Climate Care

Accordingly, increasing energy efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions have been a central focus for many years. A unique high-tech research infrastructure enables partners from science and industry to develop and optimize new methods.

For example, AIT operates the SmartEST laboratory, which tests the integration of renewable energy into "smart" electricity grids. This facility was recently expanded to include a DC laboratory - a unique facility in Europe for the further development of energy infrastructure in areas such as photovoltaics, electromobility or data centers. Energy systems of the future are designed and tested in high-end simulation environments and practical pilot applications, for example in the area of energy communities. The AIT City Intelligence Lab, which is a contemporary tool for planning cities and regions, also serves this purpose. In addition, major research programs are currently underway to integrate hydrogen and other synthetic gases into today's energy systems.

Among other things, AIT develops digital solutions for monitoring pollutants in the air or in water as well as for assessing measures and modeling future developments. With these solutions, we support countries, decision makers and organizations in analyzing the current situation and planning future investments.

Another focus of AIT is the development of a sustainable transport system - from infrastructure planning to the optimization of electric drives and research into future battery systems that are more efficient, safer and environmentally friendly.

Biotechnologists at AIT are dealing with specific consequences of climate change or adaptation to the increasing extremes of weather, on the one hand searching for more resistant plant varieties and on the other using natural microorganisms to make plants more resistant and at the same time reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Digital technologies, such as the networking of sensor data and the recognition of correlations with the help of artificial intelligence methods, also play a decisive role. 

AIT spin-offs are also active in the field of climate protection: One example is the young company Viridad, which has developed a customizable platform for sustainability assessment and calculation of sustainability performance in the EU taxonomy - based on AIT's long-standing rich know-how.