Monat: Oktober 2021

-Many think they can not do something as one person. They think it should be a responsibility for an organization to make a change. But they are also aware that organizations mostly do not make a change because there is no profit emerging for them. Additionally there is not everywhere an interest to actively participate in projects like the MUNICIPAL project

-What has become apparent from an interview, is that people generally know about the threats posed by the climate crisis. However, they choose not to act against them. Living truly sustainable in our system is close to impossible. To change this, individuals would have to give up on many luxuries, which makes it very unattractive.

-Many people are unaware of how interconnected certain mechanisms are and that small behavioral changes can go a long way.

– People wish for a better education in their surroundings.

-The biggest factor is energy generation. It’s a race between new technologies and entrenched interests. That the new technology is not taking over fast enough. That the ecological steady states are being massively disrupted and are not well enough understood to mitigate the problem. Mass migration driven mostly by localised collapse of food production will destabilize political systems, and encourage violence and war. These problems are rapidly becoming manifest. 

-Another problem was a seeming distancing from science. Either because most people do not understand the science and are therefore inclined not to listen, or because they are too afraid of the consequences to realise them. It is an act of repressing fears.

Luisa, Simon, Tatjana, Ambra

During the Interviews we also learned about the label energy city. Energy cities are breaking new ground and advocating a sustainable energy future. Smart energy management pays off in Swiss francs, not to mention boosting your image. The municipality is assessed on the basis of 56 measures in six areas, e.g. municipal buildings, mobility, supply and disposal, assessed according to national standards and then certified.

 We learned that it is important to use more solar energy. It would also be good to have standardized funding amounts for solar energy, at the moment  there are already subsidies from Swissgrid, but the remuneration for solar energy should be standardized. Some municipalities are networked with each other by the power grid, therefore they are in constant communication. To have sustainable energy the municipalities have to invest a lot of money that sometimes is not available or denied from the community.

In some municipalities electricity customers have been offered locally produced solar electricity with the alternative electricity product “ST PLUS with Sun” for a small surcharge.

Another valuable insight we received from a climate justice activist, was that political representation of certain interest groups is not given. There appears to be an imbalance of people in power, which makes a dialogue on how to change for a better future challenging. Also, living within these frameworks or boundaries of sustainable energy use, seems to be quite a challenge, given today’s living standards. And there doesn’t seem to be a future decline in demand for electrical energy, looking at possible future developments.

Your concerns around energy in your daily lives or work lives.  Jakub Morzycki believes that politics are, generally speaking, not really responsive to the issues of our time. The asymmetry of power between corporations and parliamentary lobbies and normal citizens like me for example. Also, living within these frameworks or boundaries of sustainable energy use, seems to be quite a challenge, given today’s living standards. And there doesn’t seem to be a future decline in demand for electrical energy, looking at possible future developments. (Digitalization)

Eric Olivier who works as a senior services manager in GE (steam power) says that – currently, energy as we understand it, is the means for mobility, heating, electricity production and consumption. Eric Olivier argues that before we try to change things, we should educate the population about energy in a constructive manner. Energy and its impact on climate are factual elements which are wrongly explained by politics, lobbyists or multinational companies to serve their interest. He gives us a few examples:

• Overconsumption: a lot of people speak about the need for higher efficiency in energy generation, while we should be focusing on reducing and limiting its consumption. 
• Wrong understanding about “renewables” and the fact that it is a dependable source of electricity production.
• Wrong understanding of nuclear power.
• Wrong energy subventions: for example, power production through wood or gas is highly incentivized by the EU while these sources have high carbon content during combustion.
• Not considering the total carbon impact all along the life cycle of a solution or a product. For example, production of electricity of solar panels should consider the need for rare earth elements and waste management. 
• Cars are becoming bigger and bigger! Hybrid SUV is a misnomer

What can you do about them? Jakub Morzycki is all for activism and taking a stance by actively organising strikes and protests in favour of the climate crisis.

