Research and Innovation in Energy Efficient and Energy Storage Technologies in an Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

The availability of appropriate, reliable and affordable energy is central to the sustainability and further development of modern societies. The challenge in attaining affordable energy resides in the supply and usage of energy in order to maximise benefit at the lowest cost. Energy efficiency seeks to contribute towards promoting efficiency in the conversion, distribution and usage of energy with regards to policies, activities, technologies, and products to achieve maximum benefits at acceptable costs. Energy efficiency, as an emerging field of energy, provides an attractive methodology for managing and restraining the growth in energy consumption.

The European Commission has modeled a 40 per cent energy efficiency target for the European Union by 2030. In 2015, BRICS countries identified energy efficiency and energy storage as a common area of collaboration to be undertaken by Member States. The BRICS Energy Ministerial Meetings have been instrumental in discussing key challenges confronting BRICS partners in managing energy policy and regulations.

The aim of the symposium is to assess global research patterns and domestic policies, with emphasis on South Africa, China and Germany, aimed at promoting innovation and research in energy efficiency and energy storage. This aim will be achieved through the following objectives:
1. Scientifically analyse global and regional research developments pertaining to energy efficiency and energy storage;
2. Identify current and future research needs and strengthen policy developments;
3. Assess possible solutions to current challenges as they relate to research, innovation and policy on energy efficiency and energy storage.

The symposium is organised jointly by the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), CAS, in China and focuses on energy efficiency technologies, strategies and policies in the building, industrial, transport sectors and in the field of distributed energy resources.

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