How to design and pursue just and swift energy transitions?
How to accelerate a sustainable, secure and just energy transition? The Energy in Transition (EiT) community tackles precisely these "how-to" queries about transforming energy systems and society. Our approach goes beyond traditional multidisciplinary research. We're committed to groundbreaking exploration that encompasses viewpoints from energy science to humanities, in close collaboration with stakeholders. Read more about our aim.
Resourcefulness
The energy transition is causing a steep increase in mining of critical minerals, which are essential for renewable energy technologies. This also intensified the extractive processes often resulting in human rights violations, environmental degradation, and the perpetuation of global inequalities. The Resourcefulness project aims to highlight the role of finance institutions in resource extraction, and how their role (re)produces (un)just outcomes of the energy transition.
People's Energy
Energy transition is not just about technology; it's about people. Across the Netherlands, more than 800 local energy communities are stepping up to take control of energy production and decision-making, bringing neighbours together to create sustainable solutions. But how do these communities establish trust and legitimacy in the eyes of governments, partners, and their own members? This is the central question driving the Signature project People’s Energy.
Rethink Hydrogen
A holistic approach on hydrogen in sustainable energy systems. This research aims to address challenges in production, storage, and application to make hydrogen a viable alternative to fossil fuels. By integrating interdisciplinary approaches, the project examines innovative technologies and real-world implementation strategies that could accelerate the transition to clean energy. With hydrogen seen as a cornerstone of a carbon-neutral future, the project’s findings could have significant implications for industry and policy worldwide.
Water-Energy-Land Impacts of Compound Weather Events
The WELCOME project addresses the growing challenge of compound weather events, extreme or co-occurring weather phenomena with significant cross-sectoral impacts on the water-energy-land nexus. The project develops a holistic framework to analyze these events, support climate adaptation strategies, and enhance preparedness through education and actionable insights.
Course: Understanding justice and fairness in energy transitions
This course with 6 modules provides a foundation and set of methods to connect different aspects of energy transitions to justice. Energy transitions are not solely technological or economic shifts; they have profound social impacts that can either reinforce or challenge existing inequalities. By incorporating different ways of thinking and reasoning about justice, we can better understand and shape the goals of energy transitions.
Visualizing Energy transition pathways of the International Campus Utrecht
The goal is to develop visualizations to support informed decision-making and to encourage dialogue among students, researchers, campus users, and local stakeholders of plausible energy transition pathways for the ICU campus.
