Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Irrek

Sustainable Business – with Energy

How can energy be used as efficiently as possible, and how can materials be effectively circulated? How are the markets for related products and services developing? And how can the transformation of the economy and society towards sustainability succeed? Since 2010, Wolfgang Irrek has been researching and teaching these topics as Professor of Energy Management and Energy Services at Hochschule Ruhr West.

Wolfgang Irrek trained as an industrial clerk in a newspaper publishing house and studied economics at the Universities of Hannover and Bristol (UK). His diploma thesis on a solar-powered drinking water pumping system in the Philippines marked the beginning of his extensive research in energy topics. For his doctoral studies, he investigated the controlling of energy service providers. His scientific work in applied sustainability research at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy laid the foundation for his current teaching and research on energy and environmental issues. Since 2019, the relatively new “Prosperkolleg” with its research focus on “Circular Economy” has been added to his portfolio.

Wolfgang Irrek is a member of national and international committees in the fields of energy efficiency and nuclear waste management, as well as a regular reviewer for international academic journals. Privately, the married father of two adult sons pursues a rather non-academic hobby: he plays piano in a jazz band — certainly with energy...

CV including publication list (German)
CV including publication list (English)

Teaching, research, and transferring scientific knowledge into practice

• Member of the Expert Advisory Board of the German Industry Initiative for Energy Efficiency (DENEFF)
• Member of the Expert Advisory Board of the “Atommüllreport” project (http://www.atommuellreport.de)
• Member of the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (eceee)
• Member of the NRW doctoral program/graduate college (Promotionskolleg NRW) (www.pknrw.de)
• Founding member and Deputy Chair of the non-profit association Prosperkolleg e.V., Bottrop

• Corporate Development and Controlling in the Energy Industry
• Energy Economics Project
• Climate-Neutral Industry
• Energy Efficiency
• Environmental Economics
• Fundamentals of Business Administration, Economics, Business Law, and Project Management for Prospective Engineers and Industrial Engineers

Selected research projects:

• “CircleUp” – 100 households, 100 circular stories: inspirations for sustainable living in Europe (Horizon Europe)
• “Prosperkolleg” – transformation research on circular value creation in the northern Ruhr region (Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia)
• “ChangeBest” – market development for energy-efficiency services (European Commission / ASEW)
• Product and business field development as well as marketing concepts for energy-efficiency services (Wuppertaler Stadtwerke; Stadtwerke Gronau; E.ON)
• Scientific support for climate protection strategies (RheinEnergie; State of Bremen)
• Financing of decommissioning, dismantling and disposal of nuclear facilities / provisions in the nuclear energy sector (European Commission; Federal Ministry for the Environment)

• Energy industry
• Energy efficiency, energy management, energy services
• Circular value creation
• Sustainable business practices
• Economic assessment of nuclear energy use

Vice Dean, Department 1 – Director of the Institute for Energy Systems and Energy Economics

Advisory member of the Senate Finance Committee

Schools can find our offerings here: https://mint4u.de/workshopangebote/

Prospective students can find our energy and environment degree programs here:
https://www.hochschule-ruhr-west.de/studium/studienangebot/landingpages/energie-und-umwelt-studieren-an-der-hochschule-ruhr-west