Tag Archives: Technology innovation

Considering the design of the Energy Ecosystem

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Designing the Energy Transition with Ecosystem Thinking and Design

By fostering greater collaboration and co-creation within the Energy Industry, it is becoming crucial to consider Ecosystems in design and thinking. Ecosystems designed well are robust for navigating the complex landscape of any Energy transition.

The Energy transition we are all facing has such high levels of complexity and challenge. We are undertaking a radical redesign of our energy systems where renewables based on clean energy, decarbonization or low carbon, new distributed business models and rapidly growing demands for electricity are all compressed into a thirty-year agenda to achieve net zero. Collaboration, cooperation and coordination will be paramount, and this is where Ecosystems and Platform technology will become essential to manage these “multiple” transformations needed.

Here in this post is a structured argument for promoting Business Ecosystem thinking and design for those involved in the Energy System, emphasizing the benefits of sharing IP, knowledge, research, market insights, and general improvement potentials when it comes to considering Ecosystems within the Energy Transitions, where collaborations are growing in importance and need. I outline ten areas of consideration.

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We need fresh perspectives in our thinking towards the Energy Transition.

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How do we accelerate the Energy transition? What contribution does fresh innovation provide? If we do not learn to share and collaborate more, we will fail. Simply put, the Energy solutions will not scale or resolve the changes and complexities we have in designing a new Energy Structure with radically different designs and capabilities.

I have been revamping my www.innovating4energy.com offering in a more focused way. So besides “latest posts” I raise relevant issues and offer solutions to help traverse differences and individual company needs by suggesting a more open, ecosystem thinking and design in different structured ways to assist in the energy transformation we urgently need.

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Rationale, Passion and Beliefs: Changing how we approach the Energy transition.

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Questioning the need to change how we approach the Energy transition.

I always determine the end of a year to be a highly reflective one to build out the future rationale, passion, and beliefs in what I do within the Energy transition. You evaluate what you have achieved, missed out on, and built upon all the new understandings and knowledge that constantly “flow” your way.

What really triggered me to go even deeper this year was the outcomes of the CoP28. I wrote a piece “dealing with the raw emotions of the CoP28 event“- it really did “push my buttons”. So much advice and pursuit of making the Energy transition changes seem to be tackled from narrow perspectives, and for me, this needs a very radical rethink and designed approach.

We do seem to be missing out on broader community engagement for this energy transition– I want to change that.

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Can we change accepted practices in any Energy transition?

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During this year, I felt we were in a growing need to significantly alter the accepted practices of managing the Energy Transition in a new, more innovative, ecosystem-thinking way. Why? We need to engage more broadly in community approaches related to energy. We need a broader energy transition movement.

The goal is to create a more dynamic, interconnected, and adaptable strategy that builds on having a more collaborative mindset on how we approach the transition to shifting energy sources and finding more creative solutions. We must infuse and interact with the community’s thinking to accelerate the energy transition to gain identification, adoption, and change.

So, let’s think of a more “Innovative Ecosystem-Centric Energy Transition Approach”.

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Why I think the energy transition as one of the most important areas of necessary focus

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We are about to have the CoP28 event in the UAE from 30 November 2023 to 12 December 2023, which is crucial for the energy transition. I feel this is an actual watershed event. Those representatives attending must push for substantial agreements on what needs to be done to reduce carbonization and other polluting gases, seek ways to provide clean air and a more equitable share and conserve resources, or we will forever say goodbye to achieving anything like the 1.5 C degree.

Many experts predict that our planet is presently heading for warming to 3C. If we continue this trajectory, we will enter many unknowns in how the planet reacts and responds. If we have climate extremes, the cost of human life, upheaval and damage will continue to confront us.

This is why I think the energy transition is one of the most essential areas of necessary focus, as it is one of the most complex changes from fossil-burning fuels to clean renewables powered by solar, wind and hydro.

Here, I want to provide a view summarising the Energy Ecosystem, offering some strategic steps of underlying approaches to change and where I attempt to fit into contributions supporting solutions.

