Goals and Roles

In the research field Energy, Helmholtz scientists work on securing the energy supply in the long-term and in a sustainable manner and on developing solutions to this end, which are economically and ecologically acceptable. This requires the holistic examination of relevant chains of energy taking into account framework conditions and concomitant phenomena including climate and environmental consequences. In doing so, the examination of all primary forms of energy and the encompassing researching of innovative technologies for the efficient and effective conversion, storage and utilisation of energy forms is indispensable.

The long-term goal is the complete substitution of those energy sources subject to a limited time frame with energy sources that can be used in a sustainable, durable and climate neutral manner. Short- and medium term goals include lowering the energy consumption through efficient conversion and utilisation, reduction of dependency on imports within Germany and Europe, the research on new storage technologies, the reduction of climate and environmental impact and the safeguarding of special demands in mobile applications.

The Helmholtz Association derives its energy research strategy from this overall spectrum. It builds on the already available competences and experiences of the Helmholtz Centres. The expertise of other scientific and industrial partners are taken into consideration. At the same time, future fields are identified for which the Helmholtz Association needs to build up and develop new competences.

The energy demand of today’s and future generations requires the development of new technologies, from which competitive innovations can grow. With this target in mind, scientists investigate, amongst other things, the potential of renewable energy sources such as solar energy, biomass or geothermal energy. They work with increased effort on raising the efficiency of conventional power stations and the economic use of energy. The work on generating energy by way of nuclear fusion develops a new source of energy in the long-term. This path is a major scientific and technological challenge, which is being put forward in international cooperation. Ultimately, the Helmholtz Association contributes to the secure operation of nuclear reactors as well as to the safe treatment and disposal of highly radioactive waste by way of its globally unique know how in the field of nuclear safety research.

The diverse research activities are augmented by structural developments within the Helmholtz Association strengthening energy research. The fusion of the University Karlsruhe and the Research Centre Karlsruhe into the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) – a successful contender within the excellence competition of the federal and state governments – led, amongst other things, to the establishment of a KIT Centre Energy, which is to become the leading European centre for energy research.

A first major success has been achieved already: In a hard European competition for the establishment of so-called Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) in the field of sustainable energy research, the application KIC InnoEnergy, coordinated by the KIT and, by the way, the only application coordinated by a German consortium amongst the final six applicants, was chosen for funding by the Governing Board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

In the section JARA-ENERGY of the Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance JARA, the Forschungszentrum Jülich and the RWTH Aachen merge their complementary competences in an internationally pioneering research partnership in order to develop new energy solutions. Finally, solar energy research is strengthened by a competence centre for thin-layer and nanotechnology for photovoltaics founded by the Helmholtz Centre Berlin für Materialien und Energie in cooperation with the industry and the TU Berlin.