CLEEN to renew cooperation in the energy and environment sector

(10.08.09)

CLEEN Ltd – the energy and environment Strategic Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation – gathers together the Finnish expertise in its field into a stronger unit than ever. The vision is to turn the energy and environment industry into a leading industry in Finland by 2050, and a global market leader in selected business areas.

“The outlook is good, because we have broad and advanced expertise in areas such as renewable energy resources and in how to integrate energy production with industrial and consumer processes. What’s more, we have a good reputation in the field,” says Tommy Jacobson, CEO of CLEEN Ltd.

“In order to ensure Finland’s continued competitiveness, it is important to focus on the expertise needed in the future, on using limited resources wisely, developing new operating methods and on building a new kind of cooperation between players in the field. Regeneration is one of the main goals of the strategic centres, and at the moment, research programmes are our key means to achieving this goal.”

CLEEN Ltd (Cluster for Energy and Environment) started its operations in autumn 2008 and has over 40 owners. The shareholders are international energy and environment industry enterprises in Finland, together with universities and research institutes, all of whom pursue important R&D activities.

Research programmes open to all

The operations of CLEEN comprise research, product development and piloting and demonstrations of new technology.

The shareholders have selected the following eight research themes for the Strategic Centre: carbon-neutral energy production, distributed energy systems, sustainable fuels, energy market and smart grids, efficient energy use, resource-efficient production technologies and services, recycling of materials and waste management, measurement, monitoring and assessment of environmental efficiency.
The aim is to set up extensive and closely networked multidisciplinary research projects in these research areas. The first programmes will start in 2009.

Preparation has progressed the farthest on the Energy market and smart grids programme, already confirmed as a CLEEN research programme and about to start in autumn 2009. One of the key ideas behind the programme is distributed energy production. The next programme planned will focus on measurement, monitoring and assessment of environmental efficiency, and then there will be a programme on power plants of the future, in which energy efficiency and emissions issues will also play an important part, says Jatta Jussila, CTO of CLEEN Ltd.

The shareholders of the Strategic Centre make the decisions on research strategy and themes, and then the best participants are sought for the research programmes. Work is now underway to prepare rules for the way the research programmes are opened to outsiders, including international research organisations.

In its first few years of operation, CLEEN Ltd aims for 50 million euros annually in research funding. About half of that will come from public research funding organisations while the other half will come from the participants.

From applications to basic research – or vice versa

According to Jacobson and Jussila, it is entirely possible to find areas within the energy and environment sector that may need new expertise in basic research, perhaps as a part of a CLEEN Ltd research programme. Energy efficiency could be given as an example: it is one of the key focus areas when it comes to controlling climate change, and could benefit from new approaches and perspectives.

“The line between basic research and applied research is far from unambiguous. While solving problems related to an existing application, you may easily find yourself dealing with questions of basic research, such as reaction kinetics. Then again, you may be doing basic research when you suddenly realise that the findings have a practical application. Both of these approaches are needed,” Jussila says.

“Or, say that the world changes so that the motivating forces are something else entirely. Basic research generates a knowledge base that is likely to be useful even in a new situation.”

Text: Paula Böhling
Photos: Olli Häkämies, Susanna Lehto/Tekes

Previous interviews and news