Khalifa University of Science and Technology and the German Emirati Joint Council for Industry and Commerce (AHK) carried out the second edition of YFEL German-Emirati Sustainability Days’, an inspiring program on driving solutions for a net-zero future.
Supported by German companies BASF, Siemens Energy, and Wintershall Dea, as well as the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), the program aims to further strengthen the engagement between German companies and Khalifa University’s Young Future Energy Leaders (YFEL) outreach program graduates. Earlier in June 2022, an average of 40 YFEL members attended the opening ceremony as well as three online workshops to highlight the future of sustainability.
At the opening ceremony, both the German Embassy in the UAE as well as the UAE Embassy in Germany, gave the reassurance that the bilateral relationship and both countries’ sustainability plans can only be achieved when working together towards the net zero goal.
The technical sessions conducted by Dr. Mathias Haake, Head of Global Center ChemCycling, Director at BASF, on the efficient use of plastics, Manuel Kuehn, VP-Global Sales New Energy Business at Siemens Energy, focused on the way hydrogen is making its way to be the energy of the future, while Nadja Brauhardt, Vice-President, Sustainability at Wintershall Dea, focused on the importance of materiality especially during the assessment process.
The closing session, was co-moderated by Karin Zangerl, Director Abu Dhabi, AHK, 2021 YFEL graduate Aamna Ebrahim Saleh Alshaer Alteneiji and Henrik Schult, Senior Consultant for Energy, Sustainability and Infrastructure, Guidehouse, representing the Emirati German Energy Partnership. YFEL members shared their ideas and insights that covered key sustainability topics including ways to solve an environmental problem using hydrogen, their vision for a country’s energy industry, and incentives/regulations to significantly accelerate high recycling rate in the near future.