Seth Landau

In a nutshell, tell us about yourself.

I began my career dealing with energy, environment, and development whilst still a student in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, by helping start and implement a campus sustainability initiative. Since then, I have continued my passionate involvement in the area for 15 years, including working with E Co. since 2009. Before this I worked advocating for clean air and climate change mitigation in the U.S., served as an NGO/community development advisor with the Peace Corps in Georgia, developed clean energy projects and climate change analysis for UNDP in Croatia, and worked with the World Savings Banks Institute/European Savings Banks Group on issues related to financial services access, micro-credit etc.

What drives you to do this kind of work?

I do this work because by the time my kids have kids, I am hopeful that the world will be powered by clean energy, have a sustainable balance in terms of resource use, and have alleviated poverty. This will only be possible with better development of projects, programmes, and investments.

Name three things on your bucket list.

In chronological order:

• Run a marathon in under 3 hours;
• Be a part of the clean energy revolution; and
• Play with my future grand-kids

What keeps you awake at night?

Excitement for a new project and a new assignment; I stay awake thinking about the tasks to be undertaken, then often times just start on them and keep working until I can’t anymore …

What is the title of your perfect work project?

I am keenly interested in the nexus between urban development, infrastructure, transport, energy, environment, economy, and culture. So I guess the project would be titled “Strategic Urban Development Plan for XYZ city…”