Table 11. Summary of barriers and facilitators of a clean energy transition

Patwardhan et al. (2012) contrasts Australia’s initial slow adoption of on-grid (i.e. large-scale) renewable energy with the experiences in Germany and Japan. The regulations, government incentives and strong industrial environments in these countries assisted these technologies to become mainstream. The authors emphasise that such studies highlight the importance of integrated energy, industrial and technology policies to achieve a rapid transition. The need to focus on more than just technical skills is also corroborated by a survey of more than 300 executives on moving organisational energy use to 100 per cent renewables (Deloitte, 2019). It found that while a workforce with the required technical skills was seen as very important, other ecosystem factors such as policy or regulatory changes, availability of new or additional finance sources and structures, and simpler contracts or markets were seen as even more important.

The rapid review undertaken for this project highlighted a range of clean energy transition barriers and facilitators. Skills and training are one area of focus, but there are other areas that need to be addressed, including the business, technology, community and cross-sectoral areas. A summary of the findings on barriers and facilitators is presented in Table 11.

Table 11. Summary of barriers and facilitators of a clean energy transition

CATEGORY BARRIERS FACILITATORS

Business-related • Lack of business models

• Difficult to quantify financials • Limited financial resources

Technology / infrastructure • Emerging technologies • Infrastructure changes • Operational changes

Skills and training • Skill/ workforce deficiencies • University training does not reflect skill/ workforce needs

• Poor consensus & coordination between tertiary institutions

Community & cross-sectoral • Low citizen involvement

• Low trust between parties • Lack of ambition

• Lack of knowledge • Power imbalances • Perceptions of being beneficial/ good investments

• Government support, especially at the municipal level

• Courses with high industry interface, practical and problem-solving content • Continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities from industry

• Perceptions of being beneficial • High awareness • Shared commitment

• Good stakeholder cooperation

A focus on technical skills requirements and shortages alone is thus not sufficient to enable a successful clean energy transition. Skills to enable changes in governance, business model and consumer behaviour alongside the implementation of new technologies are crucial. Social or cross-cutting skills are particularly important to make the case for change, and to foster collaboration between various trades, industries and other stakeholder groups that might not have conventionally worked together.

The importance of a socio-technical approach is also explored in the context of innovation pathways in Work Package 3 – see Section 6.5.2. Training and professional development programs to ensure adequate skills