Electric cars on the roads, a balanced energy system, recycling, less materialism and more humanity and corporations that not only provide value by creating jobs but use their power to positively impact our society and environment. Where governments act for their people and the leaders of different countries come together to support each other when one is in need. This sounds a bit utopian.
Source: CEENERGYNEWS
On the other hand, we can draw a picture which is contradictory to this. Conventional cars, severe blackouts in our energy system, waste that is left on our streets or backyards, corporations that only care about profit and nothing else, highly corrupt governments and countries that are fragmented from each other.
These two pictures are very much black and white. Can the energy transition itself reach the extremes? Who is responsible for leading the energy transition? Governments, big corporations, the ageing population, or the younger generation of society? When will Europe have the proper infrastructure to exploit a sufficient amount of renewable power generation capacity? Do we need to consume as much as we do today? What about that layer of society who would love to consume more, but cannot afford it when it comes to electricity, heating, food, or basic products? How will they overcome these challenges? Do we need to travel as much as we do for pleasure or business?
These are only a shorter version of a longer list of questions that I wanted to find answers to before I left for the European Sustainability Energy Week in Brussels as one of the 30 Young Energy Ambassadors of the European Union. The European Climate and Energy Infrastructure Agency (CINEA) launched an initiative to engage young professionals in the energy transition of Europe.
The transition has aspects not only in the energy industry but also in our environment, society and daily lives. Therefore, diversity plays an important role when we talk about accelerating any kind of transition. By diversity, I mean not only the classic nationality, gender and age, but also professions, hard and soft skills, bringing together academia, governments and big corporations to tackle the challenges, which stand before us.
The Young Energy Ambassadorship program sets an example of how to involve the youth of Europe in such important matters that will very much influence our future. Participating in the Young Energy Ambassadors programme means supporting Europe’s aim to be climate-neutral, taking steps towards sustainable energy use and inspiring others to do the same. The 30 of us were invited to the European Sustainable Energy Week in Brussels, which is the biggest event dedicated to renewables and efficient energy use in Europe. We got the chance to share our opinion on which incentives could accelerate the transition and these recommendations were presented on stage.
Being a Young Energy Ambassador not only means drafting recommendations to the European Commission regarding the incentives that should be implemented but also means belonging to a team of European young professionals, who want to make the change and be the change.
Our generation starts to get an idea of what climate change actually means and how it might impact our everyday lives in the future. If we only consider a few events that we have experienced in Europe in the last couple of months: the heatwaves in Greece and Central Eastern Europe, or the floods in Germany that we cannot stop, but at least we can try to slow down this phenomenon.
Meeting and getting to know my fellow Young Energy Ambassadors, I very much gained some hope back that Europe can stay on the right path to overcome future challenges and politics, business and academia are very much in need of the passion and energy that the European youth can bring to the table if they get the chance to be heard.
For most of my questions regarding the energy transition, I have not found the proper answers yet, but I met an inspiring, enthusiastic, bright and exceptional bunch of young professionals, who will figure out the solutions with the wisdom and experience of professionals who are in charge today.