From April 4-6, at Renewable Energy & Interconnected Innovations: New Markets for the 21st Century, top energy U.S. and Brazilian experts gathered to shared insights on how the two nations can continue collaboration towards the common goal of transforming our energy systems to run on renewable, sustainable resources.
The event was organized by the Renewables 100 Policy Institute, in collaboration with the State of Pernambuco, the US State Department, the US Department of Commerce, and UPlanet Magazine.
Participants included:
Angelina Galiteva, Founding Board Chair, Renewables 100 Policy Institute
Paulo Câmara, Pernambuco Governor
Geraldo Júlio, Recife Mayor
Richard Reiter, U.S. Consul General in Recife
Sérgio Xavier, State Secretary of Environment
David Hochschild, Commissioner, California Energy Commission
Adam Warren, Group Manager, NREL
Mark Gold, Associate Vice Chancellor for Environment and Sustainability, Sustainable LA Grand Challenge, UCLA
Also participating were representatives from GM, Solar City/Tesla, enel, and more than 200 Brazilian experts.
In addition to hosting a discussion on state of the art energy solutions, the event kicked off an energy transformation project between the U.S. and Pernambuco, being led by the Renewables 100 Policy Institute, on the island of Fernando de Noronha, a World Heritage Site off the coast of Recife. This ambitious project aims to become the first demonstration in Brazil, and among the first in Latin America, of how to transform a region’s energy supply from one reliant on imported fossil fuels to one reliant on 100% local renewable energy. The ultimate goal is to create a learning laboratory that demonstrates to islands around the world and other coastal climate vulnerable communities best practices for transitioning to 100% renewable energy in ways that are most economically and environmentally sustainable.
