Energy

How can EU research help Europe protect itself from economic shocks such as the spike in energy prices caused by Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine and other global disruptions and external economic pressures? One way is by accelerating the shift towards renewable energy, and a good example of this is the CLUSTER‑INN project. The project helps people boost their energy resilience by bringing researchers and practitioners together to map out realistic everyday solutions. This includes helping them choose a solar panel supplier and showing them how to place the panel in the best location and position for maximum efficiency. The project’s network of engineers, physicists, economists and sociologists is working with managers of large solar parks in Egypt and Morocco to understand the challenges of renewable energy production and trade, and ways to overcome them. By creating networks between scientists, manufacturers and the public, CLUSTER‑INN also aims to identify what policies are needed to keep Europe’s power flowing, and advise policymakers on the best way to implement them.

Batteries are crucial technologies for the energy transition: they are the most expensive component of an electric vehicle, and they are important to stabilise a grid powered by solar panels and windmills. Yet so many questions are still being challenged: how can we reduce the amount of critical raw materials in a battery? How can we improve their performance and their safety? How can we best optimise their manufacturing process and how should they be recycled? Over the past five years, the DESTINY project has been training 50 PhD candidates in frontier battery innovation. This includes rethinking how we discover and engineer battery materials, developing new uses for smart batteries, and working out how to best apply them in industry. The training doesn’t stop at technology. The PhD candidates also learn about personal effectiveness, research management and entrepreneurship. The project’s goals fit with the European Union’s strategic efforts to strengthen Europe’s battery sector, as reflected in initiatives such as the European Battery Alliance. The innovations developed by this next generation of battery researchers and engineers will help to reduce the production costs of Europe’s battery industry and create new job opportunities.

How can Europe decarbonise energy-intensive industries such as steel and glass without putting jobs at risk, or losing international competitiveness? A new generation of fuels such as hydrogen and renewable synthetic fuels could solve this challenge, but Europe’s infrastructure is not yet ready to use them safely. To tackle this, the ENCODING project is training 10 PhD candidates in more efficient fuels, data analytics and machine learning. The objective of the project is to equip them with the skills needed to address current and future challenges in hydrogen and synthetic fuel use. The project is designed to optimise the stability of fuel mixtures, reduce emissions and enhance industrial combustion systems by using advancements in combustion science, machine learning and real-time data analysis. The end result is cleaner air, lower CO₂ emissions, and more resilient local industries, all while protecting skilled jobs and modernising industrial processes.