Researchers
Team
CenergiaLab is led by professors Roberto Schaeffer, Alexandre Szklo, André Lucena, Pedro Rochedo and Joana Portugal Pereira, who coordinate a vast international team of research fellows, including postdoc researchers, doctoral and master students in energy planning, from Brazil, USA, South American and European countries.
Professors
Roberto Schaeffer
Energy and Climate Change Expert
Roberto Schaeffer is a Full Professor at the Energy Planning Program of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (PPE/COPPE/UFRJ). He holds a PhD in Energy Management and Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, USA. His research interests include energy and environmental technology and economics, and integrated assessment modeling of energy, land-use and climate change mitigation. Dr. Schaeffer has been a Coordinating Lead Author (CLA), Lead Author (LA) and Review Editor (RE) of various Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports since 1998. Dr Schaeffer was a co-recipient, with a number of scientists, of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for the research contributions to the IPCC. Since 1998, Dr. Schaeffer is an Associate-Editor of Energy, The International Journal.
Alexandre Szklo
Energy Modelling and Climate Change Expert
Full Professor of the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. Alexandre is a professor of courses at COPPE and at the Polytechnic School of UFRJ. PhD from COPPE/UFRJ. Chemical Engineer from the School of Chemistry at UFRJ. He is the author of numerous books and about 160 articles in scientific journals (Scopus H index equal to 33 in October 2022), and adviser of hundreds of doctoral theses and master's dissertations, in addition to final projects for undergraduate engineering courses. He is a reviewer of indexed scientific journals and a CNPq 1B productivity fellow. He twice won the Giulio Massarani Academic Merit Award, granted by the Luiz Alberto Coimbra Institute for Graduate Studies and Research in Engineering. In 2013, 2014 and 2015, he was also awarded with the Vale-CAPES prize for supervising dissertations or theses in the field of engineering, with a subject on global climate change. He twice won the Plínio Catanhede Award, granted by the Brazilian Institute of Oil and Gas (IBP). He is the technical coordinator of the UFRJ-IFP (French Petroleum Institute) Cooperation Agreement, on the UFRJ side. In 2020, he was part of the Tiradentes Award Evaluation Committee for the Ministry of Defense of Brazil. In 2022, he served as an Expert for the Brazilian Navy on the development of Prospective Scenarios. Indicated by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Alexandre has been, since February 2021, the representative of the scientific community within CONCEPE (Advisory Council of the Energy Research Company). He is a member of the Deliberative Council of COPPE/UFRJ and president of the Teaching and Research Commission of this Council.
André Lucena
Climate and Environmental Economics Expert
André F.P. Lucena is an Associate Professor at the Energy Planning Program of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (PPE/COPPE/UFRJ). He holds a DSc in Energy Planning from the same institution. His research interests include energy and environmental economics, integrated energy modeling and climate change. Dr Lucena has worked as a visiting scholar at the International Energy Studies Department of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in California and at the Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI) in Maryland, USA. He was also a Fulbright scholar within the Nexus Program, a collaborating author of the AR5 WG III and lead author of AR6 WG III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Pedro Rochedo
Energy Modelling Expert
Pedro R. R. Rochedo is an Assistant Professor at the Energy Planning Program of COPPE / UFRJ. He holds a Doctor of Science degree from the same Institution. He is also a Chemical Engineer, from the School of Chemistry, UFRJ. His research interests include energy system analysis, environmental modelling, climate change and integrated assessment models. He was a visiting student at IIASA, is a certified trainer for the IAEA’s analytical tool for energy modelling. Pedro has contributed for many years in the Cenergia Lab where he helped the development of several models, including sectorial models (ORION and CAESAR), as well as integrated assessment models with national (BLUES and ELENA) and global (COFFEE) coverage for energy and land systems analysis.
