Austrian energy research institute specialising in energy communities, behavioural modelling, and industrial energy efficiency at JKU Linz.
The Energy Institute at Johannes Kepler University Linz is an applied research centre focused on energy systems, behavioural energy economics, and industrial energy efficiency. They specialize in modelling how people and communities interact with energy — from agent-based social simulations to designing energy communities and citizen engagement tools. They also contribute techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment to biorefinery and industrial symbiosis projects. Their work bridges the gap between technical energy solutions and the human/economic factors that determine whether those solutions actually get adopted.
Led ECHOES, SMARTEES (agent-based modelling), PEAKapp (behaviour-driven energy savings), ENCHANT (behaviour change strategies), CAMPAIGNers (lifestyle transformation), and DIALOGUES (energy citizenship).
Coordinated eCREW (community renewable energy webs), GREENFOOT (community-financed energy for sports buildings), DIALOGUES (energy citizenship co-creation), and CAMPAIGNers (citizen science for climate pathways).
Coordinated S-PARCS (industrial park energy cooperation) and participated in BAMBOO (waste heat recovery), CORALIS (industrial symbiosis and CO2 utilisation), and STOREandGO (power-to-gas).
Contributed techno-economic and life cycle analysis to LIGNOFLAG (lignocellulosic bioethanol), OPTISOCHEM (wheat straw to bio-isobutene), and REWOFUEL (residual wood to biofuels).
Participated in HyFlow (vanadium redox flow battery–supercapacitor hybrid systems) and HyUsPRe (underground hydrogen storage in porous reservoirs).
Contributed to Open ENTRANCE (open linked energy models for Europe), SMARTEES (policy sandbox tool), and frESCO (new business models for energy services).
In their early H2020 period (2016–2018), the institute split its efforts between biorefinery/biomass conversion projects (LIGNOFLAG, OPTISOCHEM, REWOFUEL) and foundational energy behaviour research (ECHOES, PEAKapp, SMARTEES). From 2019 onward, they shifted decisively toward energy communities, citizen engagement, and climate-conscious lifestyle modelling — coordinating eCREW, GREENFOOT, CAMPAIGNers, and DIALOGUES in quick succession. The biorefinery work has essentially stopped, replaced by a strong focus on the social and community dimensions of the energy transition.
They are moving firmly into community energy governance and citizen-driven climate action — expect future work on energy cooperatives, participatory policy design, and behaviour-based demand flexibility.
With 6 projects as coordinator (30%) and 14 as participant, they balance leadership and partnership roles comfortably. Their 252 unique partners across 33 countries indicate a wide, non-repetitive network — they join diverse consortia rather than circling back to the same collaborators. This makes them a flexible partner who brings cross-project perspective and connects otherwise separate research communities, particularly bridging technical energy engineering with social science.
They have worked with 252 distinct consortium partners across 33 countries, giving them one of the broader collaboration networks for an institute of their size. Their reach is pan-European with no obvious geographic concentration beyond their Austrian home base.
What sets EI-JKU apart is their dual fluency in both technical energy systems and human behaviour — a rare combination. Most energy research centres focus on hardware and infrastructure; this institute understands why people adopt (or resist) energy solutions and can model those dynamics computationally. For consortium builders, they fill the critical gap between "the technology works in the lab" and "people will actually use it in the real world."
