Sustainable Energy Research Programme to research energy from several different angles

11 Dec 2007

The Academy of Finland’s Sustainable Energy Research Programme (SusEn) aims at generating new and innovative scientific knowledge about energy technology, energy systems and energy efficiency. Another aim is to direct research to developing sustainable solutions as well as know-how in identifying future energy system alternatives. The programme will start at the beginning of 2008 and run until the end of 2011.

The consortium headed by Researcher Timo Tamminen is committed to researching the optimisation of lipid production by algae for biodiesel production. The consortium comprises the University of Oslo, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany and the Icelandic Energy Research Institute. The consortium headed by Senior Researcher Pertti Kauranen investigates the synthesis and usability of carbon nanotube-based membrane electrode structures in polymeric fuel cells. The research will be carrried out as a Nordic joint project involving an independent research organisation, the SINTEF Group, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the University of Southern Denmark and the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. Within a Finnish-Chinese (from Chongqing University) consortium, Professor Peter Lund is researching the industrial upscaling of nano solar cells.

The consortium headed by Professor Riitta Kyrki-Rajamäki is exploring the safety-critical properties of new type nuclear reactors. The consortium under the leadership of Professor Henrik Saxen is committed to developing solutions to markedly reduce the energy need of steel industry and the amount of particle emissions. Professor Raimo Salonen’s consortium, in turn, is comparing four different ways of creating decentralised heat energy production in small communities.The aim is to research, for example, effects on cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and the risks of atmospheric warming. The research programme comprises in all twenty projects.

The Academy of Finland will grant 9.5 million euros in funding for the projects. In addition, Maj and Tor Nessling Foundation as well as Fortum, UPM-Kymmene and Neste will fund projects with a total of 0.9 million euros. The research programme also involves international projects: research funding agencies from China, Chile, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Germany, Luxembourg and Poland have reserved about four million euros in funding for the projects. “We’re very pleased that the SusEn research programme has attracted both corporate and international funding. The programme greatly benefits from that research is carried out from a multidisciplinary perspective, including such fields as bioenergy and nuclear power as well as medical and economic sciences,” Programme Manager Saila Karvinen says.

The funding decisions are available at www.aka.fi/energy.

For more information contact Programme Manager Saila Karvinen, Academy of Finland, tel. +358 (0)9 7748 8335, email firstname.lastname@aka.fi.

Academy of Finland Communications
Communications Specialist Tiina Raivo
tel. +358 (0)9 7748 8369 or +358 (0)40 828 1724
firstname.lastname@aka.fi
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Last changed 11/12/2007