Campus of International Excellence – Aristos Campus Mundus 2015

FA. 5 Energy and sustainability

This last focus area (FA.5) encompasses all those actions aimed at resolving one of the greatest challenges faced by our society: the exponential increase in energy consumption.

The growing population and industrial development have led modern societies to what is known as the energy crisis. Excessive consumption has accelerated the deterioration of our planet with a severe impact on the environment and the weather. All industrialised countries have enacted policies and reached agreements to improve energy savings, draft action plans which encourage research, for example, on renewable energy sources, and motivate consumers to reduce their demand.

In line with trends amongst global leaders, there are diverse research groups at our three universities which focus their R&D+I endeavours on developing technology or market models to achieve energy solutions at the economic, environmental and socially sustainable levels. Projects are all underway at UD, Comillas and URL to provide solutions to problems associated to mass energy consumption.

The primary objective of our groups working in this field is to provide solutions to define and develop an energy system capable of meeting society’s needs while respecting the environment and biodiversity. Our research activity in this sense provides alternatives to the classic energy system (renewable energy systems) as well as systems to manage electrical demand (smart management systems which optimise consumption in both homes and the workplace).