The energy crisis has highlighted the importance of greater heating efficiency. The EU-funded RELaTED project showed how lower temperatures in district heating systems combined with heat pumps can reduce costs while still keeping homes and commercial premises warm. The findings can boost sustainable energy production, reduce energy waste, and provide cost-effective heating to consumers.
Catalytic reactions are crucial for energy conversion and the production of chemicals, but their operation is limited by slow heat transfer. The EU-funded INTENT project developed new reactor designs with improved potential for heat transfer. The research and results will help in the transition of Europe’s energy sector away from fossil fuels.
Today’s silicon-based solar cells are limited in that they can only absorb energy from a single band of light. That’s why the EU-funded PERTPV project is using perovskite-based materials to build a new type of solar cell. This should lead to more powerful, efficient and sustainable solar panels that will benefit citizens as much as the planet.
Islands are an ideal research ground for those willing to test out energy grid improvement solutions. Local communities usually favour renewable energy and face a wide range of challenges. The EU-funded SMILE project has been testing various combinations of new technologies to take these challenges on, for the benefit of island communities.
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.
Humanity is realising that the state of our oceans has a direct impact on our wellbeing. To identify key priorities in the field of oceans and human health, the EU-funded SOPHIE project created a network of diverse experts. By changing harmful behaviours and encouraging sustainable practices, they hope to contribute to better health for both the oceans and citizens across Europe and beyond.
Too much waste ends up in landfill, removing potentially reusable resources from the economy. To address this, the EU-funded VOLATILE project has developed a process for transforming biological waste which can then be used in a range of industries. This could deliver products with real added value for EU citizens, such as biofuel and bioplastics, as well as soap and Omega-3 oils.
Waste is only waste if you cannot put it to good use. EU-funded researchers have developed a circular value chain deriving income sustainably from deep litter, wet straw, biogas digestate and similar residues, via products such as fertilizer, fuel pellets and substrate for mushroom and growing media for plants - and boosting biogas production in the process.
The EU project CD-LINKS has helped to join the dots between climate change mitigation and sustainable development policies by creating a network of research experts in a wide range of relevant topics across the globe.
Wind, wave, tidal - there is plenty of energy to harvest at sea, and plenty of room for innovation to tap this potential for greater sustainability contributing to a key sector in the European Commission's Green Deal. Test sites from several countries have joined forces to strengthen Europe's position at the forefront of this area of R&D. An EU-funded project has taken their cooperation a step further.
