This year, the Khmelnytskyi Energy Cluster team organized a training course for regional journalists entitled “Energy Literacy for Journalists 2.0.”

 

The event took place on July 10–12 in Khmelnytskyi and included visits to energy facilities in the Teofipol and Khmelnytskyi communities. Fifteen media representatives from nine regions of Ukraine took part in the event.

 

Over the course of three days, participants had the opportunity to learn more about the challenges and prospects for the development of the energy sector, familiarize themselves with practical case studies, and talk to experts.

 

During the training, thanks to the invited experts, seven topics directly related to energy issues were discussed:

• Stanislav Ignatiev, Doctor of Technical Sciences, associate expert at the Ukrainian Institute of the Future, professor at the Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic National University, spoke about the impact of the war on the Ukrainian energy sector, the forecast for electricity consumption and the energy mix until 2030;

• Vira Balabukh, Candidate of Geographical Sciences, Senior Researcher, Head of the Department of Applied Meteorology and Climatology at the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, explained how energy affects climate change;

• Tetiana Boiko, co-founder and coordinator of housing and communal programs of the OPORA civil network, spoke about energy efficiency in buildings and current state programs; 

• Sofia-Yulia Sydorenko, chair of the Ukrainian Zero Waste Alliance public association, explained why waste incineration is not about the country's energy independence.

• Maksym Babaiev, project manager at VITAGRO, talked about how to write about green energy correctly.

• Vadym Krychkovskyi, PhD, director of Organic D LLC and co-founder of Miscanthus Technology LLC, spoke about bioenergy and its development in Ukraine using specific case studies;

• Olga Lyashchuk, project coordinator at the Ecoclub NGO, and Artem Kolesnik, energy policy expert at the Ecodiy NGO, talked about nuclear energy and myths that are still relevant today.

 

The training included a practical part—field trips to facilities:

• in Teofipol: Teofipol Energy Company, a communal solar power station at a local clinic, a boiler room fueled by locally produced pellets;

• infrastructure facilities in Khmelnytskyi: Khmelnytskyi Heat and Power Plant cogeneration units, thermally modernized condominiums, a biogas plant at a landfill, a waste management center, and the Gufi Center waste management training center.