03. Aug 2011 - Energy research with a new programme

Abstract

Today, the Federal Cabinet adopted the German government’s 6th Energy Research Programme. The planning document, which sets out the guiding principles and priorities of the German government’s funding policies in the field of innovative energy technologies for the coming years, was drawn up by four federal ministries: the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. It is also intended to increase the budget for energy research to one billion euros per year by 2014.

more details

The new direction in energy policy taken during recent months has provided a new basis for energy research. As a supplement to the new energy concept, the German government has therefore presented the 6th Energy Research Programme entitled “Research for an environmentally sound, reliable and affordable energy supply”. It sets out the guiding principles for the government’s future funding on research and development in the energy sector, provides information on the principle funding areas and offers an overview of the funding planned by the individual departments. The programme provides a new emphasis in many different fields. It also intends to intensify the inter-departmental collaboration in strategically important fields. That particularly applies to the themes “energy storage”, “networks” and “solar construction – energy efficient city”. The international research cooperation shall be expanded and the support policies better coordinated.

The new emphases in detail:

1. Strategic focussing: The focus is on technologies and systems that are important for Germany’s transition to sustainable energy supplies, including those concerning renewable energies, energy efficiency, energy storage technologies and grid technology, the integration of renewables in the energy supply and the interaction of these technologies in the overall system.

2. Inter-departmental collaboration: The departments involved will develop joint funding initiatives for selected fields that are important for Germany’s future energy provision. Close and well-coordinated collaboration will improve the bundling of existing core competences in the respective departments, realise synergy benefits and, by focussing funds, will achieve the necessary technological breakthroughs. The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research have already established the joint “Energy storage” funding initiative. This will be followed by further initiatives in the “Networks” and “Solar construction – energy efficient city” areas. At the interface between research and innovation, other specialist departments will also play a decisive role in the inter-departmental collaboration, as exemplified by the remits of the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development.

3. International cooperation: These days, technological developments need to be increasingly assessed from a global perspective. The German government therefore wants to strengthen international cooperation in the energy research field, whereby particular importance is being placed on improving the networking of research work within the European Union.

4. More coordination: The Coordination Platform for Energy Research is being expanded for this purpose. Optimised coordination between the participating departments will enable as much added value as possible to be gained from the “research euros” provided from the public purse. The Coordination Platform shall also be used to improve the cooperation with the German federal states and the European funding institutes.