As the world relies more on renewable energy to limit climate change, an EU-funded project has produced insights into how nanotechnology could support cleaner power and promoted university-business links for targeted future innovation in this field.
EU-funded researchers are on the verge of slashing the energy used by internet data centres to help cut CO2 emissions. By developing a model to optimise energy in real time, they aim to make the centres more efficient without affecting performance.
EU-funded researchers and partners are pushing the boundaries of the laws of physics, developing nanocomposite materials and nanoelectronic circuits to greatly improve energy, thermal and computing performance. This could make smartphones and other electronics more efficient and boost the potential of solar power.
Seven communities in south-eastern Europe plan to install biomass-based district heating systems thanks to an EU-funded project designed to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and strengthen local economies.
An unexpected discovery by EU-funded researchers has opened up a new field of photovoltaic technology that promises a more efficient and economical way to convert solar energy into electrical power.
Installing wind turbines in deeper waters is an interesting proposition as wind speeds tend to be higher and more consistent further out to sea. An EU-funded project has built a new type of foundation for turbines that overcomes most of the technical challenges and reduces the cost of offshore installation.
The EU-funded WATERSPOUTT project's partners in Malawi are designing and testing an innovative solar-ceramic water filtration system capable of providing local communities with a reliable source of clean water at the household level.
All-too-often it takes global disasters or looming events to bring countries together for a common cause. Climate change is perhaps the biggest 'event' of this kind, an existential threat driving international research cooperation in a new sustainable solution called solar-thermal electricity (STE). But it takes leadership to forge such a grand alliance of scientists, engineers, technicians and companies prepared to back progress in this field. Europe stood up when it was needed.
EU-funded researchers have discovered new families of proteins and enzymes that will enable the development of novel plant-based biomaterials, potentially providing viable sustainable and renewable alternatives to plastics and other fossil-fuel-derived materials and chemicals.
An EU-funded project has developed an innovative substructure for wind turbines that dramatically cuts the cost of their installation in deep water. This could help harness wind energy further offshore.