Joana Portugal Pereira
Climate Change and
Life Cycle Assessment Expert
Joana Portugal Pereira is an Assistant Professor at the Energy Planning Program of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (PPE/COPPE/UFRJ). She is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Lisbon. She is a Lead Author of the IPCC Working Group III Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), UNEP Emissions Gap Report (2020-2023) and the UNEP Global Environmental Outlook 7. She has led over 30 international projects with industries, policymakers and international organisations in Asia-Pacific and Latin America and Caribbean regions, including the United Nations Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS, Japan), the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBi, Japan), the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), the EC Horizon 2020, UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). Since 2021, she is an Associate-Editor of Elsevier Environmental Science and Policy Journal. Professor Portugal-Pereira holds a M.Sc. degree in Environmental Engineering with specialisation in bioenergy (University of Lisbon) (2006), and a Ph.D. in Urban Engineering (The University of Tokyo) (2011), with emphasis on life cycle assessment modelling of alternative fuels.
Postdoc Fellows
Ana Carolina Fiorini
Conservation Policy Expert
Ana Carolina Oliveira Fiorini is a post-doctoral researcher at the Energy Planning Program (PPE/COPPE/UFRJ). She holds a bachelor degree in Biology (Bio/UFRJ), a MSc in Environmental and Energy Planning (COPPE/UFRJ) and a PhD in Interdisciplinary Ecology (SNRE/University of Florida). Early on in her educational career, she developed an interest in conservation policy. Her Master's thesis focused on degraded forests and REDD+, and her PhD research focused on compliance with the Brazilian Forest Code and the impacts of a payments for environmental services intervention in Atlantic Forest. With CENERGIA, she works with the AFOLU team and contributes to the incorporation of terrestrial biodiversity in integrated assessment models.
Bruno Cunha
Climate Economics Modelling Expert
DSc Bruno Cunha is Visiting Researcher (PRH-41.1/ANP) at Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP). He holds a DSc and MSc in Energy Planning from PPE/COPPE/UFRJ. He has a bachelor's in Economics from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (FCE/UFRGS) and an extension at the University of Porto (FEP/UPORTO), Portugal. He developed a global economic model (Total-Economy Assessment - TEA) to investigate the role of Brazil in a global context of climate stabilization. His main fields of scientific interest include general equilibrium modelling, economic analysis of energy systems, energy decarbonisation, transport sector and dietary change.
Camila Ludovique
Transport Expert
Camila Ludovique is a post-doctoral researcher at the Energy Planning Program - PPE/COPPE/UFRJ. She holds a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the Federal University of Ouro Preto and an MSc and DSc degree in Energy Planning from PPE/COPPE/UFRJ. Her work is concentrated on energy, mobility, climate change, mitigation, and energy-economy-environment models. Her main motivation is to promote sustainable development, through studies of smart, sustainable, and egalitarian urban mobility technologies and systems.
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Eveline Vasquez Arroyo
Water-Energy-Land Use Nexus and Climate Change Expert
Eveline holds a bachelor's degree in Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering from the Callao National University (Peru). She also holds an MSc. and DSc. degrees in Environmental and Energy Planning by COPPE/UFRJ. She has experience working on water-energy-land use nexus and climate change by Integrated Assessment Models. Furthermore, she works as a project coordinator on the climate change mitigation and adaptation analysis for the energy security sector and SDG implementation. Moreover, she was a research assistant at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology. She worked as a consultant for UNDP, IPEA, ANA and MCTI, and was an Expert Reviewer for Group II and III of the AR6 IPCC Report.
Fábio A. Diuna
Water-Energy-Land Nexus Expert
Mr. Fabio Diuana is currently a DSc candidate in Energy Planning at COPPE/UFRJ. He graduated with a Bachelor degree in Environmental Engineering and completed his Masters degree in Energy Planning, both from COPPE/UFRJ. His MSc dissertation evaluated the impacts of growing wind power penetration in the power system. He also worked with the Cenergia lab’s research team in a project assessing complementarity between wind and solar energy sources in Latin America and how they can be affected by climate change. He was a 6-month invited researcher at IIASA (2018), where he developed computational tools and methods about Integrated Assessment Models regarding the water-energy-land nexus.
