Renewable energy
At IFE, we put a high emphasis on contributing to the development of renewable energy to reduce greenhouse gases and improving everyday life. We have the prerequisites and highly skilled researchers to solve tomorrow’s challenges, as well as seventy years of experience in material research reaching deep into the materials at atomic level.
Our research on materials and physics has provided results and experience, making IFE one of Norway’s frontrunners for the production, storage, and smart use of renewable energy. We contribute to the optimization of solar cells, wind parks, hydrogen research and systems for storage and use of energy in buildings and within different industries, and power-to-x for CO2 utilization.
Our laboratories on solar cell technology are second-to-none in Norway and a cornerstone in the Norwegian solar community. Combined with materials knowledge and advanced modelling capabilities, we can give Norwegian industry and other partners a competitive edge in the global markets. Our excellence in aerodynamics and floating offshore constructions also make us the ideal partner for companies working on offshore wind and other types of floating constructions.
With our experience and world-leading know-how on hydrogen storage, we have developed a new material safeguarding electricity transmission in batteries. This reduces the fire hazard in batteries to a fraction, and is something battery researchers in Japan, the US and the EU are working hard to achieve. The IFE breakthrough will specifically help to make it safe to charge your mobile phone at night.
Another new technology developed at IFE provides three to five-fold charging capacity for batteries used in electric cars, cell phones, tablets, laptops and most of the things we use in everyday life. These batteries will, with the new materials IFE research, provide far better capacity than today’s batteries.
Major challenges require joint solutions
Big challenges and complicated tasks are rarely solved individually. Emissions are global and we rely on international collaboration in the efforts to promote a circular economy and process intensification to reduce the impact of man-made climate change.
IFE’s work extends across researchers, industry, and educational institutions. We have well-established collaboration with industrial partners who aim at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in their production through, for example, carbon capture, storage, and utilization (CCUS), and with our constant search for synergetic integration of bioenergy systems to catalytic processes for the production of green hydrogen from biomass and waste.
The transport sector is one of the sectors in which CO2 emissions must be radically reduced to fulfill Norway’s part of the Paris Agreement. IFE provides tailor-made solutions and is managing research efforts aiming to make zero-emission transport at sea, by rail and road a reality.
Departments
Battery Technology
Environmental Industrial Processes
Renewable Energy Systems
Solar Energy
Wind Energy
Solar Power Systems
