Energy efficiency in industry will play an important role in limiting greenhouse gas emissions. This is just what researchers should concentrate on in the CREATIV project.

Text and photo: Mette Kjelstad Høiseth

CREATIV is one of the first major R&D projects concerned with energy efficiency in industry. The goal is to make industrial heating and cooling processes more energy efficient and develop new technologies for the utilization of waste heat from industry. The project will run until 2013 and will make a contribution to industrial innovation and provide competitive advantages for the industrial participants.

The project covers most of the industrial energy users in Norway. The results from the project can help to reduce both Norway's primary energy consumption and the country's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent.

- CREATIV can potentially involve ground-breaking research in several areas that are critical for optimal energy use, and is an ideal means of bringing about a reduction in energy consumption in industry, said project manager Grethe Tangen from SINTEF Energy Research.

The kick-off for the project was 23 and 24 November 2009 in Trondheim. Over 30 project partners spent the first day in knowledge exchange, while the second day was devoted to the presentation of the sub-projects, scientific presentations, the General Assembly and a meeting of the steering committee.

Firm industrial support
There is emphasis on building a consortium with strong, complementary knowledge involving various industrial sectors and scientific disciplines.

This is a comprehensive, international collaborative project where SINTEF Energy Research has the coordination. There are 21 partners in the project where the industrial partners cover metallurgy, food production, wood and paper processing, and the supermarket sector. Participants range from the multinational Danfoss, the Norwegian supermarket chain Rema 1000 to Schanghai Jaio Tong University in China, Kungliga Tekniska Högskolen in Sweden and Doshisha University in Japan. Several partners are involved in more than one subproject.

The results of the project are expected to form a basis for innovation and future value creation both nationally and internationally. The project will also contribute to the education of specialists in energy efficiency and will work to recruit talented scientists to the relevant fields in this project. 

 
Project coordinator Anne Karin T. Hemmingsen opened the first project meeting in Trondheim on 23 and 24 November 2009 where over 30 project participants were present.