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On 6 March all Energy Scouts from the Burgas area were still able to meet live and in groups to go through the training topic of project management. On this occasion the YEE team introduced Energy Scouts and tutors to the online conference system WebEx.

On 11 March – shortly before the general curfew in Bulgaria – the training on mobility followed. Seven Scouts took part on site with sufficient distance from each other and nine Scouts joined the training online from Burgas, Varna and Shumen.

On 12 March the topic of presentation techniques, which are more difficult to teach digitally, was discussed. Seven Scouts were on site in Burgas. The last seminar with the focus on resource efficiency took place on 13 March in Burgas, the lecturer was the only person in the room. All Energy Scouts connected online – from their companies or from the home office.

Advantages and disadvantages of online trainings
Crucial for the successful implementation was the joint test of software and hardware with tutors and Energy Scouts. After downloading the software, all Energy Scouts could join the test. On the hardware side, desktops, laptops or tablets have proven to be effective – following presentations over a longer period of time on smartphones is difficult and potentially costly due to the high data volume. With online training courses, even in times without coronavirus, participants can economize on travel costs and shorter breaks are possible. In small groups of up to ten people, an exchange or even discussions are very well possible, says Krassimira Dimitrova.

The main disadvantage is the missing personal exchange and informal networking between lecturers and Scouts during the breaks which makes social contact more difficult. Currently this social distancing is a necessary and widely accepted consequence.

In the future, Young Energy Europe will focus on digital solutions wherever possible and reasonable in order to continue the success story of the Energy Scouts.

KÖVET is a non-profit association of 54 Hungarian companies and 25 partners from science and civil society who exchange practical and solution-oriented information on topics as corporate climate action, environmental management systems and corporate social responsibility (CSR).

KÖVET is the Hungarian partner of the EUKI project ALLIES, whose aim is it to activate investments in cost-effective energy efficiency projects by involving local organizations as investors, intermediaries and beneficiaries.

We are looking forward to the results of this collaboration!

In the right picture Ludwig Karg, B.A.U.M. Group, explains the EUKI project ALLIES to about 50 participants of the conference. (©KÖVET)

And in the foto left we can see an example of the presentation.  Numerous presentations at the conference addressed the interaction between sustainable development and economic growth. (©KÖVET)

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The Energy Scouts of Askofruit, a company producing organic products from pomegranates, won the competition. As part of their project, Energy Scouts Konstantinos Spyridopoulos and Vlassis Dalmaris examined the energy consumption of the company’s transport operations and cooling processes. By using photovoltaics and off-peak electricity, they identified significant saving potentials and estimated a potential reduction of CO₂ emissions to less than a third annually (from 69t per year to 21t as soon as the measures are implemented).

Second place went to Energy Scout Nikos Moutsesidis of the brickworks Akek S.A. The company requires a lot of energy for their production processes and especially for brurning bricks. The project intends the installation of a photovoltaic system to produce electricity for the company from solar energy. The system can be used to supply the company or the electricity can be fed into the grid. The CO₂ savings potential of the project is 17,500t per year.

Kiara Koutoulakis of Koronekes, an oil mill that produces exclusively organic olive oil, came in third place. In her project she suggested the retrofitting of regular lights to LED lights, the added installation of inverters to the motors in the oil mill and the replacement of disposable plastic cups used for oil tasting.

A number of Scouts from Cretan hotels had also taken part in the workshops, however, they were not able not participate in the award ceremony because the tourist season on Crete is currently in full swing. They will have the opportunity to present their efficiency projects during the Athens award ceremony at the end of the year.