Balkowski, J., & Reinisch, M. (2025). Technological and Social Innovations to Promote Engagement for the Energy Transition and Pro-Environmental Behavior. In Ecological Turn with Intelligence (Vol. 13, pp. 131–143). World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789819820559_0009
Climate change is leading to more frequent extreme weather events worldwide and threatening ecosystems, infrastructure, and social well-being. Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires a fundamental transformation of energy systems.
Households play an important role in this effort, as they account for a significant portion of energy consumption. Digital innovations, including applications based on machine learning and large language models, can raise environmental awareness by highlighting local climate impacts and providing information on options for action.
How can digital innovations support processes of social transformation?
Using the EnerVi project as an example, the article in the anthology Ecological Turn with Intelligence demonstrates how digital innovations can support societal transformation processes and actively involve citizens in the energy transition. It also examines which factors promote or hinder the adoption and use of such innovations.
Households play an important role in the energy transition. However, there have not yet been sufficient incentives to translate awareness of the need to transform the energy system into measurable actions. AI-powered applications have great potential to appeal to households on an emotional level and thus encourage climate-positive energy behavior. — Julian Balkowski, Co-Author
You can read the article ‘Technological and Social Innovations to Promote Engagement for the Energy Transition and Pro-Environmental Behaviour’ here.
More on the topic
Studys in the field of digitisation and Green IT
Projects in the field of digitisation and Green IT
Research: Sustainable Innovation
EnerVI: Individualized visualization of energy transition measures
As part of the EnerVi project, funded by the BMWE, Borderstep is developing a web application that illustrates the impacts of the energy transition and climate change in people’s immediate living environments. With the help of AI-powered visualisations, members of the public can explore different future scenarios for their neighbourhood or place of residence and understand the consequences of individual and societal decisions.
The aim of the project is to promote sustainable behaviour and to make the energy transition more understandable and tangible for people. The project partners are Unetiq, Goethe Universität Frankfurt and VDW.
Topics
Transition of the energy system • Renewable energy • Energy efficiency • Transition of the heating system • Heat pumps • Sector coupling
The authors
Julian Balkowski is a researcher at the Borderstep Institute. The industrial engineer conducts research into the climate and environmental impacts of digital technologies in the energy sector. His research focuses on Digitisation and Green IT, energy efficiency in the ICT sector, digital technologies for the heating transition, and resilient energy and telecommunications systems.
Publisher
How to cite
Balkowski, J., & Reinisch, M. (2025). Technological and Social Innovations to Promote Engagement for the Energy Transition and Pro-Environmental Behavior. In Ecological Turn with Intelligence (Vol. 13, pp. 131–143). World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789819820559_0009
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Green Economy