Success in the Competition for Excellence
RWTH Aachen University is one of Europe’s leading science and research institutions. It was successful in all three funding lines of the “Initiative for Excellence” Competition, receiving financial support for three clusters, one research school, and the university’s future concept. RWTH Aachen University has carried out research and teaching on the subjects of environmental technology and ecology for many years. Special research priorities include energy, water, wastewater treatment, soil decontamination, resource efficiency, air pollution control, and clean technologies.

New fuels from biomass
With the excellence cluster “Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass”, RWTH Aachen University is pursuing an interdisciplinary research approach to new, biomass-based fuels. The formulation of new fuels with tailor-made characteristics has the aim of investigating the potential of clean and efficient low-temperature combustion procedures for combustion engines. In this way, dependency on fossil fuels can be reduced in the long term.

Global knowledge exchange
RWTH Aachen University cooperates closely with international partners in the field of environmental technology. An example is the cooperation project “aware” between the Institute for Environmental Engineering (ISA) and Tsinghua University in Beijing, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Together with their Chinese colleagues, the Aachen-based scientists are working on creating a Sino-German research platform to intensify scientific exchange and to support and implement joint research activities in the areas of drinking water supply and wastewater disposal.