Paula Bezerra
Energy Demand Modelling Expert
Paula Bezerra holds a MSc and DSc degree in Energy Planning (COPPE/UFRJ), where she is currently acting as a post-doctoral researcher. During her master, she gained knowledge in the dynamics of energy systems, and developed a residential energy model for Brazil. For her DSc, she broadened her skills in energy and society interlinks and conducted her work in energy poverty and climate change. Also, since 2016 she has been working as a researcher at Cenergia-Lab and acted in different research projects developing expertise in climate change policies (adaptation/ mitigation), energy demand, and modeling methods. She is interested on understanding the interactions between society, energy, and climate through the lens of policies socially oriented, evaluating distributional effects of adaptation scenarios and mitigation policies.
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Mariana Império
Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Transition Expert
Mariana Império is a post-doctoral researcher at the Energy Planning Program (PPE/COPPE/UFRJ). She holds a DSc and MSc in Energy Planning (PPE/COPPE/UFRJ) and a bachelor degree in Industrial Engineering (POLI/UFRJ). Her research interests include climate change mitigation, energy modeling, energy transition and sustainable development. In Cenergia, she has participated in several projects related to those subjects, as well as she has contributed to the development of national IAMs (BLUES and ELENA). She was an invited researcher at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria, where she developed an air pollution module to be integrated into a Brazilian energy model. She has worked as an energy consultant to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Currently, she also works with Energy Security in the AdaptaBrasil platform, in partnership with INPE.
Talita Cruz
Energy Demand and Distributional Impacts Expert
Talita Cruz is a post-doctoral researcher at the Energy Planning Program (PPE/COPPE/UFRJ), holds a DSc and MSc from the same institution and a BSc in Economics from UFF. She is also a former 2019 YSSPer from IIASA and has wide experience in energy demand models, consumers behavior, climate change, adaptation and econometric analysis. Her research focuses on social inequalities and their relationship with energy use and climate change.
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Doctoral Students
Alberto Santos
Solar photovoltaic power expert
Alberto is a doctoral student at the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. He holds a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering in UFRJ and a master's degree in Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. His master's dissertation consisted on assessing the climate change impact on solar photovoltaic potential in the Brazilian residential sector. His main research interests are solar photovoltaic energy and renewable energy, distributed generation, climate change impacts, electric vehicles and simulation models.
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Amanda Silva
Wind Energy Expert
M.Sc. Amanda Vinhoza is a researcher and Doctoral student in the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. She holds a bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering and a master's degree in Energy Planning from COPPE/UFRJ. She developed her master's dissertation on the Brazilian Offshore Wind Potential focused on identifying hotspots for offshore wind development through the application of a Spatial Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis methodology. Currently, her main research interests are: renewable energies, offshore wind energy, climate change impacts and Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs).
Clarissa Fonte
Hydrogen applications expert
Clarissa is a doctoral student at the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. She holds a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from UFRJ and a master's degree in Energy Planning from COPPE/UFRJ. Her main research interests are energy transition and climate change mitigation. Her work focuses on renewable fuels, both bio-based and hydrogen-based, and she is currently investigating pathways for refineries to adapt to reduced oil demand. Other research topics include: renewable hydrogen production and applications; negative emissions technologies; the role of the pulp and paper sector in the energy transition.
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Eduardo Müller Casseres
International Shipping Expert
Eduardo is a doctoral student at the Energy Planning Program (COPPE/UFRJ) and a guest researcher at PBL (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency). He holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from UFRJ and a diplôme d'ingénieur from Mines-Télécom Lille Douai, in addition to a master’s degree in Energy Planning from COPPE/UFRJ. Eduardo also works a Chapter Scientist in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (WG3, chapter 3). The focus of his doctoral research is the role of international shipping in long-term climate mitigation scenarios. Eduardo’s research interests include integrated assessment modelling, energy modelling, low-carbon fuels and energy transitions. Over the past three years, he has been working on projects related to renewable energy production and climate mitigation options for merchant ships.
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Fábio Silva
Bioenergy systems Expert
Fábio da Silva is a Dsc candidate in energy planning at COPPE/UFRJ. He has a Bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering and a Masters degree in Energy Planning. He developed his dissertation on the potential benefits of torrefaction and pelletization of residual biomass for the supply chain. His doctoral thesis focus on alternative activities for the Brazilian coal industry related to climate change mitigation. His research interests are also biofuels production and negative emissions technologies.
