Title of Speech: AI-Driven Sector Coupling and Advanced Technologies for Sustainable Urban Energy Systems

Abstract: Achieving urban carbon neutrality demands a transition from siloed infrastructure to intelligent multi-energy ecosystems. This talk explores pathways to accelerate urban decarbonization by combining AI-driven sector coupling with advanced clean technologies. At the systems level, artificial intelligence and digital twin platforms synchronize power, transportation, buildings, and data networks—optimizing renewable asset deployment, demand forecasting, and climate resilience. In parallel, breakthroughs in advanced materials and passive energy systems deliver critical operational footprint reductions. Bridging digital intelligence with physical innovations, this session presents a scalable framework for deploying resilient, low-carbon urban energy infrastructure aligned with global sustainable development goals.

Biography: Professor Jerry Yan is an academician of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences, Chair Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Director of the International Centre of Urban Energy Nexus (UEX). His research interests include renewable energy, advanced energy systems, climate change mitigation, and related environment and policy. Prof. Yan has published 500+ papers in Science, Nature Energy, Nature Climate, etc., and holds 10+ patents. He has supervised nearly 200 post-docs and 50 PhDs, and currently supervises 30+ PhD students. As PI, Prof. Yan has received external grants from research foundations and industry totaling more than 20+ MEuro in the past decade. He has led the research platform Future Energy Profile with 10 MEuro from the Swedish Knowledge Foundation and industrial partners. Prof. Yan received his PhD from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) (1991) and was Chair-Professor and Head of the Energy Department at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden (2001). He also served as Chair-Professor at Mälardalen University and KTH, Sweden, and Director of Future Energy Profile. He is founding Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Applied Energy (Elsevier, Impact Factor 13.8) and founding Editor-in-Chief of Nexus (Cell Press), and Advisory Editor-in-Chief of Applied Energy (Elsevier, Impact Factor 12.0). He is the founder of international platforms, e.g., ICAE, UNiLAB, iCET, EnergyVision, EnerarXiv, and EP. Prof. Yan has received several awards, including the Global Human Settlements Award of Green Technology (2014) supported by UNDP; finalist for the SWFF (Securing Water for Food: A Grand Challenge for Development, by USAID, Sweden, and the Netherlands, 2015); the Energy Islands' Award (European Union 2017); Research2Business Top100 (2020, Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences); CoverPeople, Famgang (Swedish magazine, 2021); Highly Cited Researcher (2019, 2021, 2023-2026 WoS/ISI); and the IAGE Lifetime Achievement Award (2023 International Association of Green Energy).

Title of Speeach: TBD

Abstract: TBD

Biography: Dr. Hyunook Kim is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering at the University of Seoul and currently serves as Director of graduate programs focused on Post-Plastics, Climate Change Adaptation, and Carbon Neutrality. Prior to joining the University in 2002, he worked as an Environmental Engineer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service. He holds a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Yonsei University, an M.S. from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. Dr. Kim's research centers on smart water and wastewater management as well as sustainable environmental and energy technologies. He has served on the Korean government’s National Science and Technology Advisory Board and holds editorial positions in leading journals such as Water-Energy Nexus, Chemosphere, and Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry. He is also actively involved in international standardization and currently chairs the Korean Mirror Committee for ISO/TC 224. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal papers, holds 92 national and international patents, and has completed approximately 200 R&D projects. His contributions have earned him numerous academic and professional awards, including Korea’s National Medal of Honor for advancing environmental science and policy.

Title of Speeach: How do power systems meet rising electricity demand? The role of inherited generation structures: global evidence from 179 economies, 2000-2024

Abstract: As electricity demand rises, expanding renewable generation does not necessarily mean that power systems are moving away from fossil-based supply. This creates a critical challenge for energy policy: assessing whether growing electricity needs are being accompanied by a more renewable-oriented pattern of generation expansion. While existing research has examined energy-system lock-in and renewable–fossil substitution, the relationship between demand growth, inherited generation structures, and the relative expansion of renewable and fossil electricity remains less clearly established. This study investigates that relationship using data from 179 economies over 2000–2024. Employing overlapping five-year windows, it examines how initial fossil-generation shares moderate the contemporaneous associations between electricity-demand growth and renewable and fossil generation growth, including their relative difference. The findings reveal that the renewable–fossil expansion balance associated with demand growth becomes less favorable to renewables as initial fossil dependence increases. Technology-level comparisons further identify statistically significant differences between gas and other fossil generation and wind and solar, revealing heterogeneity that aggregate fossil–renewable comparisons cannot capture. Rather than treating renewable growth as sufficient evidence of transition progress, the study establishes the importance of examining renewable and fossil generation changes jointly in relation to demand growth and inherited power-system structures. For policymakers, the findings support differentiated approaches to electricity-demand planning and transition monitoring that account for existing generation portfolios, technology-specific expansion patterns, and the risk of continued fossil-generation growth alongside renewable deployment.

Biography: Dr. Lihui Zhou is a researcher specializing in energy transition, climate policy, and environmental governance. She holds doctoral degrees in Global Environmental Studies and Social Development and was a postdoctoral researcher at the Graduate School of Economics, Sophia University, Japan.

Her research focuses on power-sector decarbonization, renewable energy transitions, carbon pricing, and environmental governance from a global comparative perspective. Her work has been published in international peer-reviewed journals and academic volumes.