Dr. John Byrne is the Distinguished Professor of Energy and Climate Policy and Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy (CEEP) at the University of Delaware. CEEP’s graduate program is ranked among the three best in the field. He is also Chairman and President of the Foundation for Renewable Energy & Environment (FREE). The Foundation was created in 2011 with a mission of promoting a better future based on energy, water and materials conservation, renewable energy use, environmental resilience, and sustainable livelihoods.

He has contributed since 1992 to Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and is among the Panel’s authors credited by the IPCC for its selection for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Byrne is currently Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Energy at the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, a new university created by South Korea to lead its plan for green energy technology and policy development.

He is the architect of the Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) and its innovative energy efficiency finance program, which received U.S. White House recognition as part of the nation’s Better Buildings Challenge. The Asian Development Bank has also recommended the model to its member countries. His work has been funded by the World Bank, UNEP, the Blue Moon Fund, the Chinese Academy of Science, the Korea Energy Economics Institute, TERI (New Delhi, India), the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the U.S. EPA, among others. He has published 18 books and over 150 research articles.