Current Projects
Project | Summary |
|---|---|
PHOENIX – Launch Space Power-to-X | For the successful transformation of the Rhenish lignite mining area into a region of the future for sustainable economic activity, the regional energy-intensive industries need low-emission and future-proof solutions that are independent of fossil fuel imports. The focus of Launch Space Power-to-X (PHOENIX) is the further development, demonstration and implementation of the most promising approaches of Power-to-X (P2X) technologies. The generation of material energy carriers such as basic chemicals and platform chemicals, circular fuels and combustibles, as well as heat and gases from biogenic or unavoidable industrial CO2 sources, opens up the way to novel, sustainable and self-sufficient value creation pathways. This will help to secure existing jobs in the Rhenish mining region, create sustainable jobs and at the same time reduce dependence on fossil fuel and raw material imports. |
AI4CarbonFreeHeating | Decarbonizing the Austrian building sector is crucial for achieving climate goals. The Renewable Heat Act prohibits the installation of heating systems powered by fossil fuels in new buildings and supports the replacement of existing fossil fuel-based systems. This poses financial, logistical, and social challenges for the population. The AI4CarbonFreeHeating project develops open-source methods for large-scale collection of building data in Austria using AI models. It creates digital building models that analyze the effects of climate change and renovation measures, providing scenarios for developing decarbonization strategies at the municipal and national levels. |
UK Networking Grant | The project aims to identify potential barriers to the adoption of fuel cells and battery technologies in heavy-duty freight transport. By engaging with key stakeholders – including government bodies and industry lobbies, local logistics companies, and leading researchers – the project seeks to uncover patterns and challenges that may impact the future implementation of these technologies. Through a series of three workshops, expert interviews, and collaborative research, the network will provide insights to guide stakeholders and policymakers in advancing the global shift towards greener heavy-duty transport solutions. |
Eco-T-REX | Economic implementation of biomass-based processes for the production of value-added products requires three main issues to be addressed: the possible product range has to be extended, the separation processes for obtaining the products have to be improved, and catalytic steps have to be designed robustly and efficiently. To achieve this goal, all process steps need to be considered in an integrated way to exploit synergies. The scalability of the biomass-based process needs to be assessed and, if necessary, trimmed to become truly relevant on an industrial scale. In Eco-T-REX, a complete process for the production of bio-based mono- and polymers is developed in which three process steps are coupled with each other. In a first step, C4 components such as 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO) are produced from sugar by fermentation. The focus is on the most selective possible production of the target components as well as strain development in order to make further C4 derivatives such as butanal accessible by fermentation to intensify and broaden biobased synthesis for bioeconomy. In order to efficiently separate the biotechnologically produced products such as 2,3-BDO from the diluted aqueous media, novel green solvents are used for extraction, namely terpenoids. These offer particularly good extraction efficiencies in combination with advantages in downstream distillative processing, so that the target products can be obtained with low-energy input in the cell-free (“clean”) head fraction of the distillation. The further processing of the monomers obtained for polymerization is mainly dependent on the catalyst and the reaction conditions. In the case of biobased production of the monomers, these must now be specifically adapted to the new conditions (e.g. sidecomponents) in order to be able to produce polymers with suitable physiochemical properties. This holistic process development is guided by economic factors such as scalability of the process and techno-economic analysis of the process steps to finally arrive at an actually feasible process. This will also be demonstrated in scaled-up form as a proof-of-concept within the framework of Eco-T-REX. |
ValorCO2 | A thriving bioeconomy is essential for achieving a carbon-neutral or even carbon-negative society. However, the current production processes of industrial biotechnology rely on glucose from starch and sucrose, which poses challenges in terms of land use and competition with the food industry. This is particularly true for creating fine chemicals, low-cost bulk chemicals, or biofuels. ValorCO2 aims to address these challenges by directly utilizing CO2 instead of relying on biomass. The Knallgasbacterium Cupriavidus necator is of interest due to its lithoautotrophic metabolism, coupling CO2 fixation with H2 oxidation, allowing for CO2-neutral chemical production. The project will focus on using protein and metabolic engineering to valorize CO2 into valuable biopolymers (polylactide) and fine chemicals (oxyfunctionalized cyclic amines). The project will also tackle challenges related to molecular biology tools, process conditions of gas fermentation, and optimal metabolic fluxes in C. necator. The economic competitiveness of gas fermentation with C. necator will be evaluated through socio-economic assessment. The expected outcome of ValorCO2 is a general workflow for the design of recombinant C. necator strains and gas fermentation process engineering, along with a defined roadmap for industrial implementation of the technology. |
