Energy efficiency has become a key objective in the current context of increasing energy demand, decreasing resources and global warming. Key to efficient energy savings, however, are users' awareness and behaviour.

Householders do not always know how much energy they consume. To help improve their awareness, the EnergyLife app was developed through BeAware , a EU funded project, led by the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology (HIIT), in Finland.

Liberalising the heat market is, in theory, possible. It would operate in the same way that enables owners of domestic-scale wind turbines, or any other electricity producer, to sell surplus into the grid and draw power from the network.

In the European funded project FIBLYS (or FIB anaLYSis) three industry and four research partners from Czech Republic, France, Germany and Switzerland have created a multi-nano tool named FIBLYS .

A significant challenge for researchers in the field of rechargeable batteries is to construct batteries which can be charged and discharged quickly with only minimal energy capacity loss .

Together the engineers worked on the fuel cell propulsion system by upgrading the air supply, integrating a humidification system, redesigning the hydrogen supply line and developing a hydrogen sensor concept.

Geothermal energy has always been used by man, but it wasn’t until the late 19th century that geothermal energy was “rediscovered” and used on an industrial scale.

Reducing the energy requirements of buildings is an absolute priority in Europe. The energy demonstration project SARA has developed several public-access eco-buildings in France, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, UK and Uzbekistan.

One good way of helping the environment is to put what we call ‘solar panels’ onto the roofs of buildings. When the sun is shining these panels trap the rays and turn it into electricity and heat.