Analyzing and promoting research into the governmental policy underpinning the energy transition required to successfully combat climate change. Economic drivers and incentives related to battery powered electric vehicles, battery energy storage systems for renewables and renewable energy harvesting devices is also under consideration.
Analysis of the policy and economic drivers that support the deployment of batteries and energy related technologies are the focus of theme 7. Next-generation batteries, such as those developed in Ampeire, will be key to the deployment of sustainable technologies such as electric vehicles and grid-scale electricity storage. Advancements on a materials level will be required to accelerate the transition toward a decarbonised and flexible electricity system and the electrification of the wider energy system. It is important that public policy responses to this do not lag behind the technological advances, thereby facilitating the transition to a greener economy. Ampeire researchers have shown that Ireland has been a ‘leader’ on the deployment of battery energy storage systems in relative terms. This is likely a result of its need for flexibility in the context of high penetration of variable renewable electricity sources and a paucity of alternative sources of flexibilities, especially in the short term. In other research, Ampeire members have investigated key differences between EVs and traditional vehicles through a risk lens, considering whether people drive or behave differently in EVs, whether EVs cost more to repair, and whether EV drivers are more likely to crash.