Bio
Manfred Hafner is Adjunct Professor at SAIS Europe
Manfred Hafner is Adjunct Professor SciencesPo Paris School of International Affairs, as well as CEO of the Swiss based energy consultancy HEAS AG. Previously for many years he was Program Director of several research programs related to international energy and the energy transition at the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei; Vice-President consulting at Enerdata; and Scientific Director at the Observatoire Mediterraneéen de l’Energie. In his over 30-year international professional career, he has extensively consulted on energy issues for governments of developed and developing countries, international organizations (EC, WB, IEA, IRENA, G7, G20, UNIDO…) and industry, and has coordinated several major interdisciplinary research projects for the European Commission.
Dr. Hafner holds master degrees in energy engineering from the Technische Universität München (Germany), in energy economics and business from the IFP-School of IFPEN (France) and the Université Paris2/Panthéon Assas (France), as well as in energy economics and policy from the University of Pennsylvania (USA). He also holds a PhD in Energy Studies from Mines-ParisTech (Ecole des Mines de Paris). His research topics include international energy and decarbonization from a technological, economic, and geopolitical perspective, and he has published several books and scientific journal articles on these subjects.
Courses
- Carbon Neutrality by Mid-Century: how to get there?
This interdisciplinary and holistic course addresses deep decarbonization strategies from technical, economic, social and (geo) political perspectives focusing on pitfalls, opportunities and trade-offs. Looking at the energy system as a whole, the course will address sectoral decarbonization approaches including the integration of large scale renewable energy into electricity systems, but also decarbonization strategies of hard to abate sectors. The course, where students will need to take an active role, will also focus on the dilemmas and trade-offs between the three main energy policy goals: energy security, energy equity (affordable, competitive and clean energy), and environmental sustainability, the so-called energy policy trilemma. Energy transitions are country-specific, and the transition strategies are plural and present multiple dilemmas. This course aims at providing students with the critical knowledge and skills to understand the difficult decisions that need to be made, and avoid superficial generalizations and simplifications, which unfortunately remain all too common.
