Alessandro Costa is the director of the Foundation Studies Centre Enel, nonprofit institution entirely supported by the Enel Group, dedicated to research in the fields of energy, socio-economic, sustainable development and innovation. Costa, 44, a PhD in environmental science, has a long experience in the field of sustainable development and energy, gained through eight years spent in China, as an expert at the Sino-Italian Cooperation Program for Environmental Protection and later as a co-director of the Europe-China Clean Energy Centre (EC2), sponsored by the European Commission and the National Energy Administration of China. It is to the guide of the Foundation since its inception, in 2012, after having taken care of the constitution.
ESC: Good morning, Director. The Foundation is an emerging reality in the world of research, we are curious to know a little ‘more.
Costa: Good morning to you. The Foundation Studies Centre Enel is to study, together with leading international universities, issues ranging from the regulation of electricity markets for energy efficiency, the relationship between energy processes and natural resources to the comparative study of urban systems, economics of development at ‘access to energy, the CSR organizational evolution of large enterprises.
There are about 60 collaborations activated in just over 2 years. Just to name a few, are committed to the side of Harvard University on the topic of international political climate and with MIT for the study of low-cost technologies for universal access to energy. Another issue on which we are consolidating important activity is to sustainable urban development, on which we have initiated research projects together with EURICUR (European Institute for Comparative Urban Research), University of Toronto, the Polytechnic di Milano and to the UN’HABITAT. We are also among the partners of the European project CIVIS for the study of innovative services to link to, and complement the urban energy grids, with ICT networks and social networks.
Together the Energy & Strategy Group (ESG) of the Polytechnic of Milan we produced a report on the “Status and Prospects of Energy Efficiency in Italy” and, in the field of CSR, we recently presented the results of the research “New Business Models. Shared value in the 21st century “, developed in collaboration with the Intelligence Unit of the British magazine The Economist.
ESC: The energy future will depend on the willingness of the decision makers of today and tomorrow. that’s why you are engaged in training activities?
Costa: Certainly, I will give some examples of great relevance in the life of the Foundation.
The workshop on the management of energy and environmental policies, we organized together with the Harvard Environmental Economics Program (HEEP), is now in its second edition and was attended by 25 senior government representatives from 40 countries in which the Enel Group is present.
We arrived to the second edition of the training course on the evolution of the energy system Mediterranean, addressed to a score of public officials in the energy sector from non-EU Mediterranean countries. The course was organized by the Centro Studi Enel in collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Observatoire Méditerranéen de l’Energie (OME), the Renewable Energy Solutions for the Mediterranean (RES4MED) and the Venice International University (VIU).
Moreover, alongside METID Milan Polytechnic, we are developing a web platform to use for a ‘pilot experience of e-learning aimed always to government officials in Latin America.
Naturally, though, to try to influence the future we also think young people and the best energies of the world of research.
ESC: That is, in a way that supported the young researchers?
Costa: With the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI) have promoted the program “Energy for Research“, which allowed twenty young researchers from Italian universities to receive a grant of about 1 year in support of their research on ‘energy. The winners had the chance to pursue their projects with the support offered by the researchers of the Foundation and by the experts of the Enel Group.
ESC: Many achievements and great growth potential in short …
Costa: Yes, many activities during construction and a lot to communicate. Through the organization of conferences and seminars, and through an extensive range of publications. For a more comprehensive overview of our activities and the results of research, the invitation to visit www.enelfoundation.org.
Our goal is to make the Foundation a real reference point to give more weight and voice to multiply research and, simultaneously, the synergies between business, the research community and institutional actors.
