Stefan HirschbergNEEDS Forum 1, Brussels, 24 May 2005 Contribution to Round Table Discussion: Transparent Information Channels Stefan Hirschberg NEEDS

Stefan HirschbergNEEDS Forum 1, Brussels, 24 May 2005

Contribution to Round Table Discussion:Transparent Information Channels

Stefan Hirschberg

NEEDS FORUM 1:

Accepting the Real Price for Sustainable Energy

Brussels, 24 May 2005


• PSI is the largest Center for Energy Research in Switzerland

• Broad spectrum of energy research from nuclear through combustion to solar

• Comprehensive assessment of energy systems

• Academic neutrality and competence for the role of „Honest Broker“

• Goal: communication of objective and reliable information to stakeholders to support balanced and sustainable energy policies

Communicating PSI‘s Energy Research



High Complexity Need to Simplify


Communication: Energie-Spiegel / Energy Mirror1. Potential for renewables and energy conservation

2. Scenarios for future electricity and heat supply in Switzerland

3. Criteria and indicators for sustainability

4. Flexible mechanisms for CO2-reductions

5. Solar technologies

6. Mobility

7. Nuclear energy: fuel reprocessing

8. High-tech materials for sustainability

9. In focus: the Swiss electricity mix

10. CO2-Reduction in Switzerland: time to act!

11. Order in the Eco-Inventory jungle

12. Hopes on hydrogen: no quick fixes

13. Severe accidents in the energy sector


Hierarchic Tools for Communication, Learning and UseCETP Movie

Technical Tasks

Background Information

Guided Tour of the ProjectInteractive Software for

Decision-Making


• Fear of oversimplifying• Fear of criticism by other specialists (reputation damage)• Fear of misuse

• Lack of dedicated resources• Lack of experience• Communication of scientific results to stakeholders not always

rewarded in research environment

• Scientific versus policy debate cultures• Who is an expert?• Selective, interest-driven treatment of research results by decision-

and opinion-makers

Communication „Problem“ from Researchers‘ Perspective


Background


Communication: Energie-Spiegel / Energy Mirror• Newsletter of PSI for the comprehensive analysis of energy systems (Projekt GaBE) that appears every four months.

• Circulation: 16 000 German, 1200 French, 500 English• Issues as PDFs at: http://gabe.web.psi.ch/energie-spiegel

Energy Systems Analysis at PSI: The goal• The Goal of energy systems analysis at PSI is to analyze present and future energy systems in a comprehensive and detailed way.

• The scope of Analyses includes health, environmental and economic criteria. • On the basis of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), energy-economic models, risk analysis, pollution transport models and finally multi-criteria decision analysis, it is possible to compare different energy scenarios to create a basis for political decision-making.

GaBE works together with:ETH Zürich; EPF Lausanne; EMPA; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); University of Tokyo;European Union (EU); International Energy Agency (IEA); Organisation für Economic Cooperaton andDevelopment (OECD); United Nations Organization (UNO)


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Stefan HirschbergNEEDS Forum 1, Brussels, 24 May 2005 Contribution to Round Table Discussion: Transparent Information Channels Stefan Hirschberg NEEDS