We are a group of seven US young professionals, ages 22-33 and hailing from states all over the nation, working in Germany’s renewable energy sector. Some of us are in Germany with the Transatlantic Renewable Energy Fellowship (TREF) Program. Others are former or current Robert Bosch Fellows.
This blog chronicles our actions leading up to the UNFCCC COP15 summit in Copenhagen, December 2009. This is arguably one of the most important international meeting of our generation. We, as renewable energy advocates from a wealthy nation, are obligated to pressure our leaders towards tangible, implementable results.
Alison Brown, Michael Machala and Emily McGlynn are the primary authors of this blog. Please contact us with questions at USreAdvocates@gmail.com!
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We’ve received a number of requests for more information about the three of us, so in honor of our thirtieth post, we decided to give you a brief synopsis of our life stories.
Here is Emily:
I’m a recent graduate of Bryn Mawr College with a bachelors in Biology (with Environmental Studies and Economics minors). I currently work at the Technische Universitaet Berlin in the Department of the Economics of Climate Change under IPCC co-chair Dr. Ottmar Edenhofer. My research focuses on climate change economic policy, in particular emissions trading schemes. The report I’m currently working looks at how to incorporate transportation sectors into cap-and-trade and was presented here at COP15 by Dr. Edenhofer. After finishing the TREF, I hope to continue working in the renewable energy/climate policy field for another year or so before going back to school for my PhD. I’ve been looking closely at the Environmental Science, Policy and Management program at UC Berkeley.
At COP15 I want to dig deep into the intricacies of the negotiations, figure out why exactly we’re not going to reach a global deal in 2009 and determine what needs to be achieved before COP16. Being at the conference in person is a really transforming experience. I feel the energy, the tension, the hope and the frustration in the air. I am in the thick of the most controversial and globally relevant topic of our times. I’m learning so much everyday, not only about the details of Kyoto, the organization of the UNFCCC, the working bodies and the heirarchy, but about politics and diplomacy in general. I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to get out of attending COP15 before I got here, but I fully recognize that I am becoming a more well-informed, pragmatic, effective global citizen. I can’t ask for anything more.
At COP15 I have been meeting with other youth delegates from around the world, writing for daily NGO publications, trying to balance the media I hear from outside the negotiations with what I hear and see first hand (and trying to get a more balanced view out to the world through our blog and emails to family and friends), and informing myself on exactly what is going on by attending as many policy briefings as I can. I’ve never asked so many questions in my life. I don’t want to walk around acting like I know what is going on when I’m entirely bewildered… even after two days, however, I feel more confident in my grasp of the situation.
Alison:
I graduated from Middlebury College in 2007 (B.A. in Physics) and have been flitting around the renewable energy world trying to pinpoint my interests. I’ve spent some time at a renewable energy education company, then I was a project manager for 110kW of solar installations. Now I am at the Fraunhofer Institut for Wind Energie und Energiesystemtechnik writing my Master’s thesis and designing a three phase, four legged inverter for unbalanced loads. I would write more, but I want you to keep reading our blog! After TREF I would like to leave the world of computer simulation and again interact with the industry – preferably with a solar electronics company that has opportunities for travel.
Two months ago, someone asked me why I was going to COP 15, and I couldn’t give an actual reason besides a gut feeling. Now, I am quite sure that it is going to be some of the most powerful days of my life. Even over the last month while writing for this blog, I’ve been learning about politics, power, image and words. I had always believed that numbers and units told the whole truth, but apparently a deftly applied word can change even their meaning.
I am eager to meet youth activists from around the world and learn about their passions, participate in their actions and borrow some of their wisdom. I also hope to start understanding the world of politics and power where there is no one right answer. While in Copenhagen you will be able to find me listening to side events, trying to understand the motivations behind all of the political swaggering and participating in youth actions. And I will be constantly trying to disseminate all of my experiences into words and photos for all of you.
Michael:
Solar cell credit to IAPP in collaboration with Heliatek and Fraunhofer-IPMS
I’m a 2009 graduate of Kenyon College with a self-designed B.A. in Chemical Physics. I became fascinated with low-cost solar cell technology early in my college career and have had the good fortune to work on dye-sensitized and organic solar cells with some outstanding research groups. My current work is at the Institut für Angewandte Photophysik (Institute for Advanced Photophysics) at the Technishe Universität in Dresden. Here, I’m working on a specific component of the solar cell called the transparent electrode. Specifically, my work involves polymers which not only conduct electricity, but are also transparent and will bend without losing their functionality. In addition, I’m also learning about how the closely-knit network of research institutions and companies here are moving toward commercializing their promising solar cell technology.
While my main focus has been on research and learning more about renewable energy technologies, I believe it is important to cultivate stronger bonds between scientific researchers, policy makers, and the public even though they speak different languages and communication can be difficult. I have become increasingly interested in the politics surrounding RE, climate change, and their relation. This historic meeting (COP15) may be the ultimate test of global cooperation.
For me, COP15 will be a significant initiation into the politics and diplomacy surrounding climate change. I’m very excited to team up with young advocates from all over the world to push for a fair and ambitious climate change mitigation treaty. I have a particular interest in meeting with people from developing countries to discuss the challenges we face in our respective countries and how we can work together to achieve our goals. These countries have a significant opportunity to build up their energy infrastructures around clean, renewable sources of energy instead of cheap, dirty and limited fossil fuels. I believe it is necessary for developed and wealthy nations to support this, helping avoiding the same mistakes they are trying to fix.
We’ll see what happens in Copenhagen. Stay tuned.
