Second Research Meeting Industrial Transformation
During the second research agenda meeting of New Energy Coalition researchers of the University of Groningen and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences, together with representatives of industrial and societal organizations discussed research challenges that lie ahead of us in energy transition on Industrial Transformation. Its aim was to gather input on the Research Agenda to guide innovation and the development of future scientific projects.
Groningen Seaports’ Henri Kats kicked off the discussion by presenting GSP’s activities to stimulate research and business activities in the North-East of the Netherlands by means of their own agenda. Pim Frederix (Project Manager Research New Energy Coalition) presented the Industrial Transformation part of our research agenda, which was commented on by the participants.
In the subsequent working session, everyone was invited to brainstorm based on strategic challenges from the attending business partners. This helped them to get a so-called ‘science check’, in which they examined whether knowledge already exists to answer the strategic questions and which knowledge still needs to be developed and on which timeline this can be done.
The discussions resulted in valuable insights, such as:
- We need to use a holistic and preferentially global energy systemic approach when testing new technologies for feasibility;
- Smart mixing of regulation instruments is crucial in speeding up innovation, enabling commercially valuable demo plants and preventing carbon leakage;
- Process integration and process intensification can still contribute to step changes in production efficiency;
- Investing in green molecules is as important as in green electricity, considering feedstock and high temperature heat.
The next steps
We will process the input of the working sessions into our research agenda and send the final draft of the agenda to the Foundation Board of New Energy Coalition for approval and to the participants with a cover sheet explaining how we processed the input into the final draft of this agenda.
Starting in January 2020, we will draw up an inventory of potential research projects; consortia formation; and project development together with researchers and business and societal partners. In due time we will inform you on the process of project development. In the meantime, we invite you to contact us if you have ideas for project development.
