Energy
Members of the Network on Energy
By combining the expertise of the five IDEA League partner universities and developing collaborative and complementary research in the area of Energy, the IDEA League aims to make a significant contribution to society in this field. Our secondary objective is to become the nucleus of a KIC as part of the planned European Institute of Technology (EIT).
Imperial College
The scientific challenges posed by the world's increasing demand for energy are being tackled by Imperial's Energy Futures Lab, a multidisciplinary centre drawing together energy research across the College. Programmes currently underway include the Urban Energy Systems project, which is exploring how energy, people and materials flow through cities, with the aim of making both existing and new-built cities more efficient and integrated.
TU Delft
The Delft Research Centre for Sustainable Energy conducts research into novel routes to extraction, conversion, and use of sustainable energy. Focal points: cheap and innovative 3-dimensional – nanostructured - solar cells, small scale wind turbines, energy storage in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, sustainable production and safe storage of hydrogen, separation technologies for clean hydrogen, conversion of hydrogen into electrical energy in fuel cells, and biomass conversion.
ETH Zurich
More than 35 research groups from various departments at ETH Zurich are working at the university’s Energy Science Center (ESC). ESC is developing a coherent strategy to address the global energy system. One aim is to formulate recommendations to government and politics, and to put forward scientific viewpoints to opinion leaders and society. Research focuses on strategic issues for the future of energy and climate-friendly technologies, energy efficiency, renewable energies, new energy systems for power generation and mobility.
The Energy Navigator, designed at ETH Zurich, uses computer modelling to predict how the energy landscape in Switzerland will develop. Able to map the subtle interacting effects and interdependence of politics, society and technology, the Energy Navigator produces results that are of interest to both scientists and the energy sector.
Innovative technology for energy, important for the environment as well, is making an impact on advanced medical technology. Researchers at ETH Zurich’s Department of Power Electronics and Electrometrology are developing a highly specialized energy source for cancer therapy. The researchers have developed a first-ever solid-state modulator with cutting-edge current power semi-conductors that can be attached and changed, leading to potentially very high radiation efficiency and the setting of extremely high pulse parameters. Applications in bioengineering and environmental technologies will also be studied. The European Power Supply Manufacturers Association, EPSMA, nominated ETH Zurich as the best European university for power electronics.
RWTH Aachen University
RWTH Aachen University has more than 75 groups working on sustainable solutions for the world's energy and climate change challenges. The key areas are ranging from primary energy carriers (georesources, tailor made fuels, renewables) and conversion (future power plants, fuel cells, ICE, nuclear technology) to storage and distribution (electrical grids, power engineering), also including transportation, materials, as well as carbon capture and storage. At RWTH Aachen several collaborative research centres on energy are funded by the German Research Foundation. These activities are complemented by close cooperation with the Jülich Research Centre and the new, interdisciplinary E.ON Energy Research Centre where also consumer needs and behaviour are addressed. Currently, RWTH Aachen is in the process of establishing an interdisciplinary platform for its energy-related research.
ParisTech
ParisTech is a consortium allowing 10 French leading institutes of higher education and research ("Grandes Ecoles") to be involved in international collaborations as a single legal entity. Energy is a major field of teaching and research at ParisTech with well-established partnerships in the public and private sectors. This cross-disciplinary field involves mechanical and civil engineering, materials science, fluid mechanics and energetics, chemistry and chemical engineering, physics, math and modellisation as well as economics. Main areas of interest for collaboration in research, teaching and technology transfer are nuclear energy, hydrogen vector, fuel cells, biomass and biofuel, renewable energy technologies, future use of hydrocarbons, energy-efficient building design, energy efficiency in the industry, production of mechanical energy, energy storage and batteries, and economic tools for energy politics.
