20 Years of IREES: Lightning Interview with Elisabeth Dütschke

Elisabeth Dütschke, shareholder at IREES since 2014, in our lightning interview:

1️⃣ Elisabeth, what do you do at IREES?
As a shareholder at IREES, I take part in discussions on strategic questions.

2️⃣ Which favourite project has stayed with you?
I am always impressed by how IREES connects high-level policy, scientific approaches and concrete implementation. That is evident right now in advisory projects for the federal ministries on the heat transition, alongside the development of municipal heat plans. I also have particularly fond memories of the lighting studies for schools that IREES carried out some years ago. They looked not only at what was then the new technology of LEDs, but also at how it was perceived and how school communities responded to it . Today LEDs are the standard everywhere — but moving away from incandescent bulbs and fluorescent tubes was far from trivial. The “new light” was seen as harsh, for instance, and there were important discussions to be had.

3️⃣ What has changed in the energy sector since then, and how do you look ahead?
The low-hanging fruit of the energy transition has been picked; the questions ahead are far more complex. In my view, the capabilities of a flexible institute like IREES — where different perspectives and disciplines work closely together — are becoming ever more important. There are plenty of problems to solve, so let’s get on with it. I look forward to shaping the future together.