How to make the energy transition happen?

Back this week from an interesting project to help an company plan the energy transition of one of its (energy-intensive) sites.  A couple of observations:

1. The legal certainty created by the Dutch Carbon Tax provides something very tangible to build off. Unlike the Emissions Trading System, it provides a very clear indication of the price companies will have to pay for heat and other types of energy (not electricity) in 2030. This certainty makes it much easier to give a solid business case to senior management.
2. That same certainty gave participants the freedom to think freely. Indeed, not just freely. It was remarkable how many saw this project not just as being about corporate survival, but as being about building a new and better world…
3. The big uncertainty remains around the materials of the future – how much of what recycled material will be available? And can we make more bio without destroying yet more of the earth, in the race to get the bio raw materials? Certainly looking at the transition after 2030 to 2050, a lot of questions remain to be answered here.

All in all, a very motivating project, with excellent participants and the prospect of a real eco-eco (economy-ecology) gain.