Introducing The Renewable Energy Game

The Renewable Energy Game offers players an engaging way to learn about the land requirements for generating electricity and heat from renewable energy sources. The game is centered around a map of a municipality (or municipalities), which serves as the playing field. This map highlights key features such as protected areas, settlement boundaries, and priority zones for wind power and photovoltaics.

The objective of the game is to strategically place renewable energy facilities within the municipality to meet its electricity and heat demands. Different types of generation facilities are represented by distinct tokens. A moderator tracks the energy supply in real time and displays the results graphically on monitors. The monitors display graphical representations of both the energy demand for heat and electricity and the supply coverage according to the generation facilities placed on the map by the players.

The game has been successfully played with interested members of the public and municipal representatives. It is a great starting point for discussions on energy transition and sustainable planning, offering background knowledge on renewable energy and raising awareness of the energy transition’s requirements and difficulties. The game’s complexity is adaptable to the needs of different age groups and levels of expertise.

Based on the idea of Hartmut Dumke (TU Wien), further developed with BOKU University (IRUB). The featured photos were taken during a workshop in Austria, which was organised as part of the Plenty Life project in December 2024.