Research

Future Energy Systems develops the energy technologies of the near future, examines their integration into current infrastructure, and considers their social, economic, and environmental impacts. We also contribute to the development of solutions for challenges presented by current energy systems.

Our research program includes fourteen themes, which are organized into four areas. Many of these themes and areas are interdependent, and we strongly encourage our researchers to interact and collaborate with colleagues from different faculties, disciplines, and themes.

Some of our themes will also conduct broad, system-wide analyses of future energy technologies, and assess the impacts of the new technologies developed within the Future Energy Systems program.

Strategic Areas

Developing Hydrocarbons Responsibly

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Improving Environmental Performance

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Enabling Sustainability

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System Wide Enablers

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Projects

A comparative study between gas-phase pyrolysis, gas-liquid-alloy pyrolysis, hybrid cold-plasma / photo-catalytic and electron radiolysis in the production of hydrogen from methane

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage

Active, Stable, and Abundant Photocatalytic Materials for Hydrogen Fuels

Solar

Additive manufactured porous transport layers and bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells

Grids & Storage

Advanced Biological Fermentation Process Development

Biomass

Advanced Electrochemical System for Energy Storage Through CO2 Conversion

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage

Advanced reliability enhancement and cost reduction techniques for wind energy generation

Wind

Advancing Containment, Conformance and Injectivity Technologies for Effective Geological Storage of CO2

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage

Agent-Based Modeling of Energy Transition Towards Future Energy Systems

System-Wide

Alberta Biojet Initiative (ABI): Upgrading of University of Alberta's LTH technology to Biojet

Biomass

Alternative Energy Generation: Strategic Design of Photovoltaic and Thermoelectric Materials Using Modular Chemistry and Assembly, Interface Engineering, and Spectroscopic Characterization

Solar

Artificial Photosynthesis Using Semiconductor Nanomaterials

Solar

Asphaltene Behaviors and Models

Heavy Oil - Non-Aqueous Recovery

Assessing Political Pathways for Energy Transition

System-Wide

Assessments of Technologies Developed under Future Energy Systems

System-Wide

Bio-Based Sorbents for Simultaneous Removal of Contaminants from Wastewaters Generated During Energy Production

Land and Water

Biobattery - Decentralized Production of Fuel from Forest and Agricultural Waste

Biomass

Bioconversion of Single-­Carbon Effluents into Biofuels and Biofuel Precursors

Biomass

Biophysical Impacts of Energy Systems and Indicators of Reclamation Success

Land and Water

Bitumen-­Solvent Product Cleaning

Heavy Oil - Non-Aqueous Recovery

Blockchain based smart contracts in the future smart grid

Grids & Storage

Capitalizing on opportunities, identifying levers, and overcoming obstacles to the decarbonization of Edmonton’s bus fleet

System-Wide

Catalytic Conversion of Bio-based Feedstock: Bottom-up Design of Sustainable Processes

Biomass

Clarke Lake Geothermal Project Socio-economic Study

Communities and Aboriginal

Closing the gap: the impact of oil and gas regulations on producing First Nations

Communities and Aboriginal

CO2 adsorption mechanism of potassium promoted hydrotalcite and its application in high purity hydrogen production

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage

CO2 Dissolution in Saline Pore Fluids and CO2 EOR

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage

Computational Seismic Full Waveform Inversion

Heavy Oil - In-Situ

Control of CI Engines for Efficient and Robust Biomass Utilization

Biomass

Corrosion in Biomass/Fossil Fuel Co-Processing

Biomass

Current availability assessment of biomass resource in China and Canada and the potential for bilateral biomass trade to develop biomass co-firing in Chinese coal power plants

Biomass

Data-centric flow liquefaction assessment and biomediated tailings improvement: towards safe closure of tailings dams

Land and Water

Decision Support Systems for Improved Construction and Maintenance of Non-­Electrical Infrastructure for Energy

Non-Electric Infrastructure

Dependable and Autonomic Computing Platform for Managing Transactive Microgrids

Grids & Storage

Developing Microwave Sensor Technology

Heavy Oil - In-Situ

Development and Synthesis of Novel Materials for Water Remediation

Land and Water

Development of a Distributed Energy Management Initiative (DEMI)

