Engineers to Advise U.N. on Global Energy Transition
The United Nation’s Secretary-General announced the formation of the U.N. Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition (CEET) in Sept. 2021 and a call for members was released in Feb. 2022. Formed as an independent advisory body reporting to the U.N. Secretary-General, thirty-four engineers and energy systems experts were named in June 2022 to serve in their personal capacity in support of United Nations efforts to help achieve global decarbonization by 2050. CEET will provide advice on roadmaps to decarbonization by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement and the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on Global Warming of 1.5 ºC. The Council will report on pathways to net zero-carbon energy systems and engage the global engineering community on key priorities for the energy transition.
Three engineers with IEEE connections were selected to serve on this high-level advisory group:
Prof. Izael Pereira Da Silva has a PhD in Power Systems Engineering from the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil). And serves as a Professor at Strathmore University and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Research and Innovation. An IEEE member, Prof. Da Dilva started the Strathmore Energy Research Centre (SERC), which he led as the director from 2012 – 2017.
Dr. Wei-Jen Lee is currently a professor of the Electrical Engineering Department and the director of the Energy Systems Research Center at the University of Texas, Arlington. He has been conducted research in the areas of Utility Deregulation, Renewable Energy, Arc Flash Hazards and Electrical Safety, Smart Grid, MicroGrid, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Virtual Power Plants (VPP), AI for Load, Price, and Wind Capacity Forecasting, Power Quality, Distribution Automation, Demand Response, Power Systems Analysis, and Short Circuit Analysis. An IEEE Fellow, Lee is currently President of the IEEE Industry Applications Society (IEEE-IAS), a member of IEEE Fellow Committee, the associate editor of IEEE/IAS, and International Journal of Power and Energy Systems, and project manager of the IEEE/NFPA Collaboration on Arc Flash Phenomena Research Project
Dr. Melissa C. Lott is a Senior Research Scholar and the Director of Research at the Center on Global Energy Policy, where she co-leads the Power Sector and Renewables Research Initiative and serves as the Acting Director of the Carbontech Development Initiative. Dr. Lott is internationally recognized for her work in the electricity and transportation sectors and has worked for nearly 20 years in the United States, Europe, and Asia. For her research and contributions to global energy sector dialogues, Dr. Lott was recognized as an IEEE PES Women in Power.
For more information on CEET and its work, go to: https://www.unsdsn.org/ceet.