Fossil, Renewable and Nuclear Energetic Sources
Primary energy resources represent the first essential element which feeds the energy chain passing through energy conversion, distribution, transport, storage up to the end uses. The decrease in production of conventional fossil deposits counterbalances the discovery of unconventional reservoirs which is changing the global energy scenario and requires extensive environmental assessments. The penetration of renewable sources envisages new evolutionary directions particularly for the electricity sector and requires appropriate technical and economic assessments. Nuclear power and its safe use are still considered an essential element in the scenarios that aim at significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In this area, the Department of Energy is carrying out its scientific research along three main lines:
- resource exploration: Evaluation of the technologies to reduce the environmental impact caused by the extraction of fossil resources, systems for evaluating the potential of renewable resources and their exploitation
- new fuels: technologies to produce new fuels (gas-to-liquid, coal-to-liquid, biofuels, hydrogen)
- alternative uses of nuclear power in the biomedical and civil fields.
For information: ricerca-deng(at)polimi.it