Anthony King explores how the AURORA energy app powers local communities and manages energy use.
An energy app developed by EU-funded researchers is helping neighboring countries reduce their carbon footprint, reap modest benefits and boost the use of clean power in their communities.
A school in Madrid is now powered by solar panels on its roof, thanks to an investment by local residents. Participants were only able to donate 20 euros, but together they raised almost 150,000 euros.
Palomeras School’s crowdfunding campaign was part of AURORA, an EU-funded initiative that allows citizens to track their energy usage and invest in local clean energy projects using a simple smartphone app.
Since the collaboration began in December 2021, thousands of people in Denmark, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and the UK have downloaded the AURORA Energy Tracker app. We offer practical ways to reduce your personal carbon footprint, such as participating in a community plan to install solar panels.
“We are empowering people,” said Ana Cristobal, a professor at Spain’s Polytechnic Institute of Madrid, who led the project.
Transforming everyday choices into climate action
As part of the European Green Deal, the EU has set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, with proposals for a 90% reduction by 2040 and climate neutrality by 2050.
Various studies, including one by UN climate experts, suggest that individual action, supported by policy and technology, could reduce global emissions by 40-70% by 2050. But progress has been spotty and there has been a backlash against what some see as constant preaching.
“Some people feel that politicians are always telling them how to act, and that can make them reluctant to take action,” Cristobal said. There are also practical issues. Many people don’t have the flexibility to follow well-meaning advice.
Cristobal himself drives 10 minutes to work. It will take more than an hour by public transportation.
“I have three children and my life is very complicated. I can’t afford to spend so much time on public transport,” she explained. “But you may be able to compensate for this behavior by doing other positive things.”
This app is designed to help people do just that. Users enter information about their electricity, heating, and transportation habits and receive an energy label and customized suggestions for reducing emissions tailored to their country.
citizen energy ambassador
“This is a way to help ordinary people reduce their carbon footprint,” said Martin Brocklehurst, consultant and chair of the Citizen Science Global Partnership, a Vienna-based network that connects citizen science groups and United Nations agencies.
Mr Brocklehurst is one of AURORA’s citizen science ambassadors, helping to promote the app, explain how it works and encourage students, residents and councils across the EU and UK to take part in community energy schemes. The idea is to turn a technology project into a citizens’ movement.
Unlike many similar apps, AURORA provides an accurate picture of a person’s carbon footprint, Brocklehurst said. He tested it himself. After two years of emissions tracking, we reached net-zero emissions from home energy use and non-international travel.
“So I started asking questions like: Do we really need to fly that much? Could we have more online meetings?” he said. “And there are ways to reduce emissions that can actually make people money.”
solar power, local money
At Palomeras, solar panels now generate electricity on-site, and the inefficient cooling system has been replaced with a heat pump. This is important in Madrid, where climate change is causing more frequent and intense heatwaves.
More than 170 people from the area around Vallecas, a historically working-class area in southeast Madrid, invested in the project. After four months of crowdfunding, around €150,000 has been raised in collaboration with local solar energy cooperative Ecooo.
Brocklehurst recalled that Sara Alcántarilla Moreno, head of research at the Palomeras School, said at an online energy event that “we never expected to get this much money from a working-class area of Madrid.”
For investors, the app calculates how much their contributions help offset fossil fuel usage and carbon emissions. You also get a higher return on investment than regular bank savings. Once the investment is repaid, the school is expected to reduce its utility costs by approximately 40%.
“We can show people how to reduce their energy costs and get a return on investment that benefits the community,” Brocklehurst said. Energy prices can be reduced by around 10% and up to 40% if local energy plans are developed.
“All of these plans are shifting the profits of fossil fuel companies back to local communities and community energy cooperatives,” Brocklehurst said.
What EU funding has made possible
EU funding has enabled the AURORA team to test this approach in very different environments, from working-class neighborhoods in Madrid to university campuses across Europe. Comparing experiences reveals how national rules and social attitudes support or discourage regional energy projects.
Universities in Slovenia, Portugal and Madrid have considered similar plans, but all have run into legal hurdles. Progress has often been slowed by complex rules about who can own rooftop panels, how electricity can be shared, and how citizen crowdfunding can be run.
However, at Aarhus University in Denmark, solar panels have been installed on the engineering faculty building, and electricity is now sold directly to the university through a community energy scheme.
“When I started my PhD, the technology was too expensive,” Cristobal said. “Currently, the main barrier is legal.” Eliminating them should be a priority for policymakers, she argues.
From campus pilot to global expansion
Researchers are currently exploring how AI can make apps smarter and more personalized. In the future, users may receive a message similar to the following: “We analyzed last year’s data. Did you know that Madrid has government subsidies to help you switch to electric cars?”
Although EU funding for the scheme ended in November 2025, the app remains active and is seeing increasing use outside the original pilot area.
Cristobal and his colleagues are working with the Citizen Science Global Partnership to explore ways to scale this approach globally, starting with a session at the United Nations Environment Assembly in December 2025.
“We need people to be part of the energy transition,” she said. “This alone could accelerate the path to net zero by 19%.”
Mr Brocklehurst said the challenge was to empower people to make choices that would benefit the energy transition, but stressed that empowering them could make a big difference.
“Frankly, at the scale and pace at which climate change is occurring, we have no choice but to make efforts to engage people in this way.”
This article was originally published in Horizon, EU Research and Innovation Magazine.
The research for this article was funded by the EU’s Horizon program.
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