Magnetic ENERGY conversion for waste HEAT

The production and use of energy account for more than 75% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions. Decarbonising the EU’s energy system is therefore critical to reach our 2030 climate objectives and the EU’s long-term strategy of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Obviously solar and wind power will play an important role in any future energy scenario, but such intermittent sources present significant challenges in energy transport and storage. At the same time, a vast amount of low-grade heat is generated, e.g. in datacentres, food, pulp and paper industries, and is available 24/7. Even converting only a small percentage of this heat into electricity is significant due to the sheer amount of heat wasted just above ambient temperature. However, efficient technologies to convert this low-grade heat in an economically sound way are lacking Within this project, we will develop thermomagnetic harvesting from current TRL 3/4 proofs of principle to an efficient and cost competitive TRL 6/7 technology. Our interdisciplinary consortium of 9 academic institutes and 4 industrial partners address all major challenges for this emerging technology, which requires innovative designs of more efficient thermomagnetic generators, that are intimately connected with tailored thermomagnetic materials. Our team consists of engineers, who invented thermomagnetic systems at various sizes and power ranges, materials scientists with ample experience in advanced magnetic materials, bulk or film preparation and characterization, and physicists, who cover modelling from the ab initio scale, via micromagnetism at the mesoscale, up to the macroscopic device scale. This rich multidisciplinary environment will allow training of 10 young professionals by cross-fertilization with fresh ideas. They will obtain the interdisciplinary competence required to bring this green technology to a mature level, and career perspectives in both the academic and non-academic sectors delivering the Green Deal.