System-Wide

Development of Next-Generation Anaerobic Digestion System

Biomass

Development of Novel Biochar Materials for Land and Water Reclamation

Land and Water

Discovery of single, bi- and multimetallic atom-based photocatalysts on semimetallic titania support for H2 production from water

Solar

Distributed Energy Management for More Electronics Smart Grids (Distributed Energy Management Initiative)

Grids & Storage

Distributed Energy Storage

Grids & Storage

Diversifying the Renewable Energy Portfolio with Double Perovskite PV Materials

Solar

Dynamic load control and EV charging field experiment

Grids & Storage

Dynamics of colloids in phase separation

Heavy Oil - Non-Aqueous Recovery

Economic Analysis of Reclamation Technologies and Policy Options

Land and Water

Economic Policy and the Future Electricity Grid

Grids & Storage

Electrochemical Conversion of Waste Plastics into Hydrocarbon-based Fuels

Land and Water

Employing in vitro bioassays to assess OSPW treatment: Implications on predictive modelling of risks

Land and Water

Energy Management Strategies for Distributed Energy Resources

Grids & Storage

Energy, housing and homelessness nexus in northern Indigenous communities in Canada

Communities and Aboriginal

Enhancing light matter interaction in solar technologies through metasurface enabled photovoltaic architectures

Solar

Enhancing targeted pollinator conservation in revegetation at green energy sites

Land and Water

Existing capacity and best practices for the integration of future energy systems into Canadian cities and First Nations Communities

Communities and Aboriginal

Exploring Wellbore and Reservoir Processes for Geological Storage of CO2

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage

Extraction of valuable metals from wastewater, brine, and acid mine drainage

Land and Water

Fluid/Rock Interactions in Canada’s Geothermal Systems

Geothermal

Future Energy Systems: Documentary & Intermedia

Energy Humanities

Future Smart Grids Structures

Grids & Storage

High-capacity, Free-standing Electrodes for Lithium-ion and Sodium-ion Batteries

Grids & Storage

High-Density Power Conversion Technology for PV and Battery Systems

Grids & Storage

High-­throughput Materials Discovery through Materials Genomics

Solar

How can passive seismic imaging techniques be used to monitor temporal variations in structures at CO2 sequestration sites?

Heavy Oil - In-Situ

Hydrothermal Torrefaction of High Moisture Content Biomass

Biomass

Imaging, Characterizing and Modelling Canada’s Geothermal Resources

Geothermal

Integrated Assessment of Environmental Footprints for Energy Scenarios

System-Wide

Integrated Carbon Capture and (Photo) Reduction Systems: Toward on-line monitoring, sequestration and conversion to useful chemical feedstock

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage

Integrated Water Purification System for Safety Water Reclamation and Resource Recovery

Land and Water

Integrating Social With Biophysical Success Indicators for Land and Water Reclamation

Land and Water

Interaction of converters in emerging smart grids: Stability analysis and control design

Grids & Storage

Investment Decisions and Policy Analysis

Biomass

Kinetics of CO2 hydrate formation

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage

Land and Water Approaches for Reclamation of Process Water

Land and Water

Life Cycle Analysis of Selected Novel Materials and Designs

Land and Water

Life Cycle Assessment of Energy System Transitions

System-Wide

Low-cost catalysts and methodologies for partial upgrading of bitumen

Heavy Oil - Partial Upgrading

Market Design for Increased Wind Generation

Wind

Measuring the Costs and Benefits of Energy Transitions

Communities and Aboriginal

Micro-scale energy harvesting technology in remote communities of Alberta

Wind

Moving Forward by Overcoming the Legacies of Past Energy Systems Project

Communities and Aboriginal

Multifunctional lightweight metallic coatings for sustainable energy generation systems in cold climates

Wind

Nanobubbles for highly effective wastewater treatment

Land and Water

New materials for Photovoltaics

Solar

Next Generation Energy Storage Using Unconventional Materials

Grids & Storage

Next Generation of Clean Pipeline Technology for Energy Transport

Non-Electric Infrastructure

Novel Rechargeable Battery Technology based on Zinc-Ion Intercalation Materials

Grids & Storage

NSERC/Cenovus/Alberta Innovates Associate Industrial Chair Program in Energy and Environmental Systems Engineering

