On this episode, we speak with Rod Janssen, the man behind the Energy in Demand weekly newsletter and website. He is also the president of Energy Efficiency in Industrial Process. But more aptly, Rod is a true expert in energy efficiency. As you'll hear in this episode Rod's pool of knowledge goes back to the aftermath of the 1970s oil crisis. He shares his experience from then and the renewed focus on energy efficiency to survive another energy crisis. But as we learn from this conversation, good energy efficiency takes years to be built and can't be done just by hooking up a heat pump.
However, as we discuss Europe does have a good foundation on energy efficiency, if it and member states decide to actually get serious about energy efficiency. Rod shares his experience consulting SMEs in Turkey impliment and comply with EU regulations on energy efficiency. These may be EU directives and rules, but as Rod tells us, these are just good and practical policies.
You can also learn why Rod loves heat pumps. I'll give you a hint, his living room in Canada holds 100 people where it gets down to minus 25 degrees.
The second half of the interview we go into details about the interplay between energy efficiency and government policies. This includes how Germany became too dependent on Russian energy and companies to provide gas while also overlooking the security benefits of energy efficiency. As Rod emphasizes, energy efficiency is the 'first fuel', that is you have to look at the demand side before you expand and change the supply side of the energy system. Why build bigger power plants when investing in reducing energy demand is more cost-effective and secure?
Overall, we have a lively - and entertaining - discussion on a better design to energy security - which is investing into reducing the demand for energy. He also appeared on a previous podcast episode. The link is here.
#77 Harvesting the Wind: Planting renewable energy in the Midwest — Sarah Mills
#76 Landscape Shocks: Reframing the Energy Transition — Paula Kivimaa
#75 Theatre of Energy Activism — David Schwartz
#74 Border Zone: Emerging Geopolitical and Climate Risks in Finland — Emma Hakala
#73 A Break in the Wall? The challenge of energy communities — Vjeran Pirsic
#72: The Big Conversation on Germany’s Energy Crisis — Pieter de Pous
#71: Taking action in Romania’s energy transition — Alin Tanase
(Ep. 70) Waking up to Estonia’s Energy Challenge — Ingrid Nielsen
(Ep. 69) Prosecuting modernity: The end of cheap energy — Tere Vadén
(Ep. 68) Phasing out coal in the South East of Europe? — Ioana Ciuta
(Ep.67) The Influence of the Long 1970s Energy Crisis — Rüdiger Graf
(Ep. 66) Economic Incentives for the Energy Transition — Benjamin Görlach
(Ep. 65) Navigating the Energy Price Crisis — Cillian O’Donoghue
(Ep. 64) Breaks in the Wall: History of East-West Energy Relations — Frank Bösch
(Ep. 63) The Massive Challenge of Hydrogen — Florian Kern
(Ep. 62) Europe’s Energy Crisis in a Time of War — Sam Raszewski
(Ep. 61) The return of the Carbon Storm — Michael LaBelle
(Ep. 59) Building the Smart Grid: Algorithms of Entrepreneurship — Cristina Corchero
(Ep. 58) The 1600 TWh Challenge: Innovating our way to zero carbon — Gerard Reid
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