Page 48 - European Energy Innovation - autumn 2019 publication
P. 48
48 Autumn 2019 European Energy Innovation
ENERGY TRANSITION
Speeding up energy transition
in Europe
By Brigitte Hasewend, Director of the European Sustainable Energy Innovation Alliance – eseia,
on new partnerships and cooperative learning formats
Greta Thunberg knows.
Deep down we all know. society are paying lip service to the without using climate relevant
We need to act now climate cause. However, our societies synergies. For example, energy
to preserve life on our continue to be run predominantly on grids do not communicate with
fossil fuels and climate action is slow. heat grids or water grids.
planet for coming generations. We The obstacles to energy transition are
even know how to make this change manifold: • Education and Training: Even
happen but for some reason our though interdisciplinarity is
societies are slow when it comes • Policy and Governance: Except required to meet the challenges
to implementing change. Why? This for the EU and international of our future, academic disciplines
article tries to pinpoint some of the policy levels, climate policies are are still operating in silos making
obstacles and highlight promising predominantly national, regional, it more difficult to find innovative
pathways to accelerate change. or local which makes them patchy solutions. Higher education still
where they need to be more does not link very well with
1. Obstacles to energy transition interlinked to create global traction stakeholder needs. Skills required
for climate development. linking knowledge from different
Faced with melting glaciers and disciplines is often lacking.
increasing climate related death tolls, • Organisations: People are
governments and industries and civil confined to their organisations 2. Holistic approach needed
with clear unbreakable boundaries,
which hinder joint activities across ‘Today we need a much more holistic
institutional borders. There is not approach that can break these silos’,
enough real interaction between says Michael Narodoslawsky, TU
governments, industries, research, Graz. EU Policies need to be adjusted
education, and civil society actors. for 2030 to accelerate change and
regulations need to be implemented
• Community groups are often at full speed using all means of
ambitious but their impact top-down governance including
remains limited because they taxation. EU Policies need to be fully
often work in isolation. translated into the national, regional
and local spheres. New governance
• Resources: Our industries still models need to benefit multi-actor
exploit resources without limits cooperation across sectorial and
because there is no holistic organisational boundaries.
resource planning behind. Planning
is for short or medium-term Legal competences and governance
following the need of profitability. on all levels need to be enhanced
by adequate modelling to create
• Technologies: Climate neutral strategic corridors for innovation
technologies are well advanced (Krajačić G. UZagreb). Only when
but their systemic implementation these framework conditions are
is still not adequately explored, fully established, does the right to
neither from a technological nor access to sustainable energy unfold
from a societal point of view. its proper meaning. If consumers
cannot access clean public transport
• Infrastructures are being planned, because it remains unreliable and
built and managed separately unaffordable, the right to access
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