I find Mind Maps as a great tool to think, record and review my thoughts. Within a recent evaluation of my positioning in contributing to the energy transition I drew up a series of approaches to undertaking changing the Energy Ecosystem. We need to build out the bigger Energy Ecosystem story.
In my opinion, the burning need is to recast Energy into a new Energy Ecosystem. We need to get the narrative and positioning right and have this as our evolutionary perspective. It is collaboration and co-creation that needs “combined” efforts. Yet, to get there we need to work off the same page in what needs to be achieved and what would give a greater understanding.
Here I am not prescribing a specific energy solution I am suggesting a way to approach the communications within the energy ecosystem
Applying Partner Ecosystem Thinking into the Energy Sector
In my last post I took six of what I feel are the most significant issues: that I believe require Partner Ecosystem thinking and design.
Within the Energy business, to make the enormous changes required in the transitions from fossil fuel to renewables we simply cannot “go it alone”, we need collaborations across all of the parts of energy from power generation, utilization, transmission and distribution, storage and consumption.
I firmly believe it is the ability to collaborate, share and innovate together can rapidly accelerate the transformation we need.
When I re-read this earlier post I increasingly recognized these challenges are broader and need expanding upon.
In some ways these are universal challenges that all involved will need to address and it is this ability to collaborate and co-create that will make that defining difference.
The importance of innovation at the front end of the Energy Transition
For me, the front end of the Energy Transition is vital. What I mean by the front end is that link where innovation, ingenuity and creativity get created. Today, this must be done through more outstanding collaborations, especially recognizing the value and benefits of ecosystem thinking and design.
Innovating4Energy.com advocates for a systematic, innovative, and flexible approach to transforming the energy system. The keys are the mix of building the pillars of innovation and ingenuity, the research and deployment approach, and the reforming and disruption strategies, which are all essential components of this Energy Transforming approach, delivered over clear impact steps.
To achieve a sustainable energy transition, sound consistency in advocating and applying a systematic, innovative, and flexible approach to transforming the energy ecosystem does need a central emphasis on placing importance on learning from experimentation, seeking advanced solutions, and sharing knowledge.
Placing a greater emphasis and set of resources on Innovation will help make rapid progress towards a more sustainable and efficient energy future in highly collaborative and open ways.
Much of this is how you set about the Front End of Energy transition and change and the consideration towards embracing Ecosystem design and thinking has enormous value in this assessment.
Ask how we can leverage and use Ecosystem thinking and design to promote innovation within the Energy Transition, as it is a powerful approach to radical change. By fostering collaborations and synergies, you can accelerate the development and adoption of innovative solutions for the energy transition.
A range of success stories showcase the value of ecosystem thinking in different industries relating to the energy transition. These are important to emphasise as they recognize the importance of combining a mix of stakeholders, technologies and organizations in interconnected and interdependent ways.
Before we look at examples of ecosystem thinking and designs applied, we should consider a step-by-step guide to using and applying ecosystem thinking and design applicable to the energy transition.
That CoP28 was an event that catches many of the basic emotions we are going through for managing the Energy transition to rapidly move towards a safer, sustainable climate and balance with nature.
I was reflecting on the different parts and sought a way to describe these “emotions” as my reflection of the CoP28 event and all it means to me.
The Energy Transition: Navigating a Turbulent Sea
The energy transition is a complex and challenging journey, akin to navigating a turbulent sea. It’s a voyage fraught with both exhilarating opportunities and daunting obstacles, requiring us to steer clear of whirlpools of uncertainty and sail towards the horizon of sustainability.
The art of leapfrogging accelerates the Energy Transition
Any search for advantage or validation of making a change must consider the art of leapfrogging, especially in the Energy Transition we are all undergoing.
Leapfrogging can accelerate the rapid and transformative progress toward a more sustainable and efficient energy ecosystem that provides advantage and customer identification.
Leapfrogging done correctly offers the benefits of evaluating existing solution options, considering the added value of environmental considerations and enhancing access and resilience in a rapidly changing world needing faster adoption of cleaner energy solutions to accelerate your solutions.
Where leapfrogging really ‘scores’ is offering the ability of a developing or less developed country to essentially “skip” less efficient and higher carbon-intensive technologies during their energy development.
