The research field solar chemical engineering that used to belong to our institute is since January 1st part of the DLR Institute of Future Fuels (FF). The staff from the corresponding division are the young institute’s core team. The large-scale facilities Solar Furnace and Solar Simulator in Cologne, as well as the Synlight facility in Juelich, will also be a part of the Institute of Future Fuels. Professor Christian Sattler, until now head of the Solar Chemical Engineering department in the Institute of Solar Research, has been leading the new institute as acting Director since its official foundation in July 2020 . The DLR-Institute of Future Fuels is dedicated to cover the tremendous research demand in this area even more intensely than it has been done before. In the world’s sunbelt new technologies are expected to make it possible to generate big amounts of fuels on the basis of renewable resources; appropriate transport routes will also provide industrial nations like Germany with those energy carriers. This vision is the base for the Institute’s mission to develop and upscale the required materials, components and procedures.
The Institutes of Solar Research and of Future Fuels are going work closely together in the future. More conjoint research projects like the currently ongoing PEGASUS-Project are in the planning. The testing facilities in Juelich and Cologne are going to be used by scientists of both institutes. We will also stay spatially connected with our colleagues at the Institute of Future Fuels as they will keep their office and laboratory work places in Cologne and Juelich.
We are looking forward to working together in our future projects and wish our colleagues at the Institute of Solar Research a happy new year 2021!
Further information on the research field Solar Chemical Engineering and on the large-scale facilities Solar Furnace, Solar Simulator Cologne and Synlight are currently still available on the website of the Institute of Solar Research.