Heating in buildings and industry accounts for half of the EU's energy consumption, making it the biggest energy end-use sector. Approximately 75% of heating is still generated from fossil fuels. A major current challenge for utilizing renewable energy resources is their intermittency in time, causing gaps between the supply and demand. Furthermore, effective reuse of industrial waste heat would reduce emissions of industry. Therefore, a key enabler in improving the overall output of renewable heating technologies is an efficient thermal energy storage. The development of new materials and systems that can store thermal energy effectively for long periods, from weeks to months, is thus desired. Based on industrial and communal energy system optimization, material development and artificial intelligence, we study what environmental, economic and energy efficiency effects new thermal energy storages can have to reach the paradigm shift towards the carbon-neutral energy use.

2023

2025