Many cities across Europe are aiming to become truly circular not only by recycling 100 % of the resources available from waste materials, but also by changing their production modes and optimising materials’ flows. The EU-funded REFLOW project developed innovative tools and guidelines to help them achieve this goal. The work will support greener cities for citizens.
Climate change, drought and population growth have made the management of India’s water resources a pressing concern. To address this, and in partnership with local stakeholders, the EU-funded PAVITRA GANGA project has successfully piloted and monitored new wastewater treatment technologies. Once fully implemented, these could bring significant health and environmental benefits to citizens.
The capacity of lightweight materials to reduce the transportation sector’s carbon footprint could be erased if their production isn’t efficient too. That’s why the EU-funded RECOTRANS project has developed a state-of-the-art process to manufacture composite components for cars, trains and trucks. Innovations such as these will help the EU reach its climate goals, securing a healthy environment for all citizens.
At low temperatures and high pressures, water behaves strangely, becoming two distinct liquids. With a pioneering use of X-ray lasers, the EU-funded WATER project explored the behaviour of water in this liminal realm. The findings have potential to improve fuel cells and desalination technology, and may even aid the search for life on other planets.
Natural disasters threaten citizens around the world with disruption to essential services, damage to property and infrastructure, and the loss of life. The EU-funded ChEESE project uses supercomputing to help forecast accurate disaster scenarios. As a result, authorities in La Palma were able to make informed decisions and save lives when the Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted.
Whilst being a renewable energy, hydropower has a rather large environmental footprint. From its dams causing flooding to its power plants threatening fish populations, the key to the wider use of hydropower is to make it more sustainable. Thanks to new cost-effective measures developed by the EU-funded FIThydro project, environmentally friendly, sustainable hydropower may soon be a reality.
People love tomatoes so much that they are now the most important vegetable crop worldwide. But as world temperatures rise, the risk of losing this vital source of food has become very real. The EU-funded TomGEM project has identified new varieties with better heat tolerance to ensure citizens can continue to enjoy all the tasty tomato-based foods they adore for a very long time still to come.
Heavy industry is often associated with giant chimneys releasing large quantities of dense, polluting smoke. The EU-funded CLEANKER project has developed new CO2 capture technology for cement plants, challenging this age-old industrial perception. Their technology will boost the EU’s plans for a greener economy that will ultimately benefit all citizens, wherever they live.
The steel industry is one of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters. To change this, the EU and industry-funded H2Future project is showing how a steel production plant can operate using green hydrogen made from renewable electricity. Once finalised, this new technology could play a key role in helping Europe meet its goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2050.
Science has long held that in the food chain, plants support animals. While this may be true on land, the EU-funded MixITiN project has shown that such a system isn’t applicable to our oceans. The project hopes that its findings will help to improve knowledge and thus broader education efforts on marine ecology, allowing citizens to gain a better understanding of the ocean’s great wonders.
