Responsible
Project Partners
- Technische Universität Braunschweig
- Institute of Machine Tools and Production Engineering
- Bergische Universität Wuppertal
- Chair of Production and Logistics
- University of Michigan
- EASTlab Environmental and Sustainable Technologies Laboratory (EAST)
Initial Situation and Problem
Due to the growing importance of sustainable individual mobility various projects have evolved, focusing on the successful market establishment of sustainable powertrain concepts. The SUSTECH project links two of these projects. The US-based Environmental Policy, Auto Design, & Materials Flows project is funded through the MUSES program of the National Science Foundation and connects researchers from the University of Michigan, the Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of California at Berkley and the Northeastern University. The objective of this project is the analysis of changes in materials flows that would result from policy instruments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this context the reactions of consumers are considered as well as those of automotive manufacturers. Based on this, predictions about future emissions and resource consumption can be made.
Against a similar background the BMBF-funded STROM project concentrates on the optimal allocation of alternative powertrain concepts in the markets of Germany and China. As in the US-based project, the evaluation of the technologies with regard to their sustainability becomes possible by integratively considering all actors of the transport sector politics – automotive manufacturers – consumers. Several institutes of the TU Braunschweig, the University of Wuppertal and the Volkswagen AG are working together to achieve this objective.
To make the best use of existing synergies and combine the knowledge of both projects, SUSTECH has been initiated.
Objective and Approach
The aim of the project is the integration of the results of the projects Environmental Policy, Auto Design & Materials Flows and STROM. The continuous scientific and personal exchange and joint research activities up to 2013 serve as a basis for mutual publications as well as the compilation of a joint research proposal. Within this research project hitherto existing findings shall be used to develop advanced models and methods for the integrated assessment (that means based on ecologic, economic and social criteria) of sustainable powertrain technologies.
During a joint kick-off workshop at the University of Michigan in November 2010 research approaches of the projects STROM and Environmental Policy, Auto Design & Materials Flows and similar projects of the involved institutes are presented. Based on this, potential focus points of the mutual research are deduced. In the following years researchers of the involved institutes will spend research periods at the University of Michigan to formulate and elaborate work packages for the joint research proposal in bilateral collaboration. Furthermore mutual publications are aspired. At the end all partners involved in the SUSTECH project will finalize the joint research proposal and the elaborated research roadmap during a closing ceremony.