Fundamental and applied research in energy technology is conducted within two areas at the Department of Applied Physics and Electronics - Energy efficiency in buildings and Energy conversion in thermochemical processes.
Energy technology concerns the supply, conversion, distribution, storage, and use of energy. Research questions within the field typically focus on resource and energy efficiency, operational availability, environmental impact, and sustainability. These are strongly connected to several of the global challenges described by the sustainable development goals, not least the development of renewable, efficient and sustainable supply and use of energy. In all these areas there are opportunities to improve existing technologies and find new solutions. The energy technology research conducted at the Department of Applied Physics and Electronics aims to develop new knowledge in the areas of Energy efficiency in buildings and Energy conversion in thermochemical processes.
The Energy efficiency research aims to improve the sustainability in the built environment, and the activities range from buildings’ embodied energy to operational energy use. The ongoing research investigates energy flows concerning construction supply chain, energy supply chain, energy utilization in buildings, occupants’ behavior, indoor thermal comfort, building information modeling, and AI for a digitalized and sustainable built environment. The research includes state-of-the-art monitoring and analytical techniques, which often involve working closely with various stakeholders.
The research in Energy conversion in thermochemical processes is focused on physical and chemical phenomena in high temperature energy conversion processes. The research spans various areas such as resource and process efficiency, fuel selection, operational availability, emission reduction, reactor design and material aspects. The systems studied range from small household appliances and to industrial scale power plants. This requires the use and development of novel modelling tools as well as experimental resources in terms of advanced diagnostic and analytical techniques. The research utilizes infrastructure available in-house or via collaborations, as well as advanced national and international research infrastructures.
