Page 48 - European Energy Innovation - autumn 2019 publication

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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