The Energy Transition: How Communities Can Embrace Renewable Resources

Green energy is not simply a fad or wave of the future, it is an effort to diversify energy resources that already affect the global energy landscape. The green energy transition is underway on a global scale and is rapidly becoming an integral part of energy consumption now and will only continue to grow into the future.

This growth and integration makes it imperative that we educate our communities not only in the process of renewable energy adoption but also why the transition is important and how their individual energy consumption affects larger impacts.

What is the Green Energy Transition?

The shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is being phased in over time for several reasons.The technology for using these sources is in its relative infancy and are not yet capable of producing the energy capacity to fully replace fossil fuels, especially with a rise in energy demand, but this is also rapidly changing as more and more technologies improve and come online at scale. Public adoption of new technologies, however, is also a barrier. As with most new technologies, adoption rarely happens at a rate commensurate with a rapid large-scale replacement. Overcoming energy resistance takes time. And education.

One of the most crucial steps in making the green energy transition successful is overcoming the knowledge gap that has created an array of clean energy misconceptions.

Most people are familiar with the existence of solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles (EVs), but knowing they exist is far from making use of them in your everyday life. There is a disconnect when it comes to translating the knowledge of their existence into a full understanding of how these technologies work within your life, why using them to replace older energy sources is useful, or how they contribute to creating a sustainable energy future. Recognizing EV usage and knowing they are on the market is only the first step. It is also important for consumers to understand the implications of widespread EV adoption on energy consumption and resources. Bridging this knowledge gap is essential in making the green energy transition happen in effective and efficient ways.

The Clean Energy Knowledge Gap

The clean energy knowledge gap is more pronounced than most people in the industry recognize. According to a recent clean energy survey of more than 5,000 educators with National Theatre for Children (NTC) Professional Educator Network (PEN), only about 40 percent of responding educators are actively teaching their students about energy efficiency and clean energy resources. The results of this survey show the missed opportunity of empowering teachers to help educate the generation that will be most affected by the energy transition–youth. A concerted effort to close the knowledge gap at this level could help make the green energy transition moving forward much smoother over time. But without giving educators the tools and resources to teach about clean energy resources and energy efficiency their power to close this gap is limited. This same survey also found that only around 60 percent of responding educators could correctly define the terms carbon neutral and beneficial electrification, and a full 83 percent had not heard of or could not define Net Zero 2050. The reality is that these concepts are still relatively new, and teachers need resources, tools, and support if they are expected to teach the younger generation about the changing landscape of the energy industry.

Bridging the knowledge gap is going to require empowering educators with the means to instruct the next generation, and if the green energy transition is going to succeed closing this gap matters.

Why Closing the Knowledge Gap Matters

We live in an era punctuated by misinformation. There is evidence to suggest that people are more likely to get information from unreliable sources than ever before, partly due to the proliferation of social media. We prioritize convenience over source credibility, meaning misinformation is on tap in places like social media sites and internet echo chambers, and we voraciously drink it up.

Youth have grown up in a world of easily disseminated misinformation, meaning many of them have never lived in a world where the accuracy of information was a focus. The assumption is that because young people have grown up in an age of digital information, they are better equipped at separating credible information from fake news, but this is not ever remotely accurate. The very reason that they have grown up in this digital information age makes it imperative to equip them with the means to navigate it with sufficient tools. This is why ensuring students have access to reliable, objectively accurate information has never been more important.

NTC’s Approach to Bridging the Gap

NTC bridges the clean energy knowledge gap through education outreach programming that empowers teachers and K-12 students through engaging educational content. Delivering clean energy education through entertaining and accessible channels like live theatre performances, interactive live streams, story-based video content, and graphic novels presents students with clean energy information that sticks.

Through story-based learning techniques and gamification, which drives active participation and makes learning educational content both memorable and relatable. These strategies promote a fuller understanding of the concepts covered and inspire the adoption of beneficial behaviors that are more sustainable over time. This is a powerful approach for many reasons.

The Power of Using Innovative Educational Tools

Using innovative educational tools like live theatre performances, story-based learning techniques and graphic novels presents can help build the bridge to empower educators and close the knowledge gap. Educating students in this information age in ways that cut through the digital noise can help make students care about what they are learning. By creating protagonists that students can empathize with and relate to, they are more likely to actively think about the actions those protagonists can take to overcome challenges and reach goals. It shows students how their actions have consequences and the content becomes more memorable.

This approach also encourages group participation. When students collaborate on interactive learning activities and share memorable experiences with their peers, it inspires them to share those experiences in the home with their families and into their communities. As young people influence change in their households, this can translate into the adoption of beneficial behaviors throughout communities.

Overcoming Barriers to the Green Energy Transition

Working to successfully bridge the clean energy knowledge gap can support meaningful advances in overcoming some of the toughest barriers to moving the green energy transition forward. The more people understand what the move to cleaner energy resources is, why it is important, and how they can take part the easier it will be to tackle renewable transition challenges in the years ahead.

Infrastructure Development

Bridging energy gaps between fossil fuel sources and green energy means first developing the infrastructure to power our modern lives with these new technologies. Whether we are talking about hydro, solar, or wind energy transitions, each of these energy sources require specialized infrastructure. This involves everything from power stations to charging stations, and the lines that connect them. There are a range of energy infrastructure challenges that must be overcome, and we need our communities on board to approve and support these solutions.

Progressive father and daughter plugs EV charger from home charging station to electric vehicle.

Upfront Costs and Financing Concerns

Affordability is always top of mind, and the upfront costs and financing options for building this infrastructure can seem expensive. In the short term, it may seem simpler and less expensive to remain reliant on fossil fuels, but this is a shortsighted approach.

Financing the green energy transition now can save on future costs associated with digging deeper wells, excavating more earth, and salvaging storm-ravaged communities most affected by climate change. These larger implications represent very meaningful renewable energy cost savings over the long run, but if communities do not know or understand this larger picture, it is difficult to make decisions on affordability.

Policy and Regulatory Hurdles

The future of clean energy is also in the hands of policymakers and regulatory agencies. For good green energy policies to be made as we move through the green energy transition, community members need to be on board and advocate locally for what is best for their communities. Educating youth now and inspiring them to influence their wider communities can help overcome hurdles to good green energy policies, not only now, but into the future.

By sponsoring clean energy education outreach programs in schools and using these programs as hubs to educate the wider community about wind, hydro, and solar energy programs available locally, is an effective way to bring the community together around policies that are best for their needs.

Community Resistance

Community resistance is another barrier to adopting sustainable energy solutions and something education can help overcome. Community renewable programs, like those offered by NTC, which use schools as community hubs to educate students, teachers, and families and help build clean energy literacy in communities can support a fuller understanding of what clean energy can support at the local level.

Bridging the Gap

Overcoming the many barriers to the green energy transition requires a solid understanding of what is at stake. Educating youth and using schools as community hubs is an effective way to bridge the knowledge gap now but also to build a stronger bridge for the future. Not only because developing beneficial behaviors early on leads to a lifetime of sustainable living, but also because young people have the ability to affect real change in their households. By sponsoring school education programming utilities can put their outreach resources to work for long-term solutions..

The National Theatre for Children focuses on partnering with energy utilities and other community stakeholders to bridge the clean energy knowledge gap and help communities get on board with the green energy transition. Our creative engagement strategies and targeted outreach methods have been proven to keep students engaged and deliver lessons that stick with them for the long haul. Contact NTC to learn more about bringing clean energy outreach programs to your service territory.

The Energy Transition: How Communities Can Embrace Renewable Resources