On 24 October 2025, we attended the Brussels kick-off of SUSTENET – the Sustainable Thermoelectrics European Network (COST Action CA24120). The Action runs from 2025 to 2029 and is built to accelerate sustainable, industry-ready thermoelectrics in both waste-heat recovery and active cooling. COST Actions fund the networking that moves ideas faster: meetings, training schools, and exchange visits. They do not fund bench research. Instead, they connect universities, national labs, SMEs so methods and people circulate efficiently across Europe.
What SUSTENET aims to do
SUSTENET’s mission is to make thermoelectrics more sustainable and deployable. That means improving performance through interfaces, packaging, and control electronics, while addressing supply-chain realities such as critical raw materials. This COST Action operates through four connected Working Groups that map cleanly onto the field’s real bottlenecks:
- WG1 – Scaling sustainability through AI: from materials discovery to device design and decision support.
- WG2 – Applications and user cases: turning prototypes into validated products and deployable systems.
- WG3 – Business development & supply chain: standards, procurement, market adoption and responsible sourcing.
- WG4 – Dissemination, communication & training: skills pipelines, outreach and open knowledge.
In practice, this action aims to seek better materials, interfaces , and comparable test methods, plus less reliance on scarce tellurium where alternative chemistries make sense. Recent European coverage—see outlets such as Innovation News Network has highlighted CA24120’s role as an industry matchmaker, exactly what is needed to turn new materials into qualified modules and deployable systems.
Bridging research institutes and industry
This bridge is where COST Actions shine. Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) move people and methods between labs and companies, so hard-won techniques (measurement, bonding, interfaces, contact resistance) spread quickly. Training schools align measurement practice around reliability, life-cycle assessment (LCA) and test comparability. And within SUSTENET, WG3 keeps supply-chain and standards questions front-and-centre ; so prototypes can become products with clear buying signals for European OEMs.
Where ICECAP fits
We focus on precision control for multi-stage TECs and reliable deep-cooling assemblies. Within SUSTENET, we’ll contribute to WG2/WG3 topics ; common control and test protocols, manufacturability and QA. This draws on the Aristat Controller Quad and the techniques detailed on our Technologies and Applications pages.
A local note: Andre Micallef is listed as Malta’s Management Committee member, underscoring the Action’s research–industry link. We’ll share calls for STSMs, training schools and WG meetings on Latest News, and we welcome collaboration via our Contact page.
