Alan Brent

Modules:

Renewable Energy Policy and coordination of the Renewable Energy stream on the MPhil programme

Curriculum Vitae:

Alan Brent is a chemical engineer by background with Masters degrees in environmental sciences and technology management, and a PhD in engineering management. Since 1995 he consulted to a variety of industry and public sectors in South Africa and other developing countries in the fields of environmental engineering and management, as a project manager in the Environmental Process Solutions group of the Material Science and Manufacturing unit of the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). In 2002 he was tasked to establish the Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC) Chair of Life Cycle Engineering in the Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) of the University of Pretoria. Through his appointment as an extraordinary professor the GSTM continues to conduct research on sustainable life cycle management practices in the private and public sectors, which is also a focus area of the academic programmes of the GSTM. In 2006 he returned to the CSIR to initiate and lead research in the Resource Based Sustainable Development competency area of the Natural Resources and the Environment unit that promotes sustainable development in management and planning practices, primarily in the energy sector.

In 2009 he was appointed as a professor in the Sustainable Development division of the School of Public Management and Planning (SOPMP) of Stellenbosch University, where he is also the associate director of the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies. He is responsible for the renewable energy policy component of the Sustainable Development Planning and Management academic programme at the Sustainability Institute, where he is now based. His ongoing research efforts aim to improve the planning and management of sustainable technological systems. To this end he has published over 50 journal articles and a number of chapters in text books, has presented over 40 conference papers in the international sustainability-oriented, and engineering and technology management, communities, and actively participates in the UNEP Global Life Cycle Initiative.