Cooling is necessary for the quality of life of billions of people living across countries, whether in hot climates or in regions that are traditionally unprepared for ever more frequent heatwaves due to climate change. The energy needed for air conditioning is likely to triple by 2050, with an equivalent of ten new air conditioning units projected to be sold every second for the next 30 years (as per the IEA). This huge demand has the potential to drive up greenhouse gas emissions and exacerbate the very problem it is designed to alleviate. The Future of Cooling Programme’s vision is to understand and shape worldwide cooling solutions which place planetary stewardship and protecting people’s needs at their heart. These will inform and help prepare countries for extreme heat events by prioritising passive and less energy-intensive technology, while shifting the trajectory of cooling growth towards sustainability.
As we move towards one of the most important rounds of the UNFCCC Climate Negotiations, the Future of Cooling programme is hosting a series of online seminars leading up to COP26. The motivation behind the series is the need for high-profile and broad-reaching conversations on tackling cooling as a system — one that is integral to addressing the climate crisis. The webinars will engage in conversation with academics, industry and policy makers, and cover each of the themes that link to the programme’s framework on sustainable cooling: social interactions and cooling cultures; cooling technology and innovation; models for sustainable cold chains; circular cooling economy; infrastructure design for sustainable cooling; and finally, cooling for climate action.
In this series
13 September 2021 – Jim Maguire & TBC – “Finance and Sustainable Cooling”
Jim Maguire
Partner at Sustainable Development Capital L.L.P
Jim is a Partner at Sustainable Development Capital L.L.P based in Hong Kong and responsible for the development of the Asia Cooling and Energy Efficiency Fund. He coordinates a grant from the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program that supports advanced cooling technology projects in Asia and Africa. Jim has 25 years’ experience across insurance, project finance and infrastructure development in Asia and previously led the Asia risk advisory and syndication businesses for the two largest insurance brokerages, acting for sponsors and lenders in the development of over US$25 billion of investments in renewable and traditional power generation technologies.
Jim speaks frequently on the role of financial risk management instruments, particularly in the context of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. He has been an investor in SDCL since 2011, as well as other InsureTech and sustainable infrastructure platforms. Jim holds an MA in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas, Austin and, a BSFS from the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.
To register and watch live: www.crowdcast.io/e/finance-and-sustainable-cooling
20 September 2021 – Janet Stephenson & Russell Hitchings talk: “Social Interactions and Cooling Cultures”
Professor Janet Stepheson
Research Professor, Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago, NZ
Janet Stephenson is Research Professor in the Centre for Sustainability at the University of Otago, NZ. Her research interests include indigenous resource management, the interconnections between people and their local environments, and the role of individuals and organisations in the transition to a sustainable future. Janet has been Director of the Centre for Sustainability since February 2011. Her academic background is in sociology, planning and human geography.
Janet is on the steering committee for the University of Otago research themes Catchments Otago, Otago Energy Research Centre, and Transport Research Network. She is on the Advisory Board of INCLUDE, a Norwegian research centre for socially inclusive energy transitions. She is also a member of the Coastal People: Southern Skies collaboration that connects communities with world-leading, cross-disciplinary research to rebuild coastal ecosystems.
Dr Russell Hitchings
Associate Professor of Human Geography, University College London
Russell Hitchings is Associate Professor of Human Geography at University College London, UK. His research examines various aspects of everyday life that may be changing in ways that have important implications for social wellbeing and environmental sustainability.
His project with Australian and Singaporean academics on Thermal modernity and air-conditioning in Qatar, developed his interest in how ‘thermal comfort’ and the energy demand associated with this idea can be examined through a cultural lens. Through a series of different research activities, and funded by the Qatari National Research Fund, the project examines the link between ideas of social and cultural ‘progress’ and the provision of air-conditioning in Qatar. The broader aim is to see what such an exercise reveals about whether alternative, less energy consumptive, answers to the question of human comfort may yet be possible in this context.
To register and watch this talk live: www.crowdcast.io/e/social-interactions-and-cooling-cultures
27 September 2021 – Iain Campbell & Diana Ürge-Vorsatz talk: “Cooling Technology and Innovation”
Iain Campbell
Senior Fellow, Rocky Mountains Institute (RMI)
Iain Campbell is a Senior Fellow at the Rocky Mountains Institute (RMI) where he leads the Institute’s building practice. Before joining RMI, Iain pursued a successful business career in energy efficiency in buildings. He held various positions with Johnson Controls between 2005 and 2014; most notably he was responsible for the fast-growing Global Energy Solutions and the Global Workplace Solutions businesses within the Building Efficiency division. Iain led acquisitions in the areas of building services, lighting, demand response, energy management, and carbon reporting. Previously Iain served as the President of York International where he began his career in 1983.
