Buildings account for 40% of total energy consumption and 36% of carbon emissions in Europe. The challenge for research and development is to drastically improve the very poor environmental performance of today’s buildings to counter climate change and secure our global energy resources for the future.
Building energy efficiency can be improved through more environmentally-friendly thermal systems and multi-function building envelope solutions made with high-performance materials.
Electric mobility, with its very low carbon emissions, has seen strong growth in recent years. But the transition to electric mobility will only happen if we can develop battery systems with longer ranges, maintain a very high level of safety, limit the environmental impact of batteries and fuel cells by offering efficient and low-cost recycling, and, finally, take advantage of the massive energy storage offered by electric vehicle batteries—not only to feed energy back into the grid, but also to support increasing renewable energy production.
Reducing energy consumption has been a strategic priority for industrial companies for years. Not only can greater energy efficiency lower production costs, it can also curb carbon emissions if fossil-based fuels are used. To achieve this, it is necessary to reduce waste heat through more efficient processes and to maximize process waste heat recovery and reuse.
Further advances in these three fields will require new disruptive technologies for demand-response management; grid connectivity; multi-scale (load, building, or neighborhood) renewable energy integration; thermal, electrochemical, and hydrogen-based energy storage; interoperability of multiple energy vectors (electricity, heat, hydrogen); and integration of different types of consumption (residential, commercial, industrial, transportation) in smart grids.
The purpose of this research is to help build a more secure energy future for all citizens.
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