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First Global Stocktake for the forthcoming CoP28

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Recently released is the First Global Stocktake for the forthcoming CoP28

This summary of the progress made from the CoP23 Paris Agreement is the first official global stock take undertaken, known as the

Technical dialogue of the first global stocktake

The report will be a central debating feature of the CoP28 meeting, to be held between November 30th to December 12th, 2023, in Dubai, the UAE. This report aims to inform and gain consensus on how to move forward.

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Seeing a different Energy Future away from Fossil Fuel

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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.

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How can we encourage more Collaborative Solutions in the Energy Transition?

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Is the needed path to the Collaborative Energy Transition Approach through Grand Challenges?

I have to admit that I am sceptical of individual energy organizations’ pledges to move toward a carbon-neutral future. They argue that there is a limited amount of time to make this transition, yet it is broadly recognized that individual organizations cannot achieve this alone. Are energy organizations open enough to alternative suggestions for overcoming the resource and knowledge constraints working alone can bring? Are they exploring alternative thinking enough, such as organised collective challenges? We need to bridge the gap through collaborations at multiple firm levels.

I believe there is a weakness in the energy ecosystem that deprives it of more significant collective action and innovation to achieve a more accelerated pathway to the energy transition. My argument is that while many energy companies are working on solutions within the energy transition, they often work in isolation and struggle to get out of their “self-made” islands of knowledge.

I suggest that applying ecosystem thinking and platform solutions could bring together many organizations to work in broader, more ambitious innovation ecosystems of collaborations or even work through grand challenge-designed approaches.

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Building an Inspiring Energy Narrative

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I struggle increasingly with individual energy organizations’ pledges of moving their solutions towards a carbon-neutral future. The mixture of reports, initiatives, and viewpoints all move towards the transformation of the energy system but they all admit or fail to address TWO crucial aspects.

Firstly the limited time we have to make such a transition in their offerings of new and different imaginative ways to change the current dynamics within our energy systems. Secondly how each organization alone cannot achieve it with limited or no alternative suggestions to how to overcome this “constraint”. Well, this post is about one alternative well worth considering.

One area of potential to bridge is the collaborations at the multiple firm levels. There is a weakness that deprives the ecosystem of a greater “collective action and innovation” to achieve a more accelerated pathway to the Energy Transition.

The Energy Transition has a rich network of complimentary ecosystems all keeping the energy transition change moving at a ‘certain’ level of momentum but is it good enough, I don’t think so.

The sheer number of Energy companies working on solutions within the Energy Transition is vast, varied and geographically spread. Each is struggling to get out of their (self-made) islands of knowledge to grow their business value through mostly individual innovation solutions.

We then have an Ecosystem of Governments and intergovernmental organizations providing policy suggestions and directions, offering sources of analysis, central data collection and interpretation along with proving reference and exchange points and forums. Then you have general and highly specialised Consulting firms, and investing institutions that are all constantly providing insights and supporting solutions.

We need to find new ways of collaborating and that means applying ecosystem thinking and platform solutions. Let me suggest one as an opener to this thinking.

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Thinking about the Energy Transition

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Thinking about the Energy Transition

One of the largest News Agencies recently asked me about the Energy Transition. These were some really tough open-ended questions: “What are the industry challenges and solutions,” “the key trends and developments“, What are the Challenges I face,” then “What critical solutions are there to the challenges” and finally “What value and guidance would you offer.”

The energy transition is a vast, complex area to view. I took a deep breath and thought about how I would break this down over a discussion of only 45 minutes. I decided to break it down into bite-size chunks such as Key Challenges, Worries, Big Ticket issues, My working issues, and finally, How the energy industry needs to get organized.

On reflection, I realized how many more points I could have raised or explained. Still, the structure of my breaking this down allows for some further thinking and additions that help me build this out, as many struggles with absorbing this energy transition, and I can build on my initial reactions here. Well, that is in my plans going forward.

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