Baltic Dynamics: Nordic and Baltic countries should pool efforts and resources

How would you evaluate your research areas (energy efficiency, hydrogen energy etc)- which one has been most successful recently? Can you mention a truly regional co-operation network where R&D has resulted in concrete outcome?

Nordic Energy Research finances energy research projects along the whole knowledge value chain from basic research to applied research and demonstration projects, which means that the timeframe in which research results can be applied in practice or commercialized differs significantly. This said, many of our projects show interesting results up to date.

For example, our "Nordic Centre of Excellence on Hydrogen Storage Materials" has received considerable international attention, and the project participant Thorstein Sigfuson has also received an international prize for his work in 2007 (http://www.nordicenergy.net/onenews.cfm?Id=1-56&path=8). The project "New, innovative pretreatment of Nordic wood for cost-effective fuel-ethanol production", which is a collaborative project with more than 13 partners and with a high level of participation from the industry, has shown significant progress and the results could be instrumental in contributing to the Nordic countries gaining a leading edge in this field. Other more tangible results include the "Hydrogen Highway Partnership" project that has built their first H2 filling stations and thus plays an important role in testing and demonstrating the viability of hydrogen-based transport systems (http://www.nordicenergy.net/onenews.cfm?Id=1-63&path=8).

Several of our projects dealing with energy markets have also developed a knowledge-based and solutions that address important challenges the energy sector is facing today, for example the project "Nordic AMR Forum (Automatic Metre Reading)" has been developing solutions that could contribute to a more flexible and well-functioning electricity market and improved efficiency http://www.sintef.no/Projectweb/AMRforum/.

Nordic Energy Research cooperates closely with the Nordic Innovation Centre http://www.nordicinnovation.net/, so while we support research and development efforts, the Innovation Centre can in a later stage support prospective commercialization of ideas and innovations arising from energy R&D.

In regard to regional co-operation, all our projects have participants from at least 3 Nordic countries, and often have project partners from the Baltic States and North West Russia and thus contribute to establishing and strengthening research networks in the region. In addition to this, we also encourage multidisciplinary collaboration and participation from the energy sector in our projects. Strong networks have been established for example in the fields of biofuels, hydrogen, wind energy and photovoltaics. One very important regional network that has been developed to address the specific energy challenges faced by sparsely populated areas, namely "Nordsesil - Nordic network for sustainable energy solutions in isolated locations". The project aims to significantly improve the capability of energy using communities in the Nordic region to take practical and effective steps to identify, evaluate and access sustainable energy solutions particularly in isolated and Arctic/Baltic areas http://www.nordsesil.net/.

What would be the best way to encourage people/enterprises to invest more in Energy R&D and co-operate across borders?

For small countries such as the Nordic and Baltic countries collaboration and the pooling of efforts and resources makes sense and can help our countries to attain a competitive edge and have a greater impact on the global market. Due to the high level of attention that renewable energy, attainment of targets and integration of renewable energy in the energy system are receiving in the political agendas of countries across the world, it is becoming increasingly clear that strategic and concerted efforts in this area are necessary. In order to achieve good R&D results and cooperation it is essential that there is a specific need and a genuine interest i.e. a drive from users. Cooperation across borders is, of course, stimulated by the identification and sharing of common needs. Many of our projects address issues that are of specific interest in the Nordic countries for example the project "Development and demonstration of an efficient and cost competitive proton exchange membrane fuel cell system for cold Nordic climate" http://www.nordicenergy.net/section.cfm?id=3-0&path=3,25. Proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems run on hydrogen and areprime candidates for vehicle and other mobile applications because of their compactness, however, there are a number of technical challenges that still need to be addressed.

While the Nordic region has favorable framework conditions for investments in sustainable energy systems, there is a need for increased understanding of how the Nordic energy innovation system can be strengthened. In 2007 we launched our NORIA-energy programme, which aims to strengthen the Nordic research and innovation (R&I) area in the energy field, and to aid Nordic decision-makers in developing efficient policies on science, technology and investment in new energy technologies and systems. The projects are being finalised during 2008 and we will host a workshop on the 1st of December to present and discuss findings including strategies for encouraging investments and collaboration.

Are the Nordic and Baltic countries moving on different paths concerning R&D and innovation ? To what extent could their efforts be merged/pooled?

The Baltic countries have been and are to some extent facing a different set of challenges than the Nordic countries, which, of course, has had an impact on the resources available for supporting R&D and innovation. However, rather than moving along different paths, cooperation is being increased and strengthened.

That the Nordic and Baltic countries differ in focus on energy research, and hence have different national comparative advantages in R&D is not a negative. On the contrary, building on the different R&D and technological strongholds is the best way of making progress in this area as a region.

The issue of how to further develop collaboration is a question that is high on our agenda, for example, several of the projects in the NORIA-energy programme have been looking into how collaboration between the Nordic countries, Baltic countries and North West Russia.

Do the Nordic countries (still) differ regarding their input in different fields of energy R&D? For example, Demark as wind energy pioneer, Iceland as hydrogen energy, Finland as ...

Yes, the Nordic countries do differ in regard to strongholds in energy research and in technologies used both due to differences in natural resources and policies. However, since it is increasingly clear that the transition to a sustainable energy system needs to be based on a robust mix of different technologies, this can be seen as a strength rather than an impediment to further collaboration.

The existing Nordic energy cooperation and common electricity market provides an excellent starting point for attaining a leading position in the field of integrating renewable energy into the energy system. By promoting integration, larger, more stable and more predictable markets for renewable sources of energy will be created. Furthermore, concerted efforts in this area should provide ample opportunities for promoting the Nordic and Baltic region as a leading knowledge and competence area for renewable energy.