Industrial Energy Systems Consortium

Consortium Leader
Simon Harvey, Chalmers

Problem area
Industry accounts for roughly 40% of energy use in Sweden and is the second biggest source of carbon emissions. As a result, there are both economic and environmental grounds for viewing energy as a strategic issue for many industries. The industrial energy systems are approached from technical, economic and social scientific perspectives. The contributions from the social sciences and economics pertain, for instance, to the ability of industry (in terms of time, human resources and knowledge) to assimilate and adopt new knowledge. The ability of organisations to take technical, financial, environmental and strategic factors into account simultaneously is addressed as well. The research within the consortium is focused on the use of biofuel, more efficient energy use, policy instruments, and industrial renewal.

Research orientation
The research work done within the Industrial Energy Systems Consortium is aimed at expanding our knowledge of how to use energy more efficiently in industry, thereby helping make it possible to retool industrial energy systems in a logical manner. Cooperation between industries and between industry and the surrounding society offers another area of research. The future evolution and development of energy prices, policy instruments and structural changes, for example, are of major importance in terms of achieving more efficient energy use in industry, with the result that different scenarios for the evolution of these parameters are used in the research work. This makes it possible to expand our knowledge about the ways in which, for instance, policy instruments can impact the development of industrial energy systems. Knowledge building, method development and synthesis work are carried out to ensure continuity in the consortium’s research activities. The consortium works together with industry so that industry can apply and benefit from the results of the consortium’s research.

Doctoral projects
Hanna Ljungstedt, Chalmers
Kersti Karltorp, Chalmers
Maria Johansson, Linköping University/Energy Systems
Daniella Johansson, Chalmers
Roman Hackl, Chalmers
Viktor Andersson, Chalmers
Sarah Broberg, Linköping University/Energy Systems
Maria Eidenskog, Linköping Univeristy/Department of Technology and Social Change