Reason enough for us to celebrate this with our employees, investors, partners and supporters - and to debate energy transition with renowned speakers: On the stage of the Freistadt exhibition hall, well-known personalities such as the bestselling author and speaker Marc Elsberg gathered. With his scientific thrillers, the Viennese-born author makes topics like blackouts accessible to everyone in a gripping way. The fact that in the identically titled thriller "Blackout - Morgen ist es zu spät!" a blackout is caused by a cyberattack by terrorists invited the panelists to reflect on the energy supply. The Minister for Environment, Leonore Gewessler, who joined via video clip, also found clear words for the importance of the sources of our energy security, especially in view of the war in Ukraine: "It is unbearable in what kind of situation we have put ourselves into in Europe - and that we support a war of aggression with it every day."
Climate activist and UN advisor Marc Buckley indicated, "Current problems like the Corona pandemic and the Ukraine war overshadow a major problem that will outlast all others: Climate change. Triggered by an immense hunger for energy, we are not only alarmingly endangering security in Europe - and world peace - but also fuelling global warming."
The energy transition is therefore just as essential as the mobility transition for the future of humanity. The latter could be initiated because the chicken-and-egg problem of e-mobility could already be solved through digitalisation, emphasised the Alexander Kirchgasser of has.to.be : "You have to keep in mind: In the bloody beginnings of motorised mobility, you had to buy petrol at the pharmacy. Of course, there was no petrol station network for cars with combustion engines yet. This was only built up in the following decades. The situation was similar about a hundred years later with electric cars. There was no network. These networking problems were solved by connecting charging stations and thus creating an ecosystem on the drawing board that did not exist before. Currently, about 1 million charging transactions take place in Europe - that was only made possible by digitalisation."
However, with the mobility transition, which was initiated by politicians several years ago, only one important part of the measures that we as humanity must take to protect ourselves from climate change, carbonisation and blackouts has been implemented.
The other part is the energy transition. The basis for this is not only technical know-how, but also the legal framework. Austria is taking a pioneering role here. It was one of the first countries implementing the corresponding EU requirements and creating the regulatory basis for the energy transition in Austria with the Erneuerbaren Ausbau Gesetz (EAG - Renewable Energy Expansion Act). The political will is therefore indispensable and was strongly emphasised by Leonore Gewessler in her video message. The Energy Minister urged the phase-out of oil and gas and the expansion of renewable energies. Another key factor for the Minister is breaking up the monopoly position of the energy companies in setting electricity prices - after all, the majority of citizens have so far only participated in the energy market as end customers. Through energy communities, they will now also be given the role of electricity producers in order to distribute energy more regionally and from 100% renewable sources.
We were able to introduce something completely new here: KLUUB, a feature in the newly introduced neoom app, which enables the creation of Renewable Energy Communities (RES).
The EAG plays a key role here, as essential fees are eliminated. This makes electricity cheaper for the person who buys it, and buyer gets more electricity for his money. The electricity becomes more valuable for the person who sells it, because there is more left in the net amount," explains the CEO and founder of neoom, Walter Kreisel. This new energy market offers other great advantages: very short transport routes and the good conscience that the electricity one consumes and passes on comes 100% from renewable sources in the region.
In the subsequent Future Talk, the well-known meteorologist Andreas Jäger was brought on stage as a surprise guest and explored the question of whether climate change is man-made. His conclusion: "Humans play a key role in climate change. The advantage is that we are not a toy in the hands of larger powers. We can do something about it. Therefore, it is up to all of us to join forces to usher in the energy transition."