topic 

Resources and energy efficiency

Demand for resources and energy on the one hand and climate change on the other are set to massively increase pressure on the economy, politics and society in just a few years. Environmentally efficient technologies are developing into a critical success factor. These technologies are often driven by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In many areas, German companies, and in particular SMEs, enjoy a competitive advantage internationally. SMEs are an important driver of innovation and an important interface for the transfer of research results from the scientific to the business community.

Through this funding programme, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is seeking to boost the potential for innovation among SMEs in world-class research and to structure research funding within the framework of its Research for Sustainability (FONA), Research for Tomorrow's Production, and Materials Innovations for Industry and Society (WING) programmes in a way that is particularly attractive to SMEs making their first application for funding. To this end the BMBF has simplified and speeded up the application and approval process and extended the advisory services available to SMEs.

The funding is aimed at innovative SMEs wishing to establish themselves in the market for efficiency technologies or improve their position in that market.

Procedure

Skilled advisers are available to answer your questions. The support service will help you with basic questions on funding. Detailed technical questions will be answered by the competent project management organisation for that area of technology. For the submission of project outlines a special online tool is available.

Information on submission

Project outlines can be submitted at any time. Evaluation cut-off dates for project outlines are 15 April and 15 October.

Funding criteria

Important criteria for a positive decision on funding are excellence, the degree of innovation, and the importance of the contribution the research will make to the solution of current socially relevant issues. The detailed evaluation criteria can be found in the funding regulations. Submitted project outlines will be assessed competitively.

Technology and application areas

In line with the published funding regulations for the BMBF's KMU-Innovationsoffensive Ressourcen- und Energieeffizienz funding programme, support is provided for cross-cutting R&D projects within four technology areas directed at particular applications or sectors:

• Resource efficiency
• • Increasing resource efficiency, in particular in raw material-intensive production systems (e.g. processing of metallic and mineral raw materials, production of basic chemicals)
  • Improving raw materials productivity through optimisation of value chains
  • Innovative recycling and recovery processes
• Climate protection and energy efficiency
• • Innovative services for climate protection or protection against climate impacts
  • Technologies to reduce emissions in industrial processes, in particular key innovations having a broad scope of application
  • Farming methods to reduce emissions in rural areas
  • System-based technologies, processes and services to improve energy efficiency in economic sectors 
• Surface functionalisation for expanded use of biogenic raw materials
• • Improving the application and usability of alternative fuels
  • Improving the materials properties of biogenic plastics (e.g. UV-resistance, weather resistance, gas-tightness)
• Improving energy efficiency of production plant and machinery and their components
• • Approaches to methods and tools for evaluating the energy efficiency of production plant and machinery and for identifying the potential for energy savings (qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the energy efficiency of production plant and machinery based on generally accepted criteria that are yet to be developed, determination and evaluation of potential for increasing the energy efficiency of individual components and/or production plant and machinery).
  • Increasing the level of energy efficiency of components, production plant and machinery, avoidance of power loss (machine design for optimised energy demand with associated drive and control systems, e.g. by reduction of moving mass, layout and control of auxiliary equipment, energy-optimised control strategies for plant and machinery, e.g. for producing and arresting movement).
  • Recovery or use of kinetic and process energy (storage and feedback of power losses occurring into the energy cycle of production plant and machinery, storage and controlled use of power losses)

Outlining tool

An easy-to-use, effective online tool is available for you to submit your project outlines. Please select from the following list the tool corresponding to the technology area on which your research is focused. If you have difficulty deciding which area is appropriate to your research, please contact the support service.