Fraunhofer Strategic Research Field

The Energiewende – Germany’s ongoing transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy – is the subject of research by a number of Fraunhofer Institutes. By pooling this expertise, Fraunhofer is able to take a broader and more holistic view of the shift toward renewables, addressing it from multiple perspectives including economic and technological aspects as well as environmental and social factors. This lays the foundations for a successful transition to a new energy era.

The institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft are conducting research into numerous fields of technology relevant to the Energiewende, ranging from renewables and energy efficiency technologies to smart energy networks, digitalization of the energy sector and energy storage technologies. Our goal is to offer our customers pioneering and competitive system-level products that represent a sound investment.
 
We work with small and medium-sized enterprises, industrial enterprises and the energy sector, providing them with access to a wide range of research and development offerings that are geared to help them achieve success with innovative products and win new markets. Fraunhofer has all the necessary in-house expertise to act as a one-stop solution provider. 

All its activities are aimed at accomplishing the goals of the Energiewende by creating a sustainable, secure, affordable and socially just energy system.

Several million tonnes of waste are produced each year, ranging from construction waste, scrap wood and municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash to carbon fiber-reinforced composites and electronic waste. With resources becoming scarcer and sustainability moving up the political agenda, the time has come to move away from our current mostly linear approach to resource use and switch to a circular economy.

A circular economy is the opposite of the "take, make, dispose" model of production that still prevails today. In our current linear or “throw-away” economy, most of the natural resources we use are sent to landfill or incinerated once a product reaches the end of its useful life. Only a small proportion is re-used or recycled. In contrast, a circular economy promotes a renewable or regenerative system of industrial production. Its goal is to minimize the use of resources and the generation of waste and emissions and to make a more efficient use of energy. This can be achieved by slowing, narrowing and closing energy and material loops. Key tools for this purpose include long-lasting design, maintenance, refurbishing, repair, reuse, remanufacturing and recycling. 

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft actively seeks to help shape the transition from today’s primarily linear economy to a circular economy. It does this by conducting research into the necessary systemic, technical and social innovations and the new value creation networks these innovations entail.