Scientific Challenge
Climate protection, energy supply and affordable mobility represent considerable challenges for our modern society. For the solution of these problems, intensified and focused efforts in basic and applied research as well as technology development are necessary. The international competitiveness of German industry critically depends on its ability to innovate by the judicious exploitation of novel and promising technological breakthrough. As an example, sustainable personal mobility is nationally and internationally directly connected to the widespread use of electric motors. Another example is the increasing amount of renewable energy being used for electric power generation with its unavoidable power fluctuations that presents a real challenge for the electrical grids both within Germany and in Europe. Consequently, there is a high need for decentralized stationary energy storage with long lifetimes. Powerful and economical battery systems, based, for example, on lithium-ion technology, are of utmost importance.
Strategic Aims
- to conduct fundamental and applied research on the electrochemical energy storage for electromobility and renewable energy and
- to establish an effective mechanism of technology transfer of the technological advances obtained from the research to practical applications.
The HIU will highly integrate the knowledge, and experience of two leading academic research organisations in the field of materials science and electrochemistry (KIT and Ulm University) and two internationally active research organizations that support and are strongly committed to the industrial development of energy storage systems (ZSW, DLR). This highly integrated focused approach, designed to drive the technological progress by excellence in science, will ensure a national and international top-level research effort in the fields of electrochemistry and advanced materials for the development of future energy storage systems.
Further details can be found at the HIU-website: http://www.hiu-batteries.de
