholm, 2010) and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IFW, 2008), and held research positions at Harvard University (Cambridge, 2002-2005), the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (1999-2001), Stanford University (Paolo Alto, 1999-2000), the Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI, Paris, 1997-1999) and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN, Geneva, 1992-1995). He was trained in economics (MPhil, 1995-1997, University of Cambridge, King’s College), physics (PhD, 1991-1995, CERN/NIKHEF, University of Nijmegen; MSc, 1987-1991, University of Utrecht) and international relations (Certificate, 1993-1994, IUHEI, University of Geneva). His research includes the fields of energy and climate change, integrated assessment modelling, environmental economics, and technological innovation. He is (co-)author of over 140 peer-reviewed scientific articles (4300 citations, h-index=38), and contributor to about a dozen books.
- OPERA: A New High-Resolution Energy System Model for Sector Integration Research, with van Stralen, J.N.P., F. Dalla Longa, B.W. Daniëls, and K.E.L. Smekens, in Environmental Modeling & Assessment, Springer (2021) forthcoming
- Heart of Light: An Assessment of Enhanced Electricity Access in Africa, with J.N.P. van Stralen, F. Dalla Longa, B.W. Daniëls, and K.E.L. Smekens, in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 136 (2021)
- Scenarios for geothermal energy deployment in Europe, with F. Dalla Longa, L. P. Nogueira and J. Limberger, in Energy 206 (2020)
- Estimation of losses in solar energy production from air pollution in China since 1960 using surface radiation data, with B. Sweerts, S. Pfenninger, S. Yang, D. Folini and M. Wild, in Nature Energy 4:8 (2019)
- Financial de-risking to unlock Africa's renewable energy potential, with B. Sweerts and F. Dalla Longa, in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 102 (2019)
- The future of solar fuels: when could they become competitive?, with R.J. Detz and J.N.H. Reek, in Energy & Environmental Science 7 (2018)
- An integrated assessment of pathways for low-carbon development in Africa, with T. Kober, F. Dalla Longa, A. van der Laan and G. J. Kramer, in Energy Policy 117 (2018)
For a full list of publications click
here
This course will focus on the inseparable links between energy use and climate change and, consequently, the unavoidable connection between energy and environmental policy. Through an examination of the subject, we also hope to explore three closely-related themes that exemplify the complexity of the interaction between science and technology on the one hand and public policy on the other hand: the challenges of achieving political acceptance, both nationally and internationally, of scientific consensus in the face of ever-present scientific uncertainty; the extent and the limitations of science as a driving force for public policy; and the role of technological development in influencing political choices.