NORSUS conducts research on how our energy systems can be designed more sustainably through increased use of renewable resources, flexible solutions, and efficient utilization of energy and waste streams.
In addition, we research how smarter energy distribution infrastructure can help reduce the environmental impacts associated with energy use.
Our research addresses the need to reduce environmental impacts, ensure security of supply, and use energy resources more efficiently in line with national climate targets and European energy and climate policy. We examine how technologies, markets, regulations, and infrastructure interact, and how different energy solutions affect climate, the environment, costs, and other societal considerations.
Our work provides decision support for authorities, energy companies, waste and industrial enterprises, and regional stakeholders when planning new energy solutions, developing infrastructure, and designing policy instruments.
The results are used to assess which combinations of solutions provide the greatest benefits – for example, the interaction between electrification, bioenergy, district heating, waste-to-energy, and flexibility solutions – and to identify barriers and opportunities in the transition to a more renewable energy system.
We use methods such as life cycle assessment (LCA), energy system and scenario analyses, optimization models, and material flow analyses, often integrated with economic and social indicators. Energy systems are often land-intensive, and we assess multiple aspects simultaneously by analyzing trade-offs between land use, biodiversity, food production, and industrial development.
At NORSUS, this research area overlaps with biorefining, biogas, waste resources, food waste, and process industry. Researchers at NORSUS work across several research areas, and both we and our clients benefit greatly from researchers with diverse backgrounds and project experience.
Examples of projects include studies on how energy recovery from waste can be combined with other renewable energy sources and potentially carbon capture, analyses of cost-effective and climate-friendly solutions for energy supply in cities and regions, and projects examining how different energy scenarios affect emissions, resource use, and socio-economic outcomes.
