Green Deal Ukraina: HZB launches an Energy & Climate Project
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Green Deal Ukraina, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, is working with partner institutions in Ukraine and Poland to establish an energy and climate think tank in the capital, Kiev. The aim is to provide independent and evidence-based advice on rebuilding a sustainable energy system in Ukraine. After all, the implementation of energy and climate legislation is a prerequisite for Ukraine's accession to the EU. The project started on 1 June 2023 and will run for four years.
Together with Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, partners from Poland and Ukraine are also involved in the project. They will work from Berlin, Kiev and Warsaw. Key partners are Forum Energii, a leading Energy- and Climate Think Tank in Poland, as well as in Ukraine Dixi Group, Ecoaction and the Kyiv School of Energy Policy (KSEP). Planned activities are data, facts and modelling, policy briefs and training programmes on the energy transition.
Ukrainian Deputy Minister at Ministry for Energy, Yaroslav Demchenkov, states: "The future of Ukraine and its people lies in the EU. In particular, the professional training as well as the cooperation for the modernisation and reconstruction of the energy sector is crucial. I welcome the trilateral project that will be very beneficial for my country.”
Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger emphasises: “Germany supports Ukraine at all levels: civilian, military and also in meeting the requirements for EU accession negotiations. The hard-hit energy sector in particular must be rebuilt and made sustainable. Germany has outstanding expertise in this area, which we are happy to share with Ukraine. The Green Deal Ukraina is therefore an important contribution in several respects".
Professor Dr Bernd Rech, Scientific Director of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) says: "Our research at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin aims to develop new technologies for a sustainable transformation of the energy sector. In close cooperation with our colleagues from Poland and Ukraine, we want to contribute to the 'Green Deal Ukraina' project in order to jointly and rapidly develop solutions for the future energy system of Ukraine and to advance their implementation".
The project will also be represented at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London (21-22 June 2023). It will be presented to the public in Kyiv in September 2023.
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin: We are developing materials for new types of solar cells and have already set several efficiency world records. We are researching materials for energy storage, such as batteries. A major focus is on innovative materials for catalysis to produce climate-neutral green hydrogen or to convert CO2 into valuable raw materials. We analyse quantum materials for energy-efficient information technologies. We operate the X-ray source BESSY II, which provides state-of-the-art instruments for our researchers and for some 3000 visitors from all over the world every year. With 1200 employees and an annual budget of around 150 million euros, we are one of the biggest research institutions in Berlin. The Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin is a member of the Helmholtz Association, Germany's largest research organisation.
More: www.helmholtz-berlin.de
The Helmholtz Association: The challenges of our time can only be solved with the help of cutting-edge research. At Helmholtz, some 45,000 people are working to shape the world of tomorrow. In 18 centres and with research infrastructures that are unique in the world.
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- Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications (HIPOLE Jena) InauguratedOn June 17, 2024, the Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications (HIPOLE Jena) was officially inaugurated in Jena in the presence of Wolfgang Tiefensee, Minister for Economy, Science, and Digital Society of the Free State of Thuringia. The institute was founded by the Helmholtz Center Berlin for Materials and Energy (HZB) in cooperation with the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. It is dedicated to developing sustainable polymer materials for energy technologies, which are expected to play a key role in the energy transition and support Germany’s goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2045.
- “Research and development in times of war: not only possible, but crucial!”The Ukraine Recovery Conference took place in Berlin on 11 and 12 June. On a side-event representatives from Helmholtz, Fraunhofer and Leibniz discussed how research can contribute to the sustainable reconstruction of Ukraine.
In this interview, Bernd Rech, scientific director at HZB, talks about the importance of research during the war and projects such as Green Deal Ukraina. - MXenes for energy storage: Chemical imaging more than just surface deepA new method in spectromicroscopy significantly improves the study of chemical reactions at the nanoscale, both on surfaces and inside layered materials. Scanning X-ray microscopy (SXM) at MAXYMUS beamline of BESSY II enables the investigation of chemical species adsorbed on the top layer (surface) or intercalated within the MXene electrode (bulk) with high chemical sensitivity. The method was developed by a HZB team led by Dr. Tristan Petit. The scientists demonstrated among others first SXM on MXene flakes, a material used as electrode in lithium-ion batteries.