Leapfrogging provides a significant opportunity to develop and cut carbon emissions simultaneously, it is vastly underrated and considered. We love reinventing the wheel when there is often no need.
Leapfrogging is when developing countries industrialize with renewable energy instead of non-renewables.
Equally, companies can learn and adopt from others to reduce their own research and development costs and long lead times, across a wide range of technical improvements in renewable and storage technologies, grid balancing, use of software management, saving running costs by searching for leading or emerging best practices.
Also it can be by taking certain component parts of a solution you can accelerate and adapt to upgrade parts or finding blending solutions that fit your circumstances.
In this third post of a mini-series of three, I want to explain this further through a value proposition of how community energy can work and the realism that proposes a radical rethinking of how we are thinking about the present-day Energy Transition and shifting this from a centralized approach into this transition of a decentralized community that generates, consumes, perceives and owns its energy destiny.
This radical concept envisions the energy transition as a living, evolving entity that bridges technology and nature, sparking profound shifts in how communities generate, consume, and perceive energy. It challenges established norms and prompts a complete reimagining of our relationship with energy and the environment.
My underlying thinking is through ecosystem thinking and design, triggering innovation engagement and activation strategies to promote innovation and change the energy transition dynamics within a community setting, offering decentralized community energy.
Empower Your Community’s Energy Future with Decentralized Energy Cooperatives
In this second post of a mini-series of three, I want to explain this decentralized community energy concept further: “This radical concept envisions the energy transition as a living, evolving entity that bridges technology and nature, sparking profound shifts in how communities generate, consume, and perceive energy. It challenges established norms and prompts a complete reimagining of our relationship with energy and the environment”.
By introducing the concept of the “Energy Transition Nexus: A Living Energy Organism” and how it challenges the conventional approach to the energy transition:
While the concept described in my first and introductory post, “Envision Energy as a living, evolving community,” is indeed a radical departure from the existing way we see energy delivery and its transition, it takes an essential step in connecting much of the parts of the energy transition, its importance to our living.
I feel it is essential to bridge the gap between the natural world and the business world in a more closely aligned way, going beyond existing frameworks or thinking but still grounding this into business-orientated understanding to relate more.
Let’s explore a business-oriented, yet still disruptive, approach that brings a conceptual leap to the energy transition with this decentralized community proposal while maintaining some degree of continuity with business practices but set in an ecosystem way of thinking and design:
In this first post of a mini-series of three, I want to introduce a radical concept that envisions the energy transition as a living, evolving entity that bridges technology and nature, sparking profound shifts in how communities generate, consume, and perceive energy.
It challenges established norms and prompts a complete reimagining of our relationship with energy and the environment. It focuses on the community in a decentralized way for its energy.
My underlying thinking is through ecosystem thinking and design, triggering innovation engagement and activation strategies to promote innovation and change the energy transition dynamics within a community setting, offering decentralized community energy.
It comprises the following parts to consider shifting our thinking away from the presently accepted, more highly centralised thinking on energy provision into community enablement. It is conceptualized upon the following thoughts:
For me, the Energy Transition is a complex, multi-headed beast that always provides more challenge rather than less.
We seem to be faced with Hydra. The Hydra was Hercules’s second labour. He attempted to cut off the heads of the beast, but every time one was cut off, two more would grow back in its place. Another challenge in killing the Hydra was that its’ breath was poisonous to all who crossed its path.
The weakness of the Hydra was that only one of its heads was immortal. In the energy transition world, I worry that this one immortal head might be fossil fuel, challenging to slay.
I don’t slay beasts; I try to shape the behaviours of clients. Renewables feature front and centre. Getting engagement is hard work; adopting different thinking and application solutions is even more challenging. The level of engagement determines the ability to allow a different way to permeate and take hold. You need many tools, ideas, visuals, promoters, discussions, etc.
Finding the time for clients to get into these types of immersion is not easy; it has to be really “mixed” up. Do I have this “cocktail” right? Frankly, no, but tackling. Individuals or teams need to find their reactive points. They need to want to open up to change. I love the word “catalyst.” if it gains the type of reaction you are looking for, you are the agent that provokes or speeds action or change.
