Dialogue on Sustainability and Energy
Hybrid in-person and virtual event – Venue: RCGI, University of São Paulo
Date February 27, 2023, 11:30 am – 02:00 pm
Information and registration at: https://forms.gle/YMWEn5Z4gxymhGhE7
Sustainability and energy: the co-benefits and myths of development projects
The Sustainable Development Goal 7 “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” also considers the actions needed to meet the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The implementation of energy projects requires an assessment of their impacts, both negative and positive. Assessment of the co-benefits of energy projects focuses on their social and economic issues through the project’s life cycle, which also requires the involvement of stakeholders and the wider public. This assessment enables comparing the co-benefits afforded by renewable energy projects. The inclusion of stakeholders and the public in the decision-making process is imperative to ensure project acceptance and success, which in turn requires understanding and knowledge of the project’s various facets and particularly about the benefits of the project to diverse stakeholders and society more broadly. Project designers and implementers must keep an open dialogue with stakeholders and the public. This session will discuss some examples of how to integrate the participation of stakeholders in sustainability assessments and means of communicating goals with real co-benefits.
Program:
11:30 – Welcome coffee
11:45-12:00 – Opening session – Prof Julio Meneghini, RCGI/Poli-USP
12:00 – 12:50 – Keynote speaker – Sustainability and energy: the co-benefits and myths of development projects – Dr Rocio Diaz-Chavez, Imperial College
12:50-13:30 – Round table – Coordination Prof Suani Coelho, RCGI/IEE-USP
Participants:
Prof Patricia Iglesias, School of Law and Head of Environmental Affairs at USP
Prof Marcos Buckeridge, RCGI/IB-USP
Prof Karen L. Mascarenhas, RCGI/IP-USP
Prof Rocio Diaz-Chavez, Imperial College
13:30-14:00 – Q&A
BIOs
Dr Rocio A Diaz-Chavez has over 25 years of experience working globally. She holds a PhD in sustainability assessment indicators from the University of Wales Aberystwyth. She is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Policy of Imperial College London since 2004. She was Deputy Director and Energy and Climate Change Programme Leader at the Stockholm Environment Institute Africa Centre from 2017 to 2022. Her research area focuses on sustainability assessment and deployment of bioeconomy, bioenergy, land use and natural resources. She received the SCOPE 2010 Young Scientist Award in Environmental Management for her work on indicators and standards.
Julio R. Meneghini is a full Professor of Applications and Principles of Mechanical Engineering at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (EPUSP), since 2010. “Livre Docente” in Fluid Mechanics. PhD in Aerodynamics from the University of London – Imperial College Diploma in Aeronautical Engineering (1993). CNPq Research Productivity Grant Level 1A (2019-2024). Scientific and Executive Director of the Research Center for Greenhouse Gas Innovation -RCGI (FAPESP- He was elected in July 2017 to be a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the State of São Paulo – ACIESP. He is the author and co-author of more than 200 publications. He coordinates or coordinated research projects sponsored by Petrobras, Shell, Embraer, FAPESP, FINEP / CTPPetro, CNPq / CTPetro, Voith, Siemens, British Petroleum (BP), Oxiteno and BG Group. Consultant for the FAPESP, CNPq, CAPES and FINEP development agencies and also a consultant for the Capes Triennial Evaluation Committee.
Prof. Suani Teixeira Coelho received the Commendator of the Order of Rio Branco (Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Itamaraty). She is a Chemical Engineering (1972) from the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation (FAAP), a master’s degree (1992) and PhD (1999) in Energy from the Graduate Program in Energy (PPGE), the University of São Paulo (USP). She is currently a lecturer and thesis advisor of the Graduate Program in Energy. (PPGE) USP and the Post Graduate Program in Bioenergy USP / UNICAMP / UNESP. She is also the coordinator of the Research Group on Bioenergy of IEE / USP, acting on the following topics: biomass power generation biomass, decentralized generation, urban and rural solid waste, cogeneration, biogas, life cycle analysis, externalities, and sugarcane. A reviewer at several scientific journals, such as Energy Policy, Journal of Cleaner Production, Clean Technology and Environmental Policy, Biomass and Bioenergy and Energy for Sustainable Development, among others. Bioenergy Editor at Renewable Bioenergy and Sustainable Energy Reviews. Principal Investigator at RCGI/FAPESP/SHELL. Deputy Director for BECCS Program at RCGI/APESP/SHELL
Patrícia Iglecias – Associate Professor at School of Law, University of São Paulo; Head of Environmental Affairs, University of São Paulo; Lawyer. Former CEO at CETESB – State of São Paulo Environmental Company. Former State of São Paulo Environmental Secretary.
Marcos Buckeridge is a Professor of Plant Physiology at the Department of Botany of the University of São Paulo and Director of the National Institute of Science and Technology of Bioethanol (INCT do Bioetanol). He is also the Director of the Program Bioenergy with Carbon Capture System of the Research Center of Green House Gas Innovation of the University of São Paulo. From 2009 to 2012, he was the Scientific Director of the Brazilian Biorenewables National Laboratory (LNBR) in Campinas. From 2018 to 2022. Buckeridge was Dean of the Institute of Biosciences of the University of São Paulo. From 2015 to 2019, he was president of the Academy of Sciences of the State of São Paulo. Buckeridge was a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel of Climatic Changes (IPCC) report (AR5) published in 2014, and in 2017 he was a Lead Author of the IPCC for the Special Report Global Warming of 1.5oC. Buckeridge is currently a member of the Institute of Advanced Studies of the University of São Paulo, working on Environmental Studies and Computational Humanities research groups. At this Institute, he created and coordinated the Center of Synthesis on Global Cities at the University of São Paulo. Buckeridge´s work has generated five edited books and more than 240 publications in plant physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology of crop species, forest, and plant growth and development related to Global Climate Changes and bioenergy production. He pioneered in Brazil the work on responses of plants to elevated CO2. His focus on bioenergy research has been mainly on developing second-generation bioethanol from sugarcane through studies of its physiology and genetics, cell wall composition and architecture, and its degradation by enzymes.
Karen Louise Mascarenhas is the deputy coordinator of the project “Social Perception and Science Diplomacy in energy transitions towards a Low Carbon Society” at the Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Innovation (RCGI), where she also serves as Director of Human Resources & Leadership. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the Institute of Psychology of the University of São Paulo (IP-USP), with a one-year period as a visiting researcher at the Sustainable Gas Institute (SGI) at the Imperial College London (2020). She has been an assistant professor in the postgraduate program at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) since 2009. In terms of education, she holds a degree in Psychology from the Institute of Psychology at the University of São Paulo (IP-USP), a postgraduate degree in Business Administration from FGV and a master’s degree in Social Psychology from PUC-SP (2008). Her research areas are Social Perception of climate change and low carbon energy transition technologies; Leadership in this context; the development of innovation in the Triple Helix structure (Industry – Government – Academy); and the contribution of academic and applied research to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.