October 2012
Raising awareness of the IEA Energy Technology Network amongst the future generation of scientists, researchers and young energy professionals in the Netherlands.
How to bring students, researchers and young energy professionals into contact with the work of the IEA. IEA Netherlands will go in search of this next generation of scientists and young energy professionals at different universities and within related businesses. For three days - from 21st to 23rd November 2012 - the IEA Road Show will tour the Netherlands from north to south.
The Road Show will kick off in Groningen in conjunction with the Energy Delta Convention, where the focus will be on carbon capture storage. The second stop will be in Arnhem at DNV Kema and will focus on demand-side management, and the final destination is Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, (Zuyd Hogeschool), Heerlen in cooperation with the Technical University of Eindhoven, where the subject is energy efficiency in the built environment. The idea is to promote the wealth of information within the IEA on energy technologies, in particular in the technology areas mentioned, to highlight relevant news from the Energy Technology Perspectives and World Energy Outlook, and to provide networking opportunities to students, researchers and young energy professionals in energy-related companies. A speaker from the IEA in Paris, who is one of the co-authors of the "IEA Energy Technology Perspectives" will also participate.
The idea for the Road Show came about from a conference hosted in the Netherlands in 2010 on promoting opportunities of the IEA to government authorities and the research and business communities. The turnout was good, but there was one thing missing - the younger generation. Since the IEA also has a lot to offer to students and young researchers, the idea came about to organise an IEA Road Show specifically for this target group, highlighting the importance of the IEA. University students and young researchers were the target audience for last year’s Technology Network Road Show organised by NL Agency of the Netherlands. Representatives from a number of IEA technology programmes presented to students at three different university campuses - the University of Twente, the University of Amsterdam and the Technical university of Delft, with three different themes - energy storage, smart grids and the bio-based economy. Participants were most enthusiastic. Some feedback included: Rob Kleinlugtenbelt, Consultant at IF Technology: "It is nice to see that so many students are interested in sustainable energy. It is a good initiative to bring this to the attention of the people who will shortly be joining the business community." Liselotte Smorenburg, researcher at the Amsterdam Centre for Environmental Law and Sustainability said: "I concentrate on European law, and what I heard today was very interesting. The IEA is a much broader concern than I thought. I always had the idea that it just involved 'oil barons'. It is good to know that there is so much data available at the IEA. I will certainly be bookmarking the website in my list of 'favourites'." Wiebren de Jong, university associate professor at TU Delft added, "It was a good meeting with nice presentations. I also enjoyed showing exactly what we are doing."
IEA Energy Technology Network Road Show Programme 2012
This year at each location the IEA will be presented with a special attention to the new IEA publications "Energy Technology Perspectives 2012" and the "World Energy Outlook 2012". This will be followed by an overview of the different IEA Implementing Agreements (IA) in which the Netherlands participates and how we communicate information from these Implementing Agreements within the Netherlands. Then we will zoom in on the IEA IA in question. The idea is then to have an interactive discussion on a specific research project/ proposal/ subject related to the chosen technology - for example in Groningen there will be a debate on the social acceptance and legislation regarding CCS. In Arnhem the focus will be on the new Task 23 of the IEA Demand-side Implementing Agreement - "Consumers and smart meters" - from a "push" to a "pull" instrument. In Heerlen the focus will be on the IEA Implementing Agreement Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community systems (ECBCS). Discussions will take place on, for example, the development of innovative building materials and systems and integrated approaches to energy efficiency.
This event coincides well with the current role of innovation in the Netherlands in solving societal issues and boosting the competitive strength of the Dutch economy.
Enterprises, knowledge institutes and the government have recently signed innovation contracts that will generate approximately 2.8 billion Euros in 2012 alone for research and development of innovative products and services in the top sectors of the economy.
"The IEA Road Show is designed to open the doors to a wealth of knowledge on international research and development of the IEA in energy-related technologies. To show to the research community and young energy professionals what is happening in the international arena in the chosen subject areas like carbon capture storage, demand-side management and energy efficiency in the built environment. And to broaden the knowledge and expertise of the Dutch future generation of scientists, researchers and young energy professionals", said Rebecca van Leeuwen, IEA Netherlands, NL Agency, the Netherlands.
Go for more information about this year's IEA Technology Network Road Show, the Netherlands to www.ieanederland.nl and click on IEA Road Show 2012