Iain has developed an in-depth understanding and several decades-long experience in cooling during his career. He was responsible for the commercial and industrial HVAC and refrigeration businesses at York International covering product development, engineering, manufacturing, sales, and service within the Americas region. At RMI, Iain helped to launch the Global Cooling Prize to drive climate-friendly technological innovation on room cooling units.
Professor Diana Ürge-Vorsatz
Vice Chair of Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Diana Ürge-Vorsatz serves as Vice Chair of Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. She is a Professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy at the Central European University (CEU).
Diana was a Coordinating Lead Author in two Assessment Reports of the IPCC. She served on the United Nation’s Scientific Expert Group on Climate Change and led the buildings-related work in the Global Energy Assessment. She serves as associate editor of the journal Energy Efficiencyand is a member of the Editorial Board of Annual Reviews of Environment and Resources. She was a Visiting Professor at the International Christian University of Tokyo and a Research Scholar at IIASA (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis).
She has been serving on the Governing and Advisory boards of several organisations, including Innogy (formerly RWE), the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund (KLIEN), the European Climate Foundation (ECF), the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), and the Hungarian Energy-Efficiency Co-financing Program (HEECP), and the Club of Budapest. She is regularly invited to high-level review panels, such as that evaluating the work at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the EU’s Joint Research Centre. She received the Hungarian Republic’s Presidential Award “Medium Cross” in 2008, as well as the “Role Model” award in 2009 and was invited as a member of Academia Europaea in 2017.
To register and watch this talk live: www.crowdcast.io/e/cooling-technology
04 October 2021 – Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu & Toby Peters talk: “Models for Sustainable Cold Chains”
Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu
CEO, ColdHubs
Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu is a farmer, innovator, leading social entrepreneur, and Founder/CEO of the Smallholders Foundation Ltd./Gte. He is CEO of ColdHubs, who produce a “plug and play” modular, solar-powered walk-in cold room, for 24/7 off-grid storage and preservation of perishable foods. He created Smallholder Farmer Rural Radio (2 million Nigerian listeners), The Agriprenuership Academy, The Smallholders Seed Store, Smallholders Microcredit, and grain preservation bags, GrainStore.
He is highly honoured with 23 awards including the Ashoka Fellow 2008, Rolex Awards 2010, Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative in Business 2012, Nigeria’s Young Person of the Year 2011, Niigata International Food Prize Laureate, 2012 and 2013 Laureate of the Yara Prize for Green Revolution, and most recently the 2020 Waislitz Global Citizen Award.
Professor Toby Peters
Professor in Cold Economy, University of Birmingham
Toby Peters is Professor in Cold Economy at the University of Birmingham, UK. He is an award-winning technology developer and industrial academic with more than 14 years of experience in energy storage /energy systems (incl. policy and regulatory environments); clean cooling/the “cold economy” and the environmental, societal and economic impacts of cooling; novel technologies for refrigeration and cooling and their development and system integration. He was the joint-academic lead for the Doing Cold Smarter Policy Commission (October 2015).
Building on work pioneering the development of the cold economy and clean cold technologies, he has now broadened this out to accelerate transformational innovation to market and improve innovation performance to help meet the world’s big social and economic challenges within the limits of our natural resources and time deadlines.
To register and watch this talk live: www.crowdcast.io/e/models-for-sustainable
11 October 2021 – Martin Dieryckx & Clay Nesler talk: “Circular Cooling Economy”
Martin Dieryckx
General Manager, Environment Research Center, Daikin Europe N.V>
Martin Dieryckx is General Manager of the Environment Research Center at Daikin Europe N.V., overseeing the regions Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia. Martin Dieryckx joined Daikin’s European headquarters in 1982 after obtaining a Master of Electronics Technology and a Master of Science.
Martin Dieryckx is a member of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heat Pumps Technical Options Committee. Martin was also a lead author on reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Within EPEE, Martin Dieryckx is the Vice Chair of the energy efficiency workgroup.
