Ruud Kempener Builds International Cooperation on Energy Policy

Ruud Kempener is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Belfer Center's Energy Research, Development, Demonstration & Deployment (ERD3) Policy project.

Growing up in a small countryside village near Maastricht, in the Netherlands, Ruud Kempener spent most of his youth playing on his grandparents' farm. At the age of 17, he entered the Eindhoven University of Technology, where he earned an engineering degree that combined engineering, economics, psychology, and philosophy, allowing him to better understand each profession's differing views of technology and innovation.

As Kempener grew increasingly interested in a career involving energy and sustainable development, he took some early lessons with him. "I believe there are certain values to farming (balancing economic, environmental and social issues, forward planning, local materials streams) that are also at the basis of sustainable development," he said.

He went on to earn his Ph.D. in engineering at the University of Sydney, Australia, and did postgraduate and postdoctoral work in energy technology innovation in the Netherlands, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Living in different places made him realize how socially embedded technologies vary and the impact that cultural differences have on climate and vice versa. Consequently, he gained a better understanding of the need for collaboration and cooperation among countries on this issue.

"I realized that energy is an issue that needs to be assessed from a systemic perspective. Individual efforts can provide local savings, but the true impact and potential from energy saving activities can only be measured and analyzed considering all activities from cradle to grave," he said.

Kempener has worked on projects that include developing national policies for the Dutch energy transition, using analytic methods to help chemical companies achieve efficient energy supply chains, and developing agricultural policies to foster sustainable development in rural Europe.

A research fellow for the Energy, Technology Innovation Policy research group at the Belfer Center, Kempener is working on the development of a framework for international cooperation on energy technology innovation policy between the U.S. government and other countries. For more information on the program, see the project's homepage.

"Many policymakers who come through the Belfer Center are really interested in discussing their issues and getting feedback from scientists, while my experience in other countries is that scientists are mostly called upon if a particular piece of information is required," he said.

Ruud Kempener's hope for the future is "to work on the playing field between government and business, because I think it is in this space where the biggest gains can be achieved, especially in an international context."