Prof. Dr. Stefan Lechtenböhmer

We focus on solutions for the transformation of industrial and energy systems towards climate neutrality and a circular economy. Our expertise lies in the basic materials industries such as steel, cement and petrochemicals. We develop solutions to make these industries climate-neutral, resource-efficient and circular. In particular, we focus on the interactions between industrial transformation and the development of a renewable energy system.

The transformation of primary industries is one of the most pressing global problems: Industries such as steel, petrochemicals and cement convert natural resources into raw materials - an extremely energy-intensive process that is directly responsible for 20 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions in these three industries alone. When we started working intensively with the industry a good 10 years ago, there was virtually no research on this important topic. We have done important pioneering work here.

We pursue a system-analytical approach that models and analyzes industry in its transformation to a climate-neutral and resource-light economy in the context of the energy system in techno-economic and quantitative terms on the one hand, and considers it holistically as a socio-technical system in its social and institutional contexts on the other. We primarily apply quantitative, model-based scenario analyses and use these for strategy development and the design of policy instruments.

In my academic work, I particularly enjoy meeting highly interesting and committed people - as colleagues, as students and as cooperation partners in companies and institutions.

With my scientific work, I would like to contribute to solutions so that North Hesse as a region and the world as a whole can master the great transformation towards sustainability. It is particularly important to me to successfully help shape the pioneering role of the Kassel Institute for Sustainability in the further development of the scientific landscape towards an even stronger focus on sustainability.

The University of Kassel has long been a hot spot for many sustainability research topics. The Kassel Institute for Sustainability aims to network this high level of expertise even more intensively, make it more visible and more effective. Unlike other pioneers, the university has not founded its own faculty in order to strengthen its focus on sustainability. Rather, the Kassel Institute's concept as a strong university center deliberately aims to radiate out into the entire university and, in particular, to network across faculties. In this way, we link the entire breadth of the university's teaching and research topics. The first sign of this integration is the future sustainability degree courses, which will offer students from all departments the opportunity to acquire sustainability knowledge and skills. With this consistent concept, the University of Kassel is, in my view, an absolute pioneer when it comes to activating the high level of expertise in science for the management of the Great Transformation.

In terms of content, the University and the Kassel Institute offer an almost unique breadth of sustainability expertise. This ranges from the solution expertise of engineering, architecture and planning sciences, e.g. in questions of sustainable energy solutions, sustainable urban design and development and sustainable agricultural and food systems, to the design expertise of political science, economics and law, through to the critical perspectives of sociology and philosophy or development research.

The Kassel Institute for Sustainability pursues an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach. The background to this is the realization that the current problems of the transformation to sustainability are extremely complex and multi-layered and are also highly urgent. It is rarely enough to seek disciplinary solutions. The challenge is to work together on solutions across the boundaries of disciplines and also across the boundaries of traditional sciences. In the area of Sustainable Technology Design, we develop scenarios for the transformation of the basic materials industry. In order to assess how quickly and with what means these solutions can be implemented, we rely on knowledge from economics and political science, supplemented by knowledge from geography and regional and planning sciences when it comes to the development of energy infrastructures as well as regional economic effects and location issues.