The Grand Challenge of Clean Energy Access in the Developing World

The rapid decrease in the cost of solar power generation has made clean energy a key instrument in the effort to end energy poverty. In this talk, Johannes Urpelainen discusses the evolving role of clean energy sources in developing and emerging economies. Drawing on extensive field research and data collection, he evaluates the potential for and challenges to achieving universal energy access with renewables and other low-carbon sources.

Johannes Urpelianen is the award-winning author of four books and over a hundred refereed articles on environmental politics, energy policy, and global governance. He teaches action-oriented classes on energy and environmental policy to equip the next generation of global leaders with deep knowledge, advanced analytical skills — and a passion for transformational social change. As one of the world’s top energy policy experts, Johannes frequently advises governments, international organizations, and the private sector on energy and environment.

As the Founding Director of ISEP, Johannes is responsible for the vision, strategy, and general management of the initiative. His work under ISEP offers pragmatic but effective approaches to providing the world’s population with affordable and abundant energy at minimal environmental impact. In his spare time, Johannes reads biographies and tries to improve his Hindi.

Hope in the Anthropocene is co-sponsored by the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES) at UBC. Dr. Urpelainen will also be speaking with Rustam Sengupta on March 1 at 12:30 as part of the IRES Seminar Series - Roundtable on Social Science in the field: Working on Development with NGOs and Social Enterprises.