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CenSES annual report 2013
14
«Grønn Fase» (Green Phase) is a think tank consisting
of PhD candidates and master students studying
different aspects of climate friendly energy. Primarily it
represents the eleven Norwegian Centres for environ-
ment-friendly energy research, gathering representa-
tives from several different research communities all
through Norway. The project is coordinated by RA1
PhD candidate Trine Unander.
The primary goal of Grønn Fase is to provide ideas to
the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy on how Norway
can contribute with technology to solve energy and
climate challenges. As means to do so, Grønn Fase
seeks to generate interdisciplinary initiatives within
climate research. On a societal level, it is also a goal
to attract attention to climate friendly energy, and to
contribute to an educated public debate on the issue.
RA1 consists of four work packages:
•
WP1 Comparative analysis of governance and
public policy for energy systems
•
WP2 Assessment of national policy instruments for
promoting sustainable energy
•
WP3 Transition pathways from an oil and gas
economy to a low-emission economy with a focus
on emerging technologies
•
WP4 Innovations and learning in energy policy
Research in 2013
One of the aims of RA1 (WP 1) is to do comparative
analysis of governance and public policy for energy
systems. CenSES researchers Gard H. Hansen, Henrik
Karlstrøm and Markus Korsnes have arranged a suc-
cessful summer course at Shanghai Jiaotong Univer-
sity, 24 June to 12 July, 2013.
The overall objective of the course ‘Energy, Environ-
ment and Society’ was to provide students insight
into the political, economic, environmental and social
aspects of energy production and consumption.
Student assignments resulted in five reports based on
the topics students chose to research: 1) Students of
SJTU; their opinions and priorities concerning environ-
mental issues and renewable energy, 2) Policies
RA1 Policy Making and Transition Strategies
and practices in the transport sector in Shanghai, 3)
Case Study: Shanghai Electric Wind Company and
Chinese Wind Turbine Market Forces, 4) Taxi policies
in Shanghai’s 12th five year plan and how these are
being met and 5) Waste management and recycling in
Shanghai. This course activity may prove valuable also
for research collaboration between China and Norway,
including the potential for comparative analysis of
policies for energy systems.
Important milestones in RA1 are both the production
and dissemination of results from studies of policies
of energy efficiency. Henrik Karlstrøm and Håkon Fyhn
have both investigated new developments in energy
efficiency policies, with particular focus on the role of
intermediary actors, and have engaged in a wide array
of dissemination arenas, from IEA Task working groups
to user meetings with representatives from Enova and
building industry as well as research conferences.
Wind Energy is also a central object of research in RA1
(WP3), specifically focused on ongoing efforts among
policy actors, industries and venture capitalists to
shape offshore wind as an emergent technology. Our
work on this have resulted in research publications on
cross-sectorial knowledge spillovers in the North Sea
(Gard H. Hansen and Markus Steen) and on the Nor-
wegian policy triangle (Gard H. Hansen).
Grønn Fase focuses on three main activities. It has an
online blog (www.gronnfase.org); it cooperates with
The Norwegian Research School in Renewable Energy
(NorRen) at their summer course; and every second
year it also gives out a price of 50 000 NOK, to the PhD
candidate or master student coming up with the best
idea concerning climate-friendly energy.
Grønn Fase is based on voluntary work from dedi-
cated scholars and students. In 2013, PhD candidates
connected to NORCOWE, NOWITECH and CenSES had
essential roles in leading the activity of the think tank.
The main focus through the year was aimed at intensi-
fying the activity on the blog, resulting in an increase
of publishing-frequency from once every two months
till twice a month. The subject of the articles varied
Grønn fase – a green think tank for PhD-candidates and master students