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Energy and innovation in Brazil: Current drivers and trends
by Mikael Román
Analyst at the Swedish Agency for Growth Policy Analysis
Counselor for Scientific and Technical Affairs at the Swedish Embassy in Brazil
Date: Thursday, November 21, 2013, 1:30pm
Location: Wittemeyer Courtroom, Wolf Law
Campus map
Abstract: Energy issues are increasingly a central piece of the Brazilian policy agenda. Blessed with abundant energy resources of all sorts, the country is currently in a formative moment with respect to its future development model. After having been an anomaly in many respects, with an unusually clean energy matrix resulting from the extensive use of hydropower and biofuels, Brazil is now facing growing energy demands, following from socio-economic development, and the opportunities of recently discovered oil reserves. At the same time, the country struggles with a series of problems that impedes its competitiveness. Behind this lurk also the emerging impacts of climate change.
In response to this overall situation, the Brazilian government is now making major investments in innovation, in which energy plays a central role. This raises a series of questions that jointly serve as a starting point for the present talk. What kind of investments and innovations are we talking about? In what ways, if any, will they be able to connect and combine the various policy agendas? What are the opportunities and obstacles in this process?
Biography: Mikael Román is Analyst at the Swedish Agency for Growth Policy Analysis, with a position as Counselor for Scientific and Technical Affairs at the Swedish Embassy in Brasília, Brazil. Originally a social scientist by training, with a PhD in political science, Román has spent most of his professional career working on issues related to energy and climate change issues, regime effectiveness, public policy evaluation, innovation, and competitive strategies. A substantial part of this work has taken place in the United States and Brazil, including the Amazon. Before taking on his current position, Román held positions as Senior Researcher at Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and Stockholm School of Economics. Between 2000 and 2002 he was a “Wallenberg post-doc scholar” at Center for International Studies, MIT. He is presently a Senior Research Affiliate to the Center for Climate Science and Policy Research, Linköping University.
Sponsored by the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research and
the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI)
rasei.colorado.edu
