The challenges of balancing the energy trilemma
Enlit Editorial Team
Posted on: 3 November 2022
Chris Gentle speaks about the energy trilemma and whether enough is being done to place people at the heart of the energy transition.
During Enlit on the Road Berlin, Chris Gentle, senior advisor at the World Energy Council, spoke with Heather Johnstone in an exclusive interview about the energy trilemma and whether enough is being done to place people and communities at the heart of the energy transition.
Invented by the World Energy Council 15 years ago, the energy trilemma, according to Gentle, stands on three legs: net zero, energy security and energy access.
Each of the three is of equal importance for reaching net zero goals, although the third sometimes gets placed on the periphery.
“At the moment we're sadly lacking on that…In terms of our chances of hitting 1.5, which are receding quite quickly, we're not involving communities enough, which diminishes our chances of actually achieving the energy transition.
“From a philosophical point of view, the World Energy Council sees that we can't achieve an energy transition unless it involves people. If we try and do an energy transition that is completely top-down, that comes from governments and policymakers and big companies, particularly in an age of lack of trust, it won’t work.
“If I take one city we're working in at the moment, 82% of the people had heard of the energy transition, but only 24% actually trust that the process won't increase inequalities.”
Also of interest:
Energy communities are the missing piece of Europe’s transition puzzle
Is Europe’s energy market future-proof?
However, this isn’t to say that there is no hope. Gentle references how people are daily becoming more informed about the current energy crisis and what it might mean for them.
“But if we look on the brighter side: We have a partnership with BBC Worldwide [who] reported to us that the number one [daily] search on BBC Worldwide, which has over 50 million viewers on average, was “energy”. That was the number one thing that people were searching for.
“So clearly what's happening at the moment is [that the energy crisis and transition is] figuring its way into everybody's day-to-day lives. And they're keen to find out more.
More about Enlit on the Road Berlin:
We need honesty over the end cost of net zero say Siemens Energy bosses
How Berlin is making the energy switch to hydrogen economically and socially viable
Time to speed up the energy transition says German Energy Agency chief
“People are now starting to look at [the current state of energy and are asking] How I can get involved? What is it going to mean for me in the future?
“I think that's a very positive sign in terms of where things are moving at the moment.”
Make sure to watch the full exclusive interview with Chris Gentle that took place at the SET Tech Festival in Berlin to hear his thoughts on what will be needed to realise net zero, what constitutes a truly just energy transition and what other cities can learn from Berlin’s approach to the energy transition.
