INTERNATIONAL HACKATHON CHALLENGE: EMPOWER

01-04-2021

THE HACKATHON

On Saturday the 1st of May, students from all over the world joined the international hackathon Empower. The challenge? Design solutions fighting energy poverty for lower incomes in the energy transition. Inspired by keynote speakers Georgios Koukoufikis (EU researcher), Stefan Goemaere (Papillon project) and Robert Hemmen (WeSpark) the students – surprised the audience with 7 unique, creative and innovative ideas at the end of the day. And the winner is… Team Energetic Five, consisting of Belgium, Danish and Dutch students.

Read the summary of the day

CLEAN ENERGY FOR EVERYONE

The European Green Deal is the roadmap for making the EU economy sustainable. This will only succeed if we use the climate and environmental problems in all policy areas as an opportunity to make the transition as fair and inclusive as possible for everyone.

By 2030 we want to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement: 40% less CO2 emissions. The European target is to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Energy poverty is a widespread problem in Europe: between 50 and 125 million inhabitants cannot afford good thermal comfort indoors.

We want green energy for everyone!

And the winner is… The Energetic V

After each presentation, the public could vote for the pitches. The presentations were assessed on creativity, feasibility and the level of impact. The winner of the 7 teams is The Energetic V. Congratulations to: Ankush Venugopal, Bart van Woesik, Carolina Paes and Sander Paelinck. Watch the winning pitch below.