Clay Nesler
Global Lead, Buildings and Energy, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities
Clay Nesler is the Global Lead, Buildings and Energy, for WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. In this role, he provides leadership to the Buildings Initiative and Urban Energy Practice. In 2014, Clay helped establish WRI’s Building Efficiency Initiative and served as the industry co-convener of the Sustainable Energy for All Building Efficiency Accelerator. He also served as a Senior Advisor to the WRI Buildings Initiative from 2017 to 2018.
Since joining Johnson Controls in 1983, Clay has held a variety of leadership positions in research, product development, marketing, strategy, manufacturing, corporate sustainability and regulatory affairs in both the United States and Europe including most recently as Vice President, Global Energy and Sustainability. He also served the past year as Interim President of the Alliance to Save Energy.
Clay serves on the board of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, the executive group of the US DOE/EPA SEE Action network, the GSA Green Building Advisory Committee and numerous technical advisory boards. He chairs the Industrial Advisory Board of the US-China Building Energy Efficiency Consortium, is a member of the International Energy Agency Energy Efficiency Industry Advisory Board and co-chairs the Alliance to Save Energy’s Active Efficiency Collaborative.
To register and watch this talk live: www.crowdcast.io/e/circular-cooling-economy
18 October 2021 – Amory Lovins & Madeleine Edl talk: “Infrastructure Design for Sustainable Cooling”
Amory Lovins
Cofounder and Chairman Emeritus, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)
Physicist Amory Lovins is Cofounder and Chairman Emeritus of Rocky Mountain Institute, energy advisor to major firms and governments in 65+ countries for 40+ years and the author of 31 books and more than 600 papers. He has taught at ten universities and has received numerous awards for his work, including the Blue Planet, Volvo, Zayed, Onassis, Nissan, Shingo, and Mitchell Prizes, the MacArthur and Ashoka Fellowships, 12 honorary doctorates, and the Heinz, Lindbergh, Right Livelihood (“alternative Nobel”), National Design, and World Technology Awards. Time has named him one of the world’s 100 most influential people, and Foreign Policy, one of the 100 top global thinkers.
Among his many areas of expertise, Amory is a leading figure of the global drive to improve energy efficiency, and, more recently, to provide universal access to cooling without warming the planet. He has overseen the establishment of the Global Cooling Prize in 2018 to honour innovations which can reduce the climate impact of cooling by at least 80%. Since the 1980s, he has produced an extensive publication track record on technical, economic, environmental, social and cultural aspects of cooling. As early as 1992, he focused on behavioural and cultural issues of cooling, believing that people’s perceptions of thermal comfort are key to improve the cooling infrastructure.
Madeleine Edl
Energy Efficiency Specialist, UN Environment (UNEP)
Madeleine Edl is an Energy Efficiency Specialist who coordinates regional projects on energy efficient lighting, cooling and appliances, and supports the development of several tools and resources within UNEP’s United for Efficiency (U4E) initiative. Within this context, she is responsible for the coordination of the initiative’s activities in the Southern and Eastern African regions on the development of Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) and labels for air conditioners and refrigerating appliances. Additionally, she is also currently facilitating the harmonisation of product registry activities in the South East Asian region.
Madeleine has previously worked in Niger on providing technical assistance to a regional body in the context of securing the energy supply in the West African region. She holds a master’s degree in International Policies and is currently pursuing an additional master in Energy Management.
To register and watch this talk live: www.crowdcast.io/e/infrastructure-design
25 October 2021 – Damilola Ogunbiyi & TBC talk: “Cooling for Climate Action”
Damilola Ogunbiyi
EO and Special Representative, UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All
Damilola Ogunbiyi is CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy. She was the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria from May 2017 to December 2019, and the Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, and Head of the Advisory Power Team within the Office of the Vice-President.
Damilola is a commentator on renewable energy access, the Sustainable Energy Goals and the inclusion of women and youth in the energy sector. She has written about the importance of energy access for health-care services during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how energy access can support economic recovery from the pandemic in countries like Nigeria. She is a Commissioner for the international think-tank the Energy Transitions Commission, and a Commissioner for the Global Commission to End Energy Poverty, an initiative by MIT and Rockefeller Foundation.
To register and watch this talk live: www.crowdcast.io/e/cooling-for-climate-action
Source: https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/event-series/future-of-cooling-cop26/
