The Center for Sustainable Energy at 91吃瓜 (ND Energy) will host its second聽annual research symposium on Wednesday (March 20)聽with keynote speaker Rachel Kyte, who leads the worldwide charge toward聽access to affordable, reliable聽and sustainable energy for all.
Kyte is the chief executive officer of Sustainable Energy for All (), special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, co-chair of UN-Energy聽and professor of the practice of sustainable development in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She is a leading advocate for sustainable development and drives SEforALL鈥檚 work to mobilize action toward its 2030 goals on universal energy access, energy efficiency聽and renewable energy. As the special representative of the secretary-general, she is the United Nations' point person for the global goal of sustainable energy. Prior to 2015, Kyte served as World Bank Group vice president and special envoy for climate change, leading integration of climate across the Bank Group鈥檚 work, as well as support for an ambitious agreement at the 21st Convention of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 21). She was previously World Bank vice president for sustainable development and was the International Finance Corporation vice president for business advisory services.
Kyte鈥檚 keynote address, titled 鈥淐ooling, Cooking, Moving and Manufacturing: The Challenges and Opportunities in Limiting Warming to 1.5 Degrees and Ensuring Everyone has Access to Sustainable Energy,鈥� will address the urgency for decarbonizing energy systems that work for all, especially the 1 billion people without access to electricity, the 3 billion people unable to cook cleanly聽and the billions more suffering from unreliable energy. This urgent call for change requires the development of new technologies, business models聽and systems approaches despite any bias, inertia, weak institutions聽and political leadership.
In addition to Kyte, the symposium will feature other invited speakers who are also advocates of developing long-term global energy solutions. They are Luciano Castillo, Kenninger Professor of Renewable Energy and Power Systems in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, speaking on 鈥淩enewables as a Solution to Water for Energy (W4E) in Drought-prone Regions, and Access to Energy as Means to Achieve Social Equality for Developing Countries鈥�; Jun Chen, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University, addressing "Micro-hydropower for Powering Rural African Communities: Opportunities, Challenges, and Lessons鈥�; Shelie Miller, Jonathan W. Bulkley Collegiate Professor of Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan, speaking on 鈥淯nderstanding the Water-Energy-Food Security Nexus鈥�; and Vijay Modi, professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University, addressing 鈥淭he United Nations Millennium Development Goals and Beyond.鈥�
In addition to having outside speakers, the symposium will highlight 91吃瓜鈥檚 research and program initiatives that support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG7. Speakers include , director of ND Energy, director of Actinide Center of Excellence聽and Massman Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences; , international sustainable development researcher of ND Energy and assistant teaching professor of physics; , program director of applied innovation at the 91吃瓜 Initiative for Global Development;聽and , associate director of the 91吃瓜 Environmental Change Initiative and 91吃瓜 Global Adaptation Initiative聽and professor of political science. 聽
鈥淭his is a unique opportunity to hear from some of the most influential advocates and world-renowned experts in sustainable energy,鈥� said聽Burns, who met Kyte at the 2018 SEforALL Forum in Portugal, where he extended the invitation for her to visit 91吃瓜. 鈥淲e are delighted to have Rachel Kyte and the other speakers join us for a day of learning and exploring additional ways we can accelerate our efforts and ensure access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for all. The primary focus of the symposium is to understand the global energy needs and explore the various possibilities and ways to ensure we all have access to affordable, reliable聽and sustainable energy."
The symposium is open to the 91吃瓜 community and other invited guests who have expressed interest in collaborating with the University on sustainable energy research and education programs.
鈥淭he learning doesn鈥檛 stop there,鈥� Burns said. 鈥淲e have invited the entire 91吃瓜 community and general public to an event in the evening, so they too can learn from Ms. Kyte and experience her inspirational and exuberant message in support of all humankind.鈥�
鈥淎n Evening with Rachel Kyte鈥� will start at 7聽p.m. in the McKenna Hall Auditorium. Hosted by ND Energy in partnership with the podcast, Ted Fox, executive administrator in the Office of the Provost at the University of 91吃瓜聽and host of the podcast, will lead a one-hour conversation with Kyte, who will share her perspectives on what it鈥檚 like to lead an international organization;聽working with leaders in government, the private sector聽and civil society聽to achieve universal access to sustainable energy by 2030;聽and more. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.
For questions or more information regarding the symposium and public event, contact Barbara Villarosa, business and communications program director with ND Energy, at 574-631-4776 or bvillaro@nd.edu.
Originally published by at on March 11.