The decision by the Bundestag to locate a research facility for sustainable low-CO2 industrial processes in Upper Lusatia has been received with great pleasure at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences.

With the planned establishment of an institute of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the research and development potential of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (HSZG) and the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus - Senftenberg (BTU) will be strengthened and better utilized through cooperation and synergies. 

The planned Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Infrastructure and Geothermal Energy, which is to be based in Cottbus and will presumably have a branch office in Zittau, will also strengthen the cooperation and synergies between the two institutions in the field of energy infrastructure.

In cooperation with the BTU, energy-saving and energy-storing processes are to be investigated in large experimental facilities, which can thus contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions. To carry out the necessary research and development tasks, the HSZG already has excellent staff at the Institute for Process Technology, Process Automation and Measurement Technology and a very good experimental starting point with the Zittau Power Plant Laboratory and the High Voltage Laboratory.

Efficient electricity use with modern grid and transmission technology and electricity storage in the form of steam, hydrogen, methane or so-called synthetic fuels play a role in the new tasks, as does the use of natural energy and residual and waste materials in innovative energy conversion and energy supply technologies. Particular attention is paid to decentralized technologies that benefit value creation in municipalities, such as innovative combined heat and power concepts.

"The engineering scientists at the HSZG have already developed many innovations and ideas for these problems, the implementation of which requires the participation of many experts from different disciplines and, above all, great perseverance and persistence," says the Vice-Rector for Research at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Tobias Zschunke.

A special feature of the systems to be researched is that they are very complex and require extensive, lengthy and personnel-intensive testing. The digitization of the control processes for the physical and chemical processes is particularly challenging. The practical work will be accompanied by theoretical studies and modeling as well as complex impact analyses on the environment, economy and society, which will be carried out jointly with the new institutes and the BTU in Cottbus.