EU-funded research is developing advanced modelling tools to help assess the full extent of the problem of plastic pollution in our oceans and how it is affecting the marine environment. The tools will help policymakers design targeted measures to address a big and growing issue.
One of the world's most environmentally friendly passenger ships is harnessing the wind for propulsion, cutting CO2 emissions and fuel consumption, thanks to the installation of an innovative rotor sail developed by an EU-funded project.
Scientific knowledge plays a crucial role in addressing global challenges such as climate change, demographic changes, or economic crises. We act as science providers and knowledge brokers by providing the best available evidence to policymakers. Our aim is to use scientific knowledge to build solutions that are efficient, equitable and sustainable.
About 400 kg per square kilometre: this, according to estimates, is the amount of mostly plastic waste littering European seas. Some of it can be upcycled into high-quality clothing, claimed a Spanish SME, which carried out an EU-funded feasibility study to work out the details. And indeed, such garments are now available in its shops.
Tiny particles in vehicle exhaust are damaging to human health, but some of these emissions have been too small to accurately measure until now. An EU-funded project is developing innovative technologies to achieve real-time analysis of emissions of ultrafine particles smaller than 23 nanometres.
Millions of tonnes of plastic waste enter the world's oceans each year, posing a threat to marine ecosystems and contaminating the food chain with toxic compounds. EU-funded researchers are deploying cutting-edge technologies to prevent and mitigate this growing environmental hazard.
Plastics are desirable because they are very durable and resistant to degradation. Plastic waste is undesirable because of these very properties. EU-funded researchers are designing bacteria to efficiently consume plastic waste and turn it into novel destructible plastic - good for the environment and health.
EU-funded researchers are developing a high-energy lithium-ion battery to power a range of electric vehicles. They aim to meet growing demand for greener transport and help Europe establish a competitive advantage in battery cell production.
Shopping centres from Italy to Norway have undergone radical retrofitting as part of an EU-funded project seeking to re-conceptualise commercial buildings as lighthouses of energy-efficient architectures and systems.
Sun, seawater and sewage: microalgae can thrive on feedstock that is freely available and the resulting biomass can be used to make high-value products such as biostimulants and biopesticides. But can this be done viably on a large scale? Let us demonstrate, say EU-funded researchers building an integrated biorefinery.
