My name is Paul Hobcraft.

I work as a transition advocate for innovation, and ecosystems supporting the rapidly changing energy systems.

My principal job is to translate knowledge and insights into content and context, to give greater awareness that builds out the energy transition narratives we are all undergoing to improve our collective understanding.

Sometimes I feel I am an energy fraud in what I simply don’t know, but I am certainly not!

I admit, I am the outsider looking into energy and all those incredible ideas and experiences and offering advice and perspectives on where and how innovation fits to build these concepts out further. I look to add momentum, impact, and value to what I provide.

My job is translating knowledge into what I see and feel others might learn in my specific “spin” on this. Getting to this level of expertise is hard work; you need to understand what the heck someone is talking about.

Do I start at a real disadvantage?

I am not an engineer, I have not worked in the Energy Industry, and my “war stories” are more the war correspondent. In this case, my job is to report back from the front line of the energy transition. Motivate, encourage, and build consensus and understanding of what can be achieved through innovation. My advantage is to come with an open, curious, and learning mind.

For example, I often wonder about Utilities and not so much about their role, which is essential but in trying to relate to all that surrounds the utility. The politics, the policies, the diverse stakeholders, the experts offering advice more than 24 x 7. How can they be redesigned to break free from their legacy, not their heritage, two different things? Are they “fit for purpose” today in the incredible energy transition underway? Are utilities the anchor in a practical sense looking to adapt and deliver constantly, or are the ones weighing the clean energy charge down due to vested interests and applying traditional thinking?

What role do I play- design orchestration, support, coach & narrative builder that believes innovation is core to the future of the Energy Transition

How did I get into this role?

I see myself as the outsider looking in, perhaps a different type of expert for a very long energy transition journey. I have a passion for what I do; my job is to influence and inform. To get to this point, I invest in research, reading, debating, exchanging views, being happy to keep learning and not close my mind to alternative positions and arguments. The energy transition needs explaining and the skills of listening, absorbing and navigating future paths. I want to make sure I can hold my ground, give way where experience is clearly demonstrated and share in collaborative ways that broaden our understanding that lead to making real change and adaption.

Perhaps I can say I am a sort of storyteller, advocate, builder of change, and facilitator of Energy.

Why are innovation and ecosystem application such a main area of my focus?  

Reworking the fine line between risk, experiment, boldness, challenging the existing, searching for alternatives, in breakthroughs in technologies and design all require colossal investments in innovation. The radical design is the “sand pit” for innovation in technology, system and infrastructure, rethinking that a change in energy delivery and consumption requires.

Innovation is where I have been spending my time over the last twenty years; it is the lifeblood of growth and impact. It is the mechanism to transform the energy system over the next ten to twenty years and where I can really offer help. I write under @paul4innovating, and my anchor posting reference is www.paul4innovating.com.

We need to achieve that desire to add more impact, understanding, and awareness to the Energy Transition to give greater momentum to internal teams and provide additional momentum and resolution. Finding those valuable, impactful solutions is critical.

The latest blog posts on the Energy Transition return you to the home page of this posting and business website. Contact Paul at phobcraft@gmail.com to learn more about how he can help you with your energy transition journey.