On September 16, 2011, the Sustainable Energy Initiative launched the “Sustainable Energy Initiative Seminar Series Breakfast”, with keynote speaker Dr. Harry Lehmann. This event took place from 8am-11am at One King West, in Toronto’s downtown core and sponsored by Deloitte. Dr. Harry Lehmann is the General Director for the Federal Environmental Agency in Germany and Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy. Robert Hache (York’s Vice-President Research & Innovation) and Barbara Rahder (Dean, Faculty of Environmental Studies) kicked off the first seminar event of the series.

In his presentation, Dr. Lehmann, an expert researcher who has experience in the phasing out of nuclear energy in Germany, outlined the history that led to the successful transformation of the German energy grid and highlighted useful insights for the Ontario context. The event was a huge success, thanks to the help of Deloitte and all of those involved.

SEI will continue to facilitate the important discussion that Dr. Lehmann noted is essential to achieve in Ontario. Through upcoming events in the SEI seminar series, York University will become a hub of much-needed policy solutions and practical ideas.

For further information, click here (link to YFile write-up) and to view a video of the event, click here (link to video of event).