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Gabriela N. da Silva
Hydrogen Applications Expert
Gabriela is a doctoral student at the Energy Planning Program (COPPE/UFRJ) and researcher at Cenergia/COPPE/UFRJ . She holds a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from UFF (Universidade Federal Fluminense) and a master's degree in Energy Planning from COPPE/UFRJ. Her M. Sc. dissertation theme addressed the production of renewable hydrogen to reduce CO2 emissions from oil refineries and her main studies are related to: hydrogen, renewable energy, energy transition and GHG mitigation projects. She has also worked in the Chemical Industry, at Braskem and at Infineum (Shell-Exxon joint venture).
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Gerd Angelkorte
Land Use and Integrated Assessment Modelling Expert
Gerd is a doctoral researcher in PPE/COPPE/UFRJ. His dissertation is focused on modelling of the agricultural sector and land use. He participated in research projects funded by the Greenpeace and IDB about agricultural and land use low carbon strategies. He holds a MSc degree in Energy Planning (PPE/COPPE/UFRJ). In 2019, he defended his thesis "Modeling of the Agricultural Sector Within a Brazilian Integrated Analysis Model". He holds an Environmental Agricultural Engineer degree from the Fluminense Federal University (UFF) and a specialization course in Environmental Engineering and Quality Indicators from the Cândido Mendes University.
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Huang Wei
Marine Fuels Expert
Huang is a DSc student at the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from UFRJ and a master's degree in Energy Planning from COPPE/UFRJ. He developed his master’s dissertation on a comparative analysis from port to hull of alternative marine fuels. He has also worked with ocean thermal energy conversion. His main research interests are alternative fuels, energy efficiency and energy transition.
Letícia Magalar
Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Expert
Leticia Magalar is currently a doctoral researcher at the Energy Planning program at COPPE/UFRJ. She holds a MSc degree in Energy and Environmental Planning at COPPE/UFRJ and a double degree in Environmental and Sanitary Engineering and Business at PUC-Rio and Queensland University in Australia. Her research interests are circular economy, life cycle assessment, integrated assessment models and climate change mitigation and adaptation analysis. She has several years of experience in the inventory of greenhouse gases and projects related to climate mitigation and adaptation, especially for the mining and chemical industries. She has developed research projects on water vulnerability, alternative energy sources, carbon pricing strategies and life cycle assessments. She has worked for companies such as FIAT, IBM, Ernst & Young and WayCarbon as a consultant and project coordinator.
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Lucas Carvalho
Land use and biodiversity expert
Lucas Carvalho is a doctoral student at the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Forest Engineering from UFRRJ and master’s degree in Energy Planning from COPPE/UFRJ. His research interests are climate and environmental policies and Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) issues. His research focuses on the incorporation of terrestrial Biodiversity in integrated assessment models.
Luiz Bernardo Baptista
IAM Expert
Mr. Baptista is a doctoral student at the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. He holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from UFRJ and a master's degree in Energy Planning from Coppe/UFRJ. His research focuses on assessing climate impacts by applying the Brazilian integrated assessment model BLUES. His main research interests are integrated assessment models, disruptive technologies, climate change impacts and mitigation and statistical analysis. He worked on projects with disruptive transportation technologies and technological needs assessment of mitigation technologies. In more recent projects, he worked with national and global integrated assessment model teams for intermodel comparison analysis.
Marianne Zotin
Energy Transition and Critical Materials Expert
M.Sc. Marianne Zotin is a researcher and Doctoral student in the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. She holds a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from UFRJ and a master's degree in Energy Planning from COPPE/UFRJ. She developed her master's dissertation on the role of China in the global energy transition. Currently, her DSc thesis focuses on the role of the industry sector in long-term global climate mitigation scenarios. Her main research interests are related to the non-energy use of biomass, decarbonization of the industrial sector, integrated assessment models, energy transition and renewable energy policy-making.
