Article du Soir suite à la sortie de notre scénario Negawatt BE.

Pas question de retour à la bougie, ni du mode vie Amish, mais bien de mesures réalistes visant à plus de sobriété sans impact sur la qualité de vie. On parvient ainsi à diminuer de 1/3 le coût de la transition énergétique, on diminue la pression sur les écosystèmes, sur l'extraction minéraux, on augmente notre indépendance énergétique, et on se passe de technologies chères et incertaines.

Plus de détails: https://www.negawatt.be/que-fait-on/le-scenario-negawatt-belgium/

Renewables weren’t to blame for the 2025 Iberian blackout — and history repeats itself.

They’re often the scapegoat:

- 2016 South Australia: blackout blamed on wind, but storms hit the power lines.

- 2021 Texas blackout: "frozen turbines" blamed, but the gas supply failed.

As explained in Le Soir (May 10, 2025), renewables are compatible with stable grids and technical solutions exist to manage both frequency and voltage

Where is hydrogen needed most for EU decarbonization?

In this research, we prioritize hydrogen end-uses at various increasing emission reduction targets:
-50%:Ammonia production
-75% Long-range freight
-90% chemical industry and steel production
Net zero: synthetic fuels (e.g for aviation)

That's in line with @mliebreich 's #EnergyLadder, in particular: H₂ should NOT be used for space heating or for individual mobility

More details in the publication: https://hdl.handle.net/2268/325439

What comes to mind when thinking about the energy transition?

🌞 For most, it’s about renewables
♻️ Some think about energy efficiency
❗ But almost no one considers reducing end-use demands

In our latest piece for Nature Communications, we explore this often-overlooked approach: achieving climate goals through "sufficient" energy consumption, and without relying on uncertain technologies like CCS or Nuclear

Link to the paper: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53393-0

Decarbonizing industrial process heat?
In a case study for the 100-200°C range in Belgium we show that:
- High temperature heat pumps are the way to go
- The additional electricity consumption for the country remains limited
- Most importantly, by adding cheap thermal storage, the grid impact can be positive in case of high shares of renewables!

https://doi.org/10.3390/en17020541

Most relevant conclusion (according to me) from our new paper on the energy transition in Bolivia:

"An energy transition based on renewable energy is currently more cost-effective than the traditional fossil fuel-based energy system".

Great modeling work by Carlos Fernandez Vazquez and Thomas Vansighen!

https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1i1SI4s9Hw9tGh

Très chouette conversation avec le professeur Francesco Contino pour le podcast #Exergie

On y parle de chaleur dans les processus industriels, de modèles mathématiques pour simuler la transition énergétique et de l'importance de la sobriété.

https://podcastics.com/podcast/episode/la-chaleur-dans-tous-ses-etats-le-systeme-energetique-et-la-sobriete-256049/