CircEcon
Requirements concept for the trilateral CircEcon Campus for a carbon-neutral closed-loop economy in Lusatia
Under the auspices of Leichtbau-Allianz Sachsen, the technical universities in Chemnitz, Dresden and Freiberg are planning to establish a research campus for carbon-neutral closed loop economy (CircEcon: Green Circular Economy) that will be unique in Europe in Lusatia and run this as an interdisciplinary research institution. On the trilateral CircEcon Campus in Lusatia, pilot lines, test facilities, lab configurations as well as demonstration systems should help identify and investigate new pathways for a highly efficient circular and bioeconomy, and then realise these together with enterprises from Saxony. By including advanced methods of artificial intelligence, digitisation and energy management on the basis of “green” hydrogen, the aim is to consider the complete added value chain “from raw material extraction and processing, through materials and methods, structures, right down to the re-use of recycled materials to produce new materials with comparable properties” and to bring this full circle in a carbon-neutral way.
In a first step, a requirements concept drawn up by the three universities will be used to assess the potential and technical-economic feasibility of particularly relevant key topics, which will then form the cornerstones of the trilateral research campus CircEcon. The sustainable benefits for society as well as the market opportunities for the industrial use of new systems, technologies and products will be analysed on the campus, among other things. A technical-economic analysis will concentrate on investigating and evaluating numerous technologies for the material, raw material and biological recycling of building components incl. further scenarios such as re-use, remanufacturing and upcycling. A comprehensive analysis of local conditions in the Lusatia region will also be part of the CircEcon requirements concept. To this end, both spatial, structural and socio-environmental factors as well as the opportunities for industrial growth in Saxony will be taken into account.
The three universities received a government grant of € 125,000 from the funds of the simul+ future initiative in December 2020 to draw up the requirements concept (the measure is being co-financed with tax money on the basis of the budget adopted by the Saxon state parliament). The project will be implemented with the participation of the Institute of Lightweight Structures at TU Chemnitz as the coordinator together with the Institute of Mineral Processing Machines of Freiberg University of Resources and the Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology at TU Dresden. The administrative office of Leichtbau-Allianz Sachsen is assisting in the organisational activities of the CircEcon project.
Leichtbau-Allianz Sachsen e.V.
Geschäftsstelle
Julia Bachmann
c/o TU Bergakademie Freiberg
Prüferstraße 1a
09599 Freiberg
Telefon +49 3731 39-2341
