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News 2025

Styria Discusses the Energy Future – and NEFI Plays an Active Role in Shaping It
by Oxana Schmidt

At the Energy Enquiry in the Styrian Parliament on December 3rd, 2025, the importance of a secure and sustainable energy supply for the region’s economic competitiveness became clear. The discussions focused on questions relating to renewable energies, storage solutions, high-performance grids, appropriate regulatory frameworks, and the role of research and innovation.

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Recap of the NEFI Technology Talk "Circular Economy in Industry"
by Oxana Schmidt

At the NEFI Technology Talk on December 3rd, 2025, the circular economy was highlighted as a key factor in achieving a sustainable industrial transformation. More than 50 participants discussed how resource efficiency, reuse and new material strategies can already be successfully implemented in industry today.

The contributions clearly demonstrated that the circular economy not only generates environmental benefits, but also opens up new business models and industrial value-creation potential.

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Takeda and AIT Win DECA Award Industry 2025 for the NEFI Project AHEAD
by Oxana Schmidt

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology and Takeda were honored with the DECA Award Industry 2025 at the Austrian Energy Efficiency Congress for the pioneering NEFI project AHEAD (Advanced Heat Pump Demonstrator). The award recognises the outstanding technological innovation of the first industrial high-temperature heat pump demonstrator, which enables CO₂-free steam generation for pharmaceutical production processes – a milestone for the sustainable transformation of energy-intensive industries.

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Recap of the Co-Creation Workshop at the H2 Convention 2025
by Oxana Schmidt

On November 26st, 2025, the Co-Creation Workshop “RTI Initiative: Transforming Industry – Using Hydrogen Research to Enhance Corporate Competitiveness” took place as part of the H2 Convention 2025. The workshop, opened by Urban Peyker, Head of Department and Mission Director of the “Net-Zero Industries Mission” (Climate and Energy Fund), focused on the promotion of hydrogen projects and their potential contribution to industrial transformation.

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Recap: Open Innovation Workshop with a Focus on Circular Economy
by Oxana Schmidt

How elastomers can be recycled more efficiently in future and how circularity in the rubber and hose industry can be achieved were the core themes of the Rubber Recycling – Open Innovation Workshop which took place on September 9th, 2025, at Business Upper Austria in Linz. Representatives from industry, research, and the recycling sector collaborated on new solutions for sustainable value chains – from raw material sourcing and manufacturing through to the reintegration of used products.

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Recap of the NEFI Technology Talk "CO₂ as a Resource – Technologies and Opportunities"
by Oxana Schmidt

Capture, Utilisation & Storage (CCUS) offers new pathways towards climate neutrality. The key challenge now is to advance these technologies conceptually and translate them into concrete industrial applications. Guided by this principle, the NEFI Technology Talk “CO₂ as a Resource – Technologies and Opportunities” took place on October 16th at the Technical University of Leoben.

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Recap of the NEFI Technology Talk "Hydrogen Valley Meets NEFI – Best Practices for Austria's H₂ Future"
by Oxana Schmidt

Hydrogen is more than merely an energy carrier; it is a key enabler of tomorrow’s climate-neutral industrial landscape. The NEFI Technology Talk “Hydrogen Valley meets NEFI – Best Practices for Austria’s H₂ Future”, hosted by Business Upper Austria, centred precisely on this future: How can Austria strategically leverage its hydrogen potential, accelerate innovation, and assume a leading position within Europe?

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Recap of the NEFI Technology Talk "Energy Efficiency in Servers and Data Centres"
by Oxana Schmidt

On November 5th, 2025, the NEFI Technology Talk “Energy Efficiency in Servers and Data Centres” organised by the OÖ Energiesparverband took place in Linz, attended by 54 participants. The focus of the talk was on efficiency measures that help to reduce the electricity consumption of servers and data centres. The programme included topics such as efficient cooling systems, energy management systems, optimal server utilisation and solutions for procuring new hardware.

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Presentation of the NEFI project directCCE at the NEFI Technology Talk “CO₂ as a Resource – Technologies and Opportunities”
by Oxana Schmidt

How CO₂ can be used as a raw material in future industrial processes was the central topic of the NEFI Technology Talk “CO₂ as a Resource – Technologies and Opportunities”, held on October 16th, 2025, at the Technical University of Leoben. Researchers, industry representatives, and funding institutions discussed current developments, challenges, and future perspectives. The Climate and Energy Fund also presented new funding programmes and provided valuable impulses for the development of innovative projects.

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Call for Proposals 2025: Innovative Energy Storage and System Integration
by Oxana Schmidt

The Steirische Ökofonds (Styrian Eco Fund) is launching a new funding call for innovative energy storage and system integration. The aim is to reduce climate-damaging emissions and increase energy efficiency in Styria.

Submissions are open from October 1st, 2025 to 15 January 15th, 2026.

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Launch of the new RTI initiative “Transformation of Industry”: Achieving climate-neutral industrial production with NEFI
by Oxana Schmidt

With the current RTI initiative “Transformation of Industry”, the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund – endowed with resources from the Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure (BMIMI) – is providing 60 million euros to support Austrian companies in the development and implementation of climate-neutral solutions and cutting-edge technologies.

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NEFI Project “Future Heat Highway” Launched
by Oxana Schmidt

On 15 September 2025, the kick-off meeting for the NEFI project Future Heat Highway took place at JKU Linz.

Building on the findings of the NEFI Heat Highway project, this initiative investigates regional and cross-regional heat transfer networks in four focus areas: Central Linz, Salzkammergut, Styria, and the St. Pölten region.

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