The domain of energy research at University of Geneva consists of a number of research groups, including the Chair for Energy Efficiency (Prof. Dr. Martin K. Patel). The Chair for Energy Efficiency launched its activities in September 2013 as result of a collaborative agreement between the university and SIG (Services Industriels de Genève), i.e. the cantonal utility company. The chair is funded by SIG and it is housed by University of Geneva which has committed itself to ensure and support interdisciplinary research in this domain.
The main research areas of the Chair are:
- Built environment
- Energy storage
- Industrial systems & materials
- Policy and economics
Research at the Chair includes the environmental and the economic assessment of technologies, processes, products and services as well as the evaluation of policy programmes. Next to energy efficiency, energy storage and renewable energy represent key research areas, typically from a systems perspective. The research methods applied include techno-economic modelling (simulation), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), economic assessment (micro & macro) and policy analysis.
The Chair is/has been actively involved in the following selected projects:
- SWEET-DeCarbCH : Decarbonisation of Cooling and Heating in Switzerland
- SWEET-Lantern and SWEET-Cosi
- Innosuisse project SwissSTES on seasonal thermal energy storage
- Swiss Competence Center for Energy Research on Future Energy Efficient Buildings & Districts
- Swiss Competence Center for Research in Energy, Society and Transition (CREST), dealing with energy research on economics, environment, behavior and law
- Swiss Competence Center for Efficiency of Industrial Processes (EIP)
- Swiss Competence Center for Heat and Electricity Storage (HAE)
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) - NRP 71 project on tariff structure
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) - project on energy storage technologies (“SwissStore”)
- Odyssee project on energy efficiency indicators and energy consumption by end-use