TU Dublin’s Dublin Energy Lab Champions Earth Day 2025 with Bold Innovations for a Cleaner Future
Celebrating Earth Day 2025, and its theme, ‘OUR POWER, OUR PLANET,’ the Dublin Energy Lab Research Centre (DEL) at TU Dublin is leading by example; driving cutting edge research and innovation to accelerate the transition to clean, renewable energy. Dedicated to supporting a carbon-neutral future, DEL is actively developing technologies and strategies to reshape how energy is generated, distributed, and consumed, while ensuring that the societal impacts of this transition are fully addressed.
Professor Aidan Duffy, Director of DEL notes that the centres’s mission extends beyond advancing new energy technologies; it also focuses on understanding their broader impacts to ensure solutions are scalable, cost-effective, and socially responsible. He emphasises that DEL is uniquely positioned to support Ireland’s energy transition through collaborative, multidisciplinary research that addresses both technological innovation and social equity:
While new energy technologies are essential, we must be vigilant about the social, economic, and health impacts of the energy transition. Our research is designed to inform policy, guide investment, and develop solutions that balance sustainability with equity and competitiveness.
DEL is spearheading a diverse portfolio of cutting-edge projects, including:
- Transport Electrification Modelling (ARISE Project): DEL is developing advanced predictive models to understand how increasing electric vehicle use will affect Ireland’s electricity network, identifying strain points to guide infrastructure reinforcement.
- Innovative Renewable Technologies: Researchers are advancing solar technology with new coatings that prevent overheating, while also working on commercialising high-temperature thermophotovoltaic (TPV) devices and energy-harvesting building facades.
- Smarter, Healthier Buildings: From energy-efficient wall systems that reduce life-cycle costs to comprehensive models of the German and Irish building stocks, DEL is helping shape housing policies that consider energy, affordability, and health.
- Global Energy Geopolitics: DEL’s economists are examining the importance of the twin transition and its implications on how the energy strategies of the Silk Road region, especially in the Middle East and Africa – intersect with China’s energy security, shedding light on global power dynamics in the clean energy transition. The role of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) is also considered due to its geostrategic dimension and their critical role to develop renewable energies.
Prof. Duffy highlighted that even well intentioned policies can have unintended consequences. For instance, poorly retrofitted homes may suffer from damp and related health issues, and electricity system overhauls may impose costs disproportionately affecting low-income households. DEL’s work seeks to mitigate these risks through proactive research and inclusive solutions.
As Earth Day 2025 inspires action worldwide, TU Dublin and the Dublin Energy Lab Research Centre continue to invest in innovation, education, and policy engagement to ensure Ireland’s energy transition is both sustainable and equitable.
The new DEL microsite is currently under construction and will soon serve as a hub for impact, news, research updates, and opportunities for collaboration and development.