EU’s AURORA undertaking: Instrument tells you the way a lot CO₂ your way of life emits

In the face of a local weather disaster, the AURORA undertaking is placing folks, significantly college students, on the forefront of the power transition. Using digital instruments, neighborhood initiatives and experiential studying, it demonstrates how on a regular basis choices can contribute to international sustainability targets.

Central to this strategy is AURORA’s Energy Tracker app. Available for Android and iOS techniques, it quantifies customers’ carbon emissions from heating, electrical energy use and transport, whereas providing personalised steering.

“The Energy Tracker app provides users with an accurate record of the carbon emissions they produce, and presents the results against a carbon labelling scheme,” defined Ana Belén Cristóbal López, undertaking coordinator on behalf of the Technical University of Madrid. Users can monitor their very own emissions, and obtain tailor-made suggestions on cut back their power consumption. They may see how neighborhood investments in renewable power round them can assist offset their carbon footprint.

Real-world affect by way of neighborhood power

AURORA supported community-owned photovoltaic installations in 5 international locations, similar to a big rooftop photo voltaic set up at Denmark’s Aarhus University. Student and workers members can make investments a small a part of their financial savings in these installations, benefitting from returns at rates of interest often increased than these proposed by the banking sector. 

The Energy Tracker app exhibits customers how this renewable power is offsetting their private carbon footprint. As Cristóbal López defined: “With AURORA, cooks, cleaners and students can take a stake in the energy transition for little more than the price of a pint of beer, with cheaper energy than that obtained from the energy grid.” 

In Madrid, the Colegio Centro Cultural Palomeras is pioneering Spain’s first school-based neighborhood renewable power scheme. With funding from native residents, the Technical University of Madrid and no less than one worldwide contributor, set up was accomplished in the summertime of 2025. Meanwhile, Slovenia’s University of Ljubljana and the United Kingdom’s Forest of Dean are advancing comparable initiatives, overcoming authorized and institutional obstacles alongside the best way.

Implementing university-based power communities didn’t come with out authorized complexities. At Aarhus University, the staff spent over two years navigating stakeholder pursuits and regulatory hurdles. “Full-time support for those putting in place energy communities was essential,” mentioned Cristóbal López, emphasising that EU funding enabled this programme to succeed. 

Lessons from expertise and future ambitions

These tasks should not simply technical feats however social experiments in possession, empowerment and inclusion. In this regard, AURORA’s deal with college students is greater than symbolic. “It was important to work with the generation who will be most affected by climate change,” mentioned Cristóbal López. By involving college students in monitoring and decreasing their emissions, the undertaking fosters long-term behavioural change. Early proof exhibits promise, though altering habits will likely be a gradual course of.

Looking forward, the undertaking is getting ready to scale up and share all its outputs throughout the EU. The staff notably arrange a brand new Citizen Science Working Group, supported by the European Climate Pact, which goals to standardise strategies and instruments to be used throughout Europe and past. They are additionally working to reinforce the Energy Tracker app with automated information inputs and regional variations. Stakeholders past Europe have already proven curiosity, with ongoing discussions on how the tracker app may be modified to be used in India.

AURORA plans to current its mannequin to the entire world on the UN Environment Assembly in 2025. With open science ideas and a collaborative ethos, the undertaking envisions citizen science as a key instrument for assembly local weather targets. “We are building strong support to encourage people to replicate what we have achieved,” provides Martin Brocklehurst, AURORA associate and chair of the Citizen Science Global Partnership.

Through grassroots motion and digital innovation, AURORA exemplifies how EU-funded analysis can bridge coverage and apply, empowering folks to behave on local weather change in significant, measurable methods.