DryHy | Ziel des Projekts DryHy ist die Erzeugung von Wasserstoff und Synthesegasen durch Hochtemperatur-Elektrolyse (SOEC). Diese Technologie nutzt erneuerbare Energien wie Solarenergie für den Elektrolyseprozess und ermöglicht somit eine effiziente Produktion in trockenen, sonnigen Regionen. Die notwendigen Ausgangsstoffe, Kohlendioxid und Wasser, werden mithilfe einer Direct Air Capture (DAC) Anlage direkt aus der Luft gewonnen, welches zur Schonung der Wasserressourcen beiträgt. Darüber hinaus wird das Potenzial der Methanolsynthese untersucht, um e-Fuels herzustellen, die sowohl lokal genutzt als auch überregional transportiert werden können. |
ExtrA | In ExtrA, the social acceptance of different heat supply options and their changeability due to extreme events is investigated. By means of survey studies representative for the German population, it will be analyzed how the willingness to actively participate in the heat transition changes over time and how extreme events such as the war in Ukraine or symptoms of climate change impact attitudes. The evaluation of side effects of energy provision, such as environmental pollution or human rights, is also subject of the research project. Findings will be obtained from temporally staggered discrete choice experiments (DCE) and citizens' dialog forums based on them, in which possible motivations for substituting fossil fuels will be worked out. At the end, the results will be made available in an interactive web tool for simulation calculations based on multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). |
PRACC | Climate change belongs among the most significant challenges of our time. The impacts of climate change – especially rising surface temperature, sea-level rise, and increasing frequency of extreme weather events – have severe, longterm and partly irreversible consequences for humans, animals and plants. A broad social discourse about the handling of climate change requires a scientific foundation, that discusses ethical challenges and legal instruments for action as well as examines the form of our economy and our relationship with nature. The objective of PRACC consists in developing an ethical and legal framework for how society can deal adequately with the impacts of climate change, that is based on the basic principles of intergenerational justice and freedom. This framework will serve as the basis for, on the one hand, designing adaptations to production processes and consumer behaviour through bioeconomical analyses, and, on the other hand, providing analyses of environmental protection measures in terms of biodiversity losses due to climate change. |
GelSus | The aim of this project is to use agricultural lignocellulosic residues to develop antimicrobial nanostructured porous bio-based solids (aerogels) as a sustainable alternative to current fossil-based plastics. Methods for purification of the residues will be developed to ensure reproducible quality. The cellulose-rich materials are then processed in various synthesis steps to produce highly porous aerogels. Antimicrobial properties are then added to the high-quality and sustainable aerogel. A comprehensive assessment by ICE-2 of the environmental impact of the production routes from the plant residues to the targeted aerogels will help to identify the most promising technologies and potential improvements. The evaluation of economic aspects will allow positioning of the aerogels in existing markets. |
GENESE | In the joint project Genese, a systematic characterization of different aspects of societal change, the recording of the effects of change on electricity demand, a detailed modeling of the change in demand profiles and the evaluation of these profiles via the integration into energy system models with low temporal resolution as well as electricity market models with high temporal resolution is carried out. The CIB-Lab analyzes aspects of societal change and creates consistent, cross-sectoral driver constellations for demand change with the CIB, which act as a starting point as well as a link between the models. |
IMP-EGH | The IMP-EGH aims to train students based on international standard and best practices to be able to serve the human capacity need of both the local and international energy markets. Particular focus is given to developing capacity in the area of green hydrogen technology. This includes all related fields from green hydrogen production and storage as well as the entire values chains in its utilization and application. |
ZuWaKo | As a consequence of climate change, conflicts over groundwater and surface water are also expected to increase in Germany in the future. As part of the Ladenburger Kolleg of the Daimler and Benz Foundation, a joint project coordinated by ZIRIUS is researching these possible conflicts. With the help of participatory modeling and serious gaming, future contexts and actor strategies are examined in their interactions. |
DACSTORE | Der aktuelle Report des Weltklimarats hat gezeigt, dass es für das Erreichen des Zwei-Grad-Ziels nicht mehr ausreicht, den CO2-Ausstoß lediglich zu reduzieren. Wir müssen bereits entstandene Emissionen zusätzlich auch einfangen und langfristig speichern. CO2-Abscheidung aus der Luft und deren Speicherung stellt dabei eine wichtige technische Lösung zur Reduktion von CO2 in der Atmosphäre im frühen Entwicklungsstadium dar. |
RESUR | The focus of the project initiative, Helmholtz Platform for the Design of Robust Energy Systems and Raw Material Supply (RESUR) is the short-term proactive and reactive, model-based provision of decision-making frameworks against the backdrop of current political, social, and technological events and developments (such as the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine). |
FRESH | The FRESH project focuses on the development, operation and validation of an integrated, competitive process to convert biogenic CO2 into potassium formate. The highly stable aqueous solution, produced using an electrocatalytic process powered by renewable electricity, can be safely stored in tanks for extended periods of time before being converted back to electricity as needed via a direct fuel cell system. Potential life-cycle CO2 reductions and other environmental impacts will be determined through ICE-2's work. Together with the economic assessment by IET-4, a comprehensive evaluation of the innovative process can thus be made. |
