Sustainable chemistry research and innovation actions will strengthen the position of Europe in low carbon energy production and storage technologies.
The ability to offer high-capacity and affordable advanced energy storage technologies will be key to the full and successful integration of renewable low carbon energy into national and international energy networks.
Advanced materials for sustainable production of renewable electricity. We are exploring a number of new technologies. For example new composite materials for wind turbine blades would allow us to build larger turbines thereby increasing their energy yield. Other new materials could improve the corrosion resistance of turbines in particular for offshore installations.
New materials for photovoltaic technologies like novel thin-film technologies do not require scare metals and perform better at lower cost, while enabling solar cells to be recycled at the end of life. Materials that generate electricity from vibration, mechanical and low-grade thermal energy are also being developed.
Advanced materials and technologies for energy storage. The three focus areas here are: materials for advanced batteries, chemical energy storage (advanced materials and process technologies like hydrogen and CO2 based energy carriers i.e. power-to-gas and power-to-liquid technologies) and thermal energy storage (via phase change materials or reversible thermochemical reactions).