The Helmholtz Alliance ENERGY-TRANS

: .; Transformation of the energy system

Future infrastructures for meeting energy demands. Towards sustainability and social compatibility

Research in the energy sector concentrated so far on the development of new energy technologies and their optimal combination towards an efficient and effective energy mix. With the envisioned energy transformation in Germany, energy supply will be primarily based on renewable sources of energy and efficiency gains. Furthermore, the demand side of energy will become a major topic of research and will be at the core of future energy policies.

The Helmholtz Alliance ENERGY-TRANS places the connections between and among energy technologies, planning procedures and consumer behavior in the focus of the research interests and investigations.

Research projects include the interaction of energy supply, energy distribution and energy storage on the one hand and institutional governance and consumer behavior on the other hand. The results are expected to provide policy-oriented knowledge for an efficient and socially acceptable design of a sustainable energy system.

Duration: September 2011 to August 2016

Total funding: 16,5 Mio. Euro
Spokesperson: Prof. Armin Grunwald, Prof. Ortwin Renn
Lead centre: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Participating Helmholtz Centres: Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), German Aerospace Center (DLR), Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Universities: University of Stuttgart, Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg, FU Berlin
Participating non-university research institution: Centre for European Research (ZEW), Mannheim

Programme

Greater efficiency and a substantial proportion of energy from renewable sources are the main properties of Germany’s new path towards sustainable energy. This transition requires a fundamental change of both the infrastructure and the development and installation of innovative technologies. At the same time, creative and socially compatible approaches to planning, steering, adaptation, communication and participation are prerequisites for the transition to succeed.

Starting from late 2011, researchers from a variety of academic disciplines within the Helmholtz Alliance will apply a holistic and integrative approach to study the complex relationships between energy supply, demand and contextual conditions. The research team conceives of energy supply as a socio-technological system in which technologies, institutional settings and consumer behavior interact. Studying these interactions will provide valuable insights for designing improved technical infrastructures and promoting organizational changes that would lead to the envisioned results.

In the future, success or failure of energy innovations will largely depend on the behavior of private and industrial users. In addition to technical developments, research needs to take into account whether and in which ways energy customers as well as stakeholders active in the energy arenas are willing to commit themselves to the transformation of the energy system. Emerging risks from innovative technologies and novel innovation networks are also important topics of the investigations as well as the opportunities for efficient, fair and reliable “governance“ of an energy system that is clearly becoming more complex.

Placing a stronger focus on the demand and user side marks a turning point towards an interdisciplinary energy research conducted by psychologists, economists, social scientists, system theorists and other social scientists. The Helmholtz Alliance is the common platform for researchers of these multiple disciplines to coordinate their projects and to cooperate with technology experts. The ultimate goal is to investigate the terms and conditions of the planned transformation of the energy system and to facilitate policies that help reach this goal.