Ana Sousa, PhD student and CERENA researcher, was recently appointed by the World Energy Council (WEC) as member of Future Energy Leaders (FEL-100), a forum that supports and promotes energy leaders of the future.
According to the CERENA researcher, “it is an opportunity to contribute to the analysis of energy and sustainability challenges, together with a group of inspiring professionals dedicated to critical energy issues, both at national and international level”. “It is, therefore, a privilege to have been selected as a Future Energy Leader”, adds Ana Sousa.
In 2020, the PhD student was the only Portuguese chosen to join the group of 41 new members of the FEL-100. “My Portuguese FEL colleagues, Pedro Ernesto Ferreira and Nuno Silva, welcomed me extremely welI”, shares Ana Sousa. In total, this WEC forum is composed of 100 members from 66 countries.
“The choice of members for the Future Energy Leaders programme is based not only on the motivation to contribute to the energy debate, but also on the academic and professional career”, points out the CERENA researcher. “I would like to thank Instituto Superior Técnico for having provided me with excellent multidisciplinary training. I also thank CERENA’s Energy Group for encouraging strategic thinking about the sustainable use of natural resources and energy”, adds the researcher.
WEC creates and promotes a successful energy transition through the FEL-100 programme and future energy leaders. “The programme aims at improving knowledge, experience and skills, inspiring the next generation of energy leaders to solve the world’s most pressing energy challenges”, says the CERENA researcher. “This programme encourages the development of creative ideas, challenges conventional thinking and explores new strategies for the future of our energy systems”, she adds.
According to Ana Sousa the priority of this forum is “to achieve an equitable energy transition that ensures environmental sustainability, resilience in supply and energy security, without compromising the economic development and well-being of communities”. “This is even more pertinent in a post-pandemic context for which we must be prepared”, says the researcher. In a more pragmatic perspective, Ana Sousa is also concerned with “the coordination of current energy policies with the ongoing digital transformation”. “It is also important to use a comprehensive energy matrix, in which technologies such as hydrogen on a large scale and new forms of energy storage will take on particular importance”, she highlights.
