State Secretary Dekker to open energy Institute DIFFER's new sustainable building
On Thursday 19 November, the State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science, Sander Dekker, and Ellen Williams, Director of ARPA-E, will open the new laboratory building for DIFFER, the Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research, which is part of FOM and NWO. At DIFFER, researchers and technicians are working on the conversion of sustainable electricity into clean fuels and on the generation of energy from nuclear fusion. From its central location on the TU/e Science Park, DIFFER will expand with new research groups and facilities and will seek to increase collaboration with higher education, research and high-tech companies.
Programme
In the morning, DIFFER is organising a masterclass for journalists, which will be given by René Janssen (TU/e-DIFFER, Spinoza Prize 2015). In the afternoon, there will be a symposium on nuclear fusion and solar fuels, as well as a series of laboratory tours.
Registration form for masterclass, symposium or laboratory tours.
New research and contributions to education
Spinoza Prize winner René Janssen (TU/e) will set up a new research group within DIFFER for solar fuels: the conversion of sustainable electricity into clean fuels. In 2015, Jaime Gómez-Rivas' successful research group (control of light at the nanoscale) moved to DIFFER, and in 2016, the research company Syngaschem BV will be accommodated at the institute to further strengthen the research into sustainable fuels. On 20 November, DIFFER will sign a collaboration agreement with Fontys University of Applied Sciences about shared lector appointments at Fontys and about internships in DIFFER's research groups.
Expanding experiments
In the new building, DIFFER's Magnum-PSI facility will be expanded with a superconducting magnet. Magnum-PSI is the only laboratory setup in the world that can generate the extreme conditions found at the wall of nuclear fusion reactors. Initially, this happened in brief pulses, but the superconducting upgrade will make prolonged intensive exposure possible: "This way, we will be able to expose materials to just as much plasma as they would experience in the entire lifespan of the ITER fusion project," says DIFFER's director Richard van de Sanden. "Magnum-PSI is unique in the world, and we will link a large number of measuring instruments to it so that we can observe how the material properties evolve."
One of the measurement instruments is a 3.5 MV ion accelerator that the institute is installing in the hall next to Magnum-PSI. The scientists want to use this 'super-microscope' to investigate materials for nuclear fusion and materials that can convert sustainable energy into clean fuels and chemicals.
Most sustainable laboratory in the Netherlands
DIFFER is the first research building in the Netherlands to obtain the high sustainability label BREEAM-Excellent. The institute will be presented with the certificate for this Dutch first during the opening ceremony on 19 November. DIFFER aimed for a building that is as sustainable as possible. This has been realised by the choice of a special facade, an efficient energy management, the use of sustainable materials, attention for the surrounding wildlife and the field of solar panels on the roof.
Further information
For further information, please contact:
Gieljan de Vries, Communication DIFFER, +31 (0)40 333 49 99.