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Matheus Poggio
Energy Modeling
Matheus is a doctoral student in the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. He holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from UFRJ. His doctoral research is related to the bunker consumpution in the Brazilian Cabotage and the evaluation of GNL powered vessel potential.
Pedro Maia
Carbon Dioxide Removal expert
Pedro Maia is a doctoral student at the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. He holds a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from EQ/UFRJ and a master's in Energy Planning from COPPE/UFRJ. His main research focus are carbon dioxide removal strategies, climate change mitigation and energy transition. His master's work was in direct air carbon capture and its utilization during short term possibly easing economic barriers for implementation. He also worked with direct methanol fuel cells for electric vehicles application during research at Cenergia/COPPE/UFRJ.
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Pedro Rampini
Transport Expert
Pedro Rampini is a DSc student in Energy Planning at COPPE/UFRJ. He has carried his bachelor's studies in Environmental and Sanitary Engineering at PUC-Rio and at The Catholic University of America (USA), and his master's in Energy Planning at COPPE/UFRJ. Pedro has attained substantial professional experience both by working at the industrial level for the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) and in the policy & research field at The Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel of The Global Environment Facility (GEF). He has focused his MSc dissertation on modelling national future passenger transport demand and understanding transformative trends in passenger mobility. Pedro’s main research interests include climate change mitigation, energy and transport modelling tools, smart mobility and transport systems’ evolution, and circular economy.
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Rebecca Draeger
Oil Modelling Expert
Rebecca Draeger is a DSc candidate at the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. She holds a bachelor's degree in Petroleum Engineering from UFF and a master's degree in Energy Planning from COPPE/UFRJ. She worked with Oil & Gas regulation at Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP). She developed her dissertation on improving the modelling of crude oil quality and refining schemes, and their representation in the CenergiaLab's in-house global integrated assessment model (COFFEE). Her main research interests include just transition, stranded assets, integrated assessment models, carbon capture and storage and climate change mitigation.
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Tainan Nogueira
Carbon Dioxide Offshore Transportation Expert
Tainan is a D.Sc. candidate at the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. She holds a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from UFRJ and master's degree in Energy Planning from COPPE/UFRJ. She developed her master's dissertation on offshore CO2 transport alternatives in Brazil and worked on a project to evaluate the prospects of carbon-neutral maritime fuels in Brazil. Her main research interests are carbon capture and storage, energy transition and climate change mitigation.
Taísa Morais
Agricultural residues expert
Taísa Morais is a researcher and doctoral student in the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. She holds a degree in Bioprocess Engineering from EQ/UFRJ and a master's degree in Energy Planning from COPPE/UFRJ. By using the Brazilian integrated assessment model BLUES in her dissertation, she focused on the energy use from agricultural residues in terms of distributed and centralized energy generation. Her main research interests are the use of biomass and the aspects of sustainability related to the bioenergy chain.
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Master Students
Tamar Bakman
Tamar Bakman is currently a master student at the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. She holds a bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering from UFRJ. Her main research interests are: food systems impacts, dietary shifts, food loss and waste, climate change mitigation analysis and life cycle assessment.
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DSc Alumni *
Camilla Oliveira
DSc Thesis (2020): BIOMASS-TO-CHEMICALS EM CENÁRIOS DE TRANSIÇÃO ENERGÉTICA: O CASO DO BRASIL
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Cindy Viviescas
DSc Thesis (2019): ROBUST UNIT COMMITMENT CONSIDERING LARGE-SCALE HYDROPOWER AND RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION
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Fernanda Guedes
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Lattes
Francielle Carvalho
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Lattes
DSc Thesis (2022): SPATIALLY EXPLICIT MODELLING OF BIOENERGY AND CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE IN BRAZIL
Rafael Garrafa
DSc Thesis (2020): PROMOTING LOW-CARBON TRANSITIONS: A STUDY ON CLIMATE FINANCE UNDER A COMPUTABLE GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM FRAMEWORK
Rodrigo Milani
DSc Thesis (2020): MODELO DE OTIMIZAÇÃO PARA GERAÇÃO DE CALOR A PARTIR DE PLANTAS HELIOTÉRMICAS DE FOCO LINEAR
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