System-Wide

Operational Decision Support for Smart Grids

Grids & Storage

Optimization of Small Wind Turbines for Gusty Wind Resources of Northern Canada

Wind

Optimizing Geothermal Energy Production and Utilization Technology

Geothermal

PCM Booster: Enhancement of the thermal properties and energy savings analysis of bio-based phase change materials

Biomass

Post Combustion Capture of CO2 using Solid Sorbents

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage

Potential of Biological Materials for Coal Mine Reclamation

Land and Water

Rational Design of Next-generation Lithium-Sulfur Batteries for Clean Energy Storage

Grids & Storage

Rational Design of Protective Interlayers for Next Generation All-Solid-State Lithium Batteries

Grids & Storage

Real Time Environmental Sensors for Water Quality Monitoring

Land and Water

Regulating lithium nitrate solvation chemistry in carbonate electrolytes for high-voltage Li-metal batteries

Grids & Storage

Regulation and Integration of Solar PV into Electricity Markets

Solar

Remote Micro-Grids

Wind

Research on Interfacial Control of Solid State Lithium Batteries

Grids & Storage

Reservoir Engineering and Enhanced Oil Recovery

Heavy Oil - In-Situ

Reservoir management and advanced optimization for thermal and thermal-solvent based recovery processes using fundamentals, scaled models, and machine learning

Heavy Oil - In-Situ

Resilience of electric vehicles during disasters

Grids & Storage

Safety and reliability assurance of next generation AI-enabled cyber physical systems for energy systems

System-Wide

Scaling/Fouling Mechanism and Mitigation Strategies in Coal or Biomass Gasification Systems and Wastewater Treatment in Coal-fired or Co-fired Power Plants

Land and Water

Smart nanocomposite membranes: harnessing clean water and clean energy from Alberta’s oil sands

Land and Water

Social Implications of Energy Development

Communities and Aboriginal

Socio-­economic Roadmaps to Commercial Geothermal Energy Production in W. Canada

Geothermal

Solvent Recovery and Removal from NAE Extraction Gangue

Heavy Oil - Non-Aqueous Recovery

Speculative Energy Futures

Energy Humanities

Supramolecularly Crosslinked Microgels for Heavy Metal Sensor Fabrication

Land and Water

Surface Science Hub for Clean Technology (SSH-CT)

Grids & Storage

Synthesis and utilization of ether fuels from forestry biomass in diesel engines

Biomass

Technical impact assessment of frozen soil on geothermal heat pump technology in western Canada

Geothermal

The Future of Energy and What It Means for Labor Markets

System-Wide

Thermal Impacts for Geological Storage of CO2

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage

Thermal Well Design and Testing

Heavy Oil - In-Situ

Transforming Fossil Fuels into Heat or Hydrogen

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage

Transition in Energy, Culture and Society (TECS)

Energy Humanities

Uncertainty quantification and optimization for the scale-up of geological carbon storage (GCS)

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage

Understanding and modelling black carbon formation

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage

Unlocking the Physics and Chemistry of Bitumen, Water, Solvent, and Porous Media Interfaces- an Enabling Technology for New Production Process Development

Heavy Oil - In-Situ

Use of Electrical Heating to Remove Condensate Banking in the Near-Wellbore Region of Shale Condensate Reservoirs

Heavy Oil - In-Situ

Utility-­Scale Energy Storage

Grids & Storage

Value-­Added Conversion of CO2

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage

Vanadium Redox Flow Battery (VRFB) - technology comparison, acquisition of experience, development of use cases and energy management strategies

Grids & Storage

Wind Energy in the Beaufort Delta - Inuvik

Communities and Aboriginal

Wind Farm Operation and Grid Integration

Wind

Wireless Communication And Power Delivery

Heavy Oil - In-Situ

Researchers

Over seven years, Future Energy Systems plans to support more than 100 researchers and up to 1,000 Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP), including graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. To learn more about our researchers, visit the Researcher Directory.

Directory