UCLouvain, iMMC, TFL / Energy engineer
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I am working on energy system modelling at a national scale (as Belgium).
I am developping a tool to spread energy literacy and help the decision makers or/and citizens to understand the impact of some decisions (insulation, power mix, mobility, renewable energies etc…).
The difficulty that my field is facing at the moment is the fact that we are driven by economical aspects and the market doesn’t incentivise renewable energies. However, from a technical and economical point of view, a system with a high renewable energy penetration can be cost competitive. Hence we need to change the framework of the market and policies to fit the technical reality.
As an example, heat pumps can provide heat very efficiently. If we combine them with heat storage, we have a huge flexible electricity consumer (needed for integration of intermittent renewable energies). Politicians can vote a law such as : ‘New house should have a heat pumps with 10kWh of thermal storage and a energy management system (connected)’.
Key changes:
First, we need to fix target with penaltires if not reached, such as for Belgium ‘50% renewable energy in 2030’.
Second, Policy makers must change the structure of the market and subsidies to lead the energy transition. It might imply strong and unpopular decisions.
Easy to say, harder to implement.
Thanks you for your initiative.
Originally posted 2018-05-02 17:47:59.