MK-ScaLoop | The successful implementation of many biotechnological processes in conventional reactors is hindered by the toxicity of substrates or products despite theoretically high production rates. To overcome these limitations, an innovative multiphase loop reactor is being developed within MK-ScaLoop to produce methyl ketones. This reactor is expected to reduce losses of valuable biomass and products and the associated efficiency reductions. The development of an appropriate industrial scale process chain (scale-up) and the assessment of environmental and economic impacts are carried out prospectively by means of Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) by ICE-2. |
StoRIES | As part of the European Green Deal, StoRIES, a network for the development and analysis of energy storage systems, has been formed to provide access to world-class research infrastructures and services. The focus is on improving materials for technologies and optimizing hybrid energy systems to make energy storage more competitive and reduce costs. In addition, the StoRIES project focuses on analyzing the socio-technical and environmental aspects of new developments and systems. |
CIRCULAR FOAM | CIRCULAR FOAM aims at the demonstration of a territorial cross-sectorial systemic solution for the circularity of high performance plastics from diverse applications on the example of rigid polyurethane foams used as insulation in refrigerators and in construction. The waste streams will be upcycled chemically, which means that they will be valorised to become new virgin-equivalent feedstock for the chemical industry to produce new high performance plastics. In this way, it will become possible to replace limited fossil-based resources by the renewable waste-based ones, thus not only reducing waste, but also becoming more sustainable and making a step forward to climate neutrality. The project and the demonstration are targeting a concrete implementation of the solution in question in the selected regions after the project and developing a blueprint for both the geographical transferability to other regions and for the technological extension of the circularity principle to a number of further waste materials from further applications. |
MATERIALIZE | Die erforderliche Umstellung der globalen Energieversorgung auf treibhausgasneutrale Energiesysteme erfordert den Ausbau von Energietechnologien, der mit einer raschen Änderung des Materialbedarfs einhergeht und zu Materialengpässen führen kann. Der ERC Starting Grant MATERIALIZE (Material Realizable Energy Transformation) zielt auf die Identifizierung möglicher Materialengpässe durch die Bewertung neuer Materialien, die für die Energiewende benötigt werden (z. B. Iridium für die Elektrolyse), auslaufender Materialversorgungen (z. B. Gips aus fossilen Kraftwerken), konkurrierender Materialnachfragen (z. B. Iridium für Smartphones) und Grenzen der Materialverfügbarkeit und -verwertbarkeit (z. B. Recyclingfähigkeit). Durch die Integration von Materialaspekten in Energiesystemmodelle soll das Projekt letztlich dazu dienen, bevorstehende Materialengpässe zu identifizieren, Strategien zu deren Umgehung bereitzustellen und mögliche politische und wirtschaftliche Implikationen dieser Strategien zu beleuchten. |
Green-QUEST | |
The Green-QUEST project aims to develop a viable, sustainable green fuel product (green-LFG) in Southern Africa by combining technological process development with a holistic assessment of the technical, economic, environmental, and social dimensions along the entire green-LFG value chain. The Green-QUEST project will enable the establishment of new and the strengthening of existing working relationships between South African and German academic partners and could lead to lasting strategic alliances in a crucial research area within the framework of the German government's "National Hydrogen Strategy". Contact: Heidi Heinrichs | |
LOCALISED | |
The objective of LOCALISED is to downscale national decarbonization trajectories consistent with Europe’s net-zero target to the local levels and provide the results to local authorities, citizens and businesses, in a way that would speed up the uptake of mitigation and adaptation actions. To this end, the project will create effective and clearly understandable tools that transform localised data on possible decarbonisation pathways by 2030 and 2050 into knowledge for action. Contact: Noah Pflugradt | |
NFDI4ING | |
The objective of the NFDI4ING consortium is to develop, disseminate, standardise and provide methods and services to make engineering research data FAIR. The associated research processes as well as the solutions themselves will only be sustainable if being accompanied by a proper research data management (RDM) that implements the FAIR data principles: data has to be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable. Contact: Patrick Kuckertz ELLEN (part of the NFDI4ING-project) The aim of the ICE-2 led sub-project "ELLEN" is to support engineers in their search for data by facilitating established research methodologies as potential data sources, raising their level of integration and reducing the amount of time required for their application. To this end, in the case of unavailable data sets, scientifically recognised methodological concepts and their software implementations will be made available to generate the missing data. Since neither journal articles nor software codes are suitable to be used as a guide to the implementation of a methodology, conceptual and machine-interpretable workflow descriptions will serve this purpose within the research data landscape. | |
SEDOS | |
The objective of the SEDOS research project is to map sector integration in energy system models in detail and to establish greater comparability of the models by means of open data. In addition to the orientation towards Open Science, the project thus has the goals of a joint development of a reference data set for the consideration of sector integration in energy system models for Germany as well as a coordinated model and system structure for three OS models (oemof, TIMES, FINE). Contact: Jann Weinand |