For years, the Slovakian research community has battled scarce funding opportunities within the field of renewable energy, making it difficult to keep up with the rest of Europe. With the introduction of the EU target to bring the share of renewables up to 20% of the EU's overall energy consumption, there is a growing need for research within this field. Grants from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway have proven to be welcome funding opportunities for green energy research in Slovakia.
New research centre
A €950,000 Research fund is already in place to channel support to Slovak research projects that can accelerate the development of clean energy. Additionally, the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava has now been awarded a €370,000 grant from EEA and Norway grants to establish a university centre for the development of renewable energy sources. A fully equipped new laboratory will enable in-depth research and analysis on alternative sources of energy.
"With this project, we are hoping to stimulate further research on renewable energy in Slovakia," said project promotor Dr Bodik. "Slovakia has great potential when it comes to converting biomass to electric or heat energy. But with compared to the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany, hardly any research is being carried out within this area," he continued.
Groundbreaking research
Among its planned activities, the centre will carry out pioneering research on the use of waste from biodiesel. Production of biodiesel is gaining increasing popularity in Europe, but around 15% of its volume is waste in the form of glycerine. Although glycerine is a common ingredient in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries, these industries are not able to utilise the amounts of waste created. Dr Bodik and his research team are now looking into the possibilities of transforming the glycerine to electric energy.
According to Dr Bodik, Slovakian companies are becoming increasingly interested in the use of renewable energy sources. "Our research will prepare Slovakia for the implementation of greener energy sources in the years to come," he concluded.