Olivier feels that before trying to consume less energy, he would focus on not wasting it. He believes he can personally contribute by being conscious of his personal consumption and lifestyle and secondly, speaking as a professional in the field of energy and electricity production, he states that education is crucial.

What would you wish to do? Having similar power, instruments and possibilities like cooperation representatives and lobbyist politicians. This would make the public discussion about sustainability more equal to put it simply. Because in the end it is a social issue and therefore there should be public involvement into the discussion – necessarily with equal distribution. Olivier also wishes to influence politics so that they can have a true message and not the one that serves their own self interests. 

What would you want to see from an energy innovation network? Jakub Morzycki feels that having the courage to actually do and change something within their organizations. Olivier also shares the sentiment and stresses that it is also vital that we have a holistic understanding of the right electricity production mix (understanding the relative advantages of several energies rather than considering the absolute pros and cons of a single source). Along with that, it is essential that we communicate with the people in a clear and simple manner in order to educate and raise awareness. Having an indicator about the total carbon impact of products during their entire life cycle would also prove to be a helpful measure.

 

– The energy sector is a large and all-encompassing term that describes a complex and inter-related network of companies, directly and indirectly, involved in the production and distribution of energy needed to power the economy and facilitate the means of production and transportation.
– People who work in the energy or the environmental sectors, since they see what happens there every single day, have noticed and are concerned about how they’re killing the planet, especially that they don’t need to be doing that. There’s an issue that they’re also worried about future generations, who will be here when the planet is completely massacred because of what we’re doing now.
– They recommend and encourage everyone to start using solar and power sources for energy.
– They want to see Net zero energy production and they see that it’ll be easier used when it’s more produced.
– They just want to try and save the planet, which won’t happen unless change our ways.
– The challenges have certainly changed in recent years. Cities and municipalities have started to comprehensively renovate their building stock, to provide renewable heat supply or to increase the offer of sustainable mobility (non-motorized traffic, public transport). Many of them are already quite far along.
– They are also trying to support participatory processes in the municipalities to a greater extent in order to achieve a greater impact (also with design thinking, co-creation, living labs, etc.).
– The climate change adaptation topic is being addressed. For example, how to counteract unavoidable changes in the most climate-friendly way possible (avoidance of heat islands, natural cooling, etc.).

Through all of our interviews we collectively learned a lot of new information, especially regarding what the individuals are currently doing in the world of energy today. Melinda Scotland, working with Inter Pipeline Ltd., informed us about their current project. They are using their surplus of propane to convert it to propylene, using a secret patented technology. Propane is low in value but high in potential – including potential for high paying jobs. They have created an innovative facility, located in Alberta’s industrial heartland. The facility houses 2 operations: propane dehydrogenation pdh facility and polypropylene pp plant that work together to convert the propane to the end product. At the PP plant the newly formed propylene molecules are put through a process called polymerization, which encourages the protein molecules to bond. This process creates a recyclable plastic. The plastic is then pressed through an extruder, and produces the polypropylene pellets. The pellets are then transported to potential clients in canada. These pellets are used to create yogurt cups, coffee cups, canadian money, car bumpers or even carpets. Through another interview we became aware that rapid exchange with other researchers enables faster progress, which is important as it could be a way to integrate a knowledge network. The same interview also gave insight regarding what could cause a significant impact; “Finding a more suitable material than single-crystal silicon (einfachkristallines Silizium) in semiconductor research (Halbleiterforschung) could be the decisive point for the energy turnaround.” 

We also learned that one problem is that a lot of people think as soon as they do something good for the environment in one place they can compensate for that in a different field. For example if they don’t eat meat they can go on vacation with the plane all the time. But in that way nothing really gets better. There should be more political support, for example policies about solar systems. Now it’s very easy for a neighbour to complain about a planned solar system on the house next door, that should change. Our attention was also brought to the fact that we must not forget that the Climate change and the crisis we are facing nowadays because of our past actions, is a crisis that our past generations have caused and we have inherited.

Noa, Natascha, Kristina, Muskan and Andreas