The mission of performing energy and sustainability research is executed in a balanced way, with both an experimental part (laboratory and field experiments), and a part with model studies and studies into societal interaction with scientific knowledge. Several groups in the Faculty of Science and Engineering do research in the field of energy and related sustainability subjects. By bundling these groups into one Research Institute, visibility and critical mass will be substantially improved.

The ESRIG research groups are:

• Centre for Isotope research – CIO

• Geo-Energy

• Energy Conversion

• Integrated Research on Energy, Environment and Society - IREES

• Nuclear Energy

• Ocean Ecosystems

ESRIG research themes

Energy systems

Which contains research subjects like new energy technologies, biomimetics, evolving energy systems, environmental impact, and societal acceptance.

Bio-based economy and “circular resource” systems

Involving new energy technologies, geothermal energy, sustainability of innovative biotechnology, food systems and resource usage, waste management, and multi-level governance in natural resource management.

Carbon cycle and climate

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) and other negative emission technologies, combustion, atmospheric carbon dynamics, marine carbon cycle, climate and its impact on the carbon cycle, as well as the economics and societal impacts of negative emission technologies.