Areas of science and research at BUT contributing to sustainable development

We perceive the responsibility of a technical university to contribute to solving societal challenges in terms of environmental and climate protection, sustainability and quality. In short, everything that we include under the term Green Deal, which expresses our acceptance of responsibility for sustainability and quality of life on Earth.

As part of our research and development activities, we focus, among other things, on technologies to minimise the negative impact of human activity on the climate and the environment, in three key areas:

• the reduction of CO₂ emissions to which it contributes:
  • energy
  • transport
• the use of alternative energy sources:
  • renewable energy (FTE, VTE)
  • carbon-free and emission-free energy technologies - hydrogen, nuclear
  • complementary and secondary use of residual electricity and heat (recycling, heat recovery, cogeneration, storage)
• waste treatment:
  • secondary recovery of waste and its conversion into secondary materials, electricity or heat
  • use of surplus electricity from renewable energy or heat

Electromobility

In the field of electromobility, the BUT is implementing dozens of research and development projects. For this reason, in June 2022, we signed a memorandum of cooperation on the development of electromobility with the city of Brno, in which the following topics are mentioned:

• Smart solutions Vehicle to Grid, Vehicle to Home (V2G|V2H), in which electricity is used in both directions, using surplus energy from photovoltaic and wind power plants and EV batteries
• charging stations
• applications to link charging, space reservation and parking payment services to balance the load on the grid
• a range of EV topics for bachelor and master theses
• expert and lecture activities for the public

Experts from the BUT also carry out research and development in the field of:

• electric drives, electro-hydraulic and hybrid vehicle drives, including those with energy recovery
• zero-emission electric vehicles
• vehicle and chassis dynamics
• optimisation of automotive structures
• EV batteries and accumulators for vehicle drives, including solutions for operational safety and battery charging

Accumulators and batteries

BUT initiated the establishment of the Czech Battery Cluster.

In the field of accumulators and batteries, the BUT experts are mainly engaged in development:

• fuel cells (low-temperature alkaline fuel cell)
• battery (i.e. electrochemical) storage systems:
  • development of new types of batteries: based on Li (Li-S) and Na (Na-Ion), modern types of batteries using Pb (lead) and improvement of parameters including development of electrolytes for Li-ion, Na-ion batteries
  • development of EV batteries (electro-vehicle batteries)
  • investigation of battery and accumulator degradation mechanisms, deactivation and recycling

Energy

Renewable energy: photovoltaic and wind power plants (PV and VTE)

• development of photovoltaic cells and panels, including measurement of their efficiency
  • development of new PV cells based on perovskite, a mineral that is highly efficient (25%) compared to silicon cells
• development of systems for control and optimisation of electricity generation from PV and VTE with battery storage

Smart grids

• development of systems for modelling, operation control, support of EE flow management including variable load balancing and energy supply from complementary sources: photovoltaic and wind energy
• development of systems for diagnostics of distribution equipment and fault location
• development of technologies for the design of environmentally friendly high-voltage equipment

Low-emission and low-carbon energy

• research and development of low-emission and low-carbon energy technologies (e.g. nuclear energy, hydrogen technologies)
• research on biomass gasification with high hydrogen production (up to 70% by volume)
• increasing the thermal efficiency of combustion plants (e.g. by condensing the moisture in the flue gas)

Construction

• research and development of advanced building materials using secondary raw materials and hazardous waste – in particular replacing energy-intensive cement production
  • cement-free concrete,
  • aerated concrete,
  • admixture concretes (recycled building materials, slag, mineral tailings)
  • polymeric materials using secondary raw materials and hazardous waste for highly aggressive environments
• development of new construction materials and building materials from municipal waste and secondary raw materials (recyclates) and hazardous waste, e.g. structural boards, cement-bonded particleboards
• Low Energy Buildings - Do No Significant Harm and Nearly Zero Energy Buildings approach
• 3D printing of building structures

Water managements

• research and development on building and implementing adaptation measures in the landscape to enhance water retention and detention in the landscape, protect against drought and water erosion, stabilise ecosystems and increase biodiversity
• research on cultivation and reclamation solutions, e.g. development of small water bodies

Waste

municipal – a wide spectrum: mainly packaging, especially plastics, but also sludge from wastewater treatment plants - a special category i hazardous waste - chemical, biological, etc. including nuclear

• research in the field
  • recyclability and secondary recovery of waste
  • design of waste collection logistics chains (collection - separation and treatment - recycling and recovery), including forecasting and modelling of waste production
  • waste-to-energy (WtE)
  • development of new materials based on waste treatment and secondary recovery

• development of technologies for flue gas, waste gas and waste water treatment

Development of new materials

Development of new materials - from recycled raw materials or original biomaterials

• research and development of biomass-based materials - bioplastics, e.g. lignin
• development of organic semiconductors for bioelectronic devices
• research and development of materials increasing the efficiency of EE in electrical engineering and thus reducing the consumption of electrical devices
  • in the field of silicon-carbide (SiC) materials for the production of semiconductors that have 6–30 % higher EE efficiency than conventional silicon semiconductors (i.e. reduced energy consumption) while being able to operate at higher temperatures
• development of technologies for the production of biomaterials

Light and light smog

• optimization of brightness and illuminance of a moving object or static (public) lighting, including measurement of the spectrum and distribution of brightness and illuminance of public lighting or road lighting by means of a brightness analyzer
• research of measuring the effects of artificial light on living organisms and the environment (biodynamic lighting)
  
  

Hydrogen and hydrogen technology

More efficient production and energy recovery technologies are being sought in the field of hydrogen technology.

• hydrogen in transport – requires pure hydrogen produced by electrolysis (electrolyzers) - electrolisys of water, acids, sodium chloride, etc.
• hydrogen in the chemical/petrochemical industry is produced mainly by steam reforming, i.e. splitting hydrocarbons with water vapour