The users in alternative energy consist of Solar energy providers, Wind energy providers, Tidal energy providers, Hydroelectric energy providers, Energy and Carbon traders, Local and regional planners, and National policy makers. Energy providers need information about the state of the environment to make the most use out of natural resources. Planners and policy makers have to weigh up whether and which type of alternative energy is justifiable and sensible for a specific region.
EO data can be used to build maps that show resource information. For solar energy, those maps contain information about solar radiation, but also shadowing effects. Forecast products for irradiance are available to be able to plan the energy production for the coming days. Tidal waves can be depicted by sea surface heights. As tidal currents are periodical, they can be predicted well by the initial state of sea surface heights. In addition, also the speed of tidal waves can be determined by EO measurements. In the wind energy sector EO data is analysed to plan and monitor wind farms. Maps can show areas, where winds are suitable for wind energy production. After the construction of a wind farm, wind strength and direction during operation can be monitored. Finally, for hydroelectric power stations EO is used to monitor water reservoirs. As well hydrometeorological data is used to forecast water-related events and to monitor drought or floods.
Energy transition is a thematic area whose EO experts are proficient in relevant EO data and its processing methods and infrastructure to derive information for energy transition [and its regulatory context, etc.]. The expertise of each expert may be very specialized. In sum, the experts have: The relevant domain knowledge (knowledge about type of monitored entities and their properties, e.g. reflectance properties of sea ice and related EO sensors for detecting them), and The relevant workflow knowledge and processing skills for extracting and providing targeted information for energy transition. [may share strategic objectives… such as „gaining thorough understanding of Energy transition“, „foster usage of EO information for energy transition“]