Eng. Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari addressing the conference.
President of Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) and Vice Chair, Board of Trustees, Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU) Eng. Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari participated in the opening day of the International Conference on Sustainable Energy Water and Environment Nexus in Desert Climates 2019 (ICSEWEN’19).
ICSEWEN’19 is the flagship conference of Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute, part of HBKU. The conference is held at the Qatar National Convention Centre until December 5, 2019. Other dignitaries who participated in the ceremony included Dr. Ahmad M. Hasnah, President, HBKU; Alistair Routledge, President and General Manager of ExxonMobil Qatar; Luca Sutera, Chief Financial Officer, Nebras Power; Dr Richard O’Kennedy, Vice President for Research, Development and Innovation at Qatar Foundation, and Vice President for Research at HBKU; Dr. Mariam Al Maadeed, Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at Qatar University; and Dr. Marc Vermeersch, Executive Director, QEERI.
The first day of the conference also saw the attendance of researchers, scientists and students who are working in the EWE Nexus.
Commenting on the conference, Eng. Al Kuwari said: “The energy–water-environment nexus is associated with human, economic, and environmental sustainability. This connection is becoming more pronounced with climate change. The understanding of the difficulties of these complex relationships is necessary to balance the needs of diverse stakeholders, policy decisions, and to protect valuable resources.”
Dr. Vermeersch said: “The conference is an important milestone towards QEERI’s objectives of being recognized as a key player in the local, regional, and international arenas. QEERI’s efforts to align with Qatar’s National Research Strategy and become a reference centre in the fields of energy, environment and water research and technology development are important for the country’s industries.”
Routledge delivered keynote address on ‘Technology for Sustainable Energy’, while Sutera spoke on the topic of ‘Global Energy Transition’, and Dr. Al Maadeed on ‘Industry 4.0 and the Energy-Water-Environment nexus’. Eng. Meshaal Al Shamari, Vice Chair of MENA Regional Network, World Green Building Council Director of Qatar Green Building Council explored the ‘Social Impact of Social Development’ with Dr. Vermeersch highlighting the work being carried out at QEERI.
