On November 23rd, Horizon Europe RENAISSANCE project held an online training session with CHOICE teachers and educators on energy production and management and sustainability. Rebecca Hueting from RENAISSANCE gave an overview of the project and introduced the participants to key concepts on sustainable energy practices.
Energy production is one of the major contributors of human impact on environment. For instance, only 21% of the energy consumed in EU during 2020 was sourced from renewables, such as wind, solar and hydroelectric energy plants. Therefore, it is easy to forget that illumination, heating and houses’ electric power come from fossil fuel energy plants, which have their impact on the environment and considerable share of CO2 emissions.
In the context of training teachers and educators on sustainability, CHOICE held its first online training in collaboration with Horizon Europe RENAISSANCE project on Renewable Energy Communities and sustainable practices regarding energy sourcing and management. During the training, Rebecca Hueting, Deep Blue Consultant and part of the RENAISSANCE team, introduced the project’s background and main objective: deliver a community-driven, scalable and replicable approach to energy sourcing and support clean production and shared distribution of energy in local communities.
During the meeting, participants learnt about renewable energy produced, consumed, exchanged or accumulated locally across individual households, local enterprises, a consortium or an entire neighbourhood, which can include large public structures, such as schools and hospitals. Furthermore, Rebecca discussed with participants how Europe imagines its future regarding energy sourcing and management: many small communities of „prosumers” (i.e. autonomous citizens, producers and consumers at the same time), who autonomously manage “home-made” energy by sharing it on the local grid. A radical change from the current centralised model of energy production and supply. Such model could guarantee a minimum waste in distribution, lower costs for users, lower greenhouse gas emissions and greater energy independence.
You can watch the YouTube video of the RENAISSANCE online training session below!
