Today’s reality shows us that we have to face a major transformation in our status-quo, that is, in the way we live. In an opinion article for Jornal Económico, Rita Melo, Senior International Environmental Consultant and Board Member of the Lisbon MBA Alumni shares her perspective about the importance of sustainability in renewable energies.

 

Rita Melo, Senior International Environmental Consultant, tells us that today’s reality shows us that we have to face a significant transformation in the way we live. Everyone has to change to a more sustainable format: Governments, Public Entities, Private Entities, Companies of all sizes, and We, as human beings, in our consumption patterns, which dictate the market.

 

The Board Member of the Lisbon MBA Alumni Club points out that sustainability is a multidisciplinary, global, multifaceted, and extensive topic, establishing its three angles (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and focusing on its applicability to the future of renewable energies.

 

The financial side makes the world turn and comprises incentives for good environmental and social practices, including green financing. The social strand entails broad topics such as education, protection of cultural heritage, social and professional equity, governance, and civil rights. And just as importantly, the environmental aspect range from water cycles to efficiency in the use and decontamination of soils, atmospheric emissions and the ozone layer, use of space, study of extreme weather events, and adaptation to climate change.

 

Rita shares her vision of what she thinks is a possible path in the evolution of renewable energy, done more sustainably. From her perspective, sustainable renewable energy must continue to receive government and financial incentives if it is to continue to develop rapidly and outpace the use of non-renewable fuels. Secondly, energy transition must go hand in hand with the use of energy from renewable sources. Thirdly, the energy transition has to be accompanied by infrastructure to support electrified modes of transportation and the technological advancement of energy storage and transport. And last but not least, an emphasis must be placed on the decentralization of energy to reach everyone equally.

 

Rita emphasizes the importance of thinking in a structured and sustainable way about the future of energy from renewable sources and implementing it effectively, equally, and neatly.

 

 

Read the full article (original) in Portuguese here.

Source: Jornal Económico