Press Release
CAMBRIDGE, MA – Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has named Nicola De Blasio a Senior Fellow. At the Belfer Center, Dr. De Blasio will lead research on energy technology innovation and the transition to a low carbon economy. With more than 25 years of global experience in the energy sector, De Blasio is an expert in navigating the challenges of strategic development and technology innovation toward sustainable commercial success, at scale.
“Nicola is a terrific addition to the Belfer Center’s energy/climate-change team, bringing tremendous experience and expertise, across all the key sectors, to our work on energy-technology innovation to address climate change” said John Holdren, Director of the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program.
De Blasio spent 17 years at Eni, one of the world’s leading energy companies, most recently as Vice President, Head of R&D International Development, where he was also responsible for the start-up group. He engineered the strategic alliances between Eni and MIT – which led to the creation of the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Center in 2010 – and other leading universities, including Stanford and Tsinghua. He was visiting scholar at the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), as well as a member of the MITEI Advisory Board, its Executive Committee (2005-2015) and the Eni Award Committee. He began his career with Snamprogetti (Eni’s Group) as a process engineer before becoming an economic feasibility study specialist.
Prior to joining Harvard, De Blasio was Senior Research Scholar in the faculty of SIPA at Columbia University and Program Director Technology and Innovation at the Center on Global Energy Policy, where he was also Director of Strategic Partnerships.
De Blasio holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Politecnico of Milan University with a thesis in industrial catalysis. He specialized at St. Andrews University, Scotland and then at Eni Corporate University where he focused on energy economics. He is co-author of the book Value of Innovation, and has published and lectured on energy, innovation, project evaluation, and catalysis.
“Accelerating the rate of energy innovation will be critical to the world’s ability to transition to a less carbon-intensive economy. Nicola has a proven track record of working across government, private, and academic communities to promote and assess the emerging technologies that will change the production and use of energy,” said Henry Lee, Director of the Belfer Center’s Environment and Natural Resources Program.
“Energy innovation is key to the transition to a low carbon economy at scale,” said De Blasio. “I am delighted to join the Belfer Center and its unique community of experts, practitioners, and students to tackle the challenge of how to deliver the energy our world needs while addressing climate change.”
Since 1996, the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program and the Environment and Natural Resources Program have run a joint project on energy-technology innovation policy (ETIP), in the belief that the development and demonstration of new energy technologies are essential to the world’s ability to mitigate the looming threat of climate change. The project focuses on the United States, China, and India—the three largest emitters of greenhouse gases on the planet.