• Energy Research
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• 2019 close
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Wind power is a key component in the transition towards a society based on renewable energy. However, wind turbine operation and maintenance costs remain high and represent a third of the total costs of energy. Maintenance of critical components can be drastically reduced through early fault detection using advanced sensor signals. However, current analysis methods are highly manual and do not scale well. The EU-funded PAVIMON project is focused on the implementation of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze data from these sensor streams. The aim is to increase the resource efficiency of signal analysis and improve predictive capabilities. The PAVIMON project will effectuate a feasibility study at technical, transformational and commercial levels.

Roughly 40% of the current global energy demand is consumed in commercial and residential buildings. Thanks to advances in technology, Building Integrated PhotoVoltaics (BIPV) have emerged, enabling all buildings to become electricity producers and strive towards self-sustainability. Due to stringent energy efficiency norms in the EU, demand for BIPV products is soaring: PV incorporated in shells of multi-story buildings is required for supplying these high rise structures with energy. But also other artificial structures, e.g. sound barriers along highways, shall be used for energy provision, without further impact on the environment. Yet, truly integrated and aesthetic BIPV modules are currently neither available in commercial volumes nor at sustainable costs. Prices of products with still limited adaptability hinder the actual market growth. crystalsol addresses these shortcomings with a patented and entirely new type of cost-efficient, flexible and transparent PV technology where advantages of an efficient and stable monocrystalline absorber and low cost roll-to-roll (R2R) module production are combined. Due to the reason that crystalsol is able to produce semi-finished modules that allow full integration into building elements without any expensive and complex integration steps, BIPV products can pricewise finally compete with standard building shell elements (like facades without PV). This offers a huge competitive advantage, resulting in an enormous potential in the BIPV market. This Feasibility Study (cs-BIPV-FS) will bring crystalsol closer to the market entry stage. It will be a first step towards full commercialisation before upscaling the company’s operations and production processes. The cs-BIPV-FS project will help to analyse and conclude the technical feasibility and commercial potential of the ground-breaking BIPV technology, resulting in advancing the innovative technological concept into a credible business case.

Aim of the project PLASTICERA is to prevent nuclear accidents similar to Fukushima Daiichi from happening in Europe. Primary objective of PLASTICERA is to develop a new accident tolerant fuel (ATF) concept for modern nuclear light water reactors (LWR). Today, nuclear energy is an essential environmental issue as it is one of the key scalable technologies to battle climate change. Promoting the use of nuclear energy is largely based on public opinion and therefore creating safer and more sustainable ways to produce nuclear energy is more important than ever. The concept of PLACTICERA relies on amorphous oxide thin films to protect the primary fuel cladding from catastrophic damage during nuclear accident conditions. The oxide thin film can provide unique combination of a strong oxygen diffusion barrier with the capability to accommodate the plastic strain originating from the fuel bar thermal expansion. This functional coating could significantly delay the onset of uncontrollable degradation of the primary fuel cladding, allowing timely emergency cooling, and preventing the release of radioactive substances. The primary objective will be achieved by training Dr. Erkka J. Frankberg (fellow) with new skills in disruptive material manufacturing technologies capable of producing ceramic materials, especially amorphous oxides, with prerequisites for low temperature plasticity. These materials will then be tested for mechanical and corrosion properties in relevant environment resembling LWR normal operating conditions and conditions occurring during “loss of cooling water” (LOCA) -type accident.

International shipping is a large and growing source of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). It transports 80% of the global trade at the cost of 940 million CO2 tons (2.5% of global GHGs). Despite mandates from the EC or the UN on tackling this situation, the industry remains heavily fossil-fuel dependent. Some efforts are being made in harnessing the wind to propel ships, going back to its origins. These are soft-tails, fixed-sails, flettner rotors, kite sails and even some wind turbines. However, they all remain at the research stage failing to represent a feasible and reliable power source. Sidewind is a breakthrough innovation in the use of wind power in transport ships. Designed to utilize the wind energy that is wasted around cargo ships by converting that energy (kinetic) into electricity, Sidewind incorporates horizontal turbines inside recycled cargo containers. This results in a flexible, practical and cost-effective solution to the maritime transport sector, without the need for major changes in the ship. By installing just 20 turbines (standard cargo ship), a ship will save 40% average fossil fuel and energy, translated in €328k per year. The EU has 329 key seaports, controlling around 60% of all container cargo ships. Our customers are maritime transport companies (183 in Europe, managing 23,000 vessels) and ship builders (150 shipyards in the EU). The number of vessels calling in the main EU ports in 2017 was estimated at above 2.1 million, and we will target the most important shipping companies. We count with support from public entities (Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources, Ministry of industries and innovation) and key industry players like Samskip (maritime transport), Hedinn (engineering in fishing industry) and Rafnar Hull (ship builder). Sidewind is opening a new market niche as provider of wind technology for the maritime transport. Our vision for Sidewind is to play the leading role in a new green shipping era

The aim of SUNRISE is to make sustainable fuels and commodity chemicals at affordable costs of materials and Earth surface, using sunlight as the only energy source. This includes nitrogen fixation and the conversion of atmospheric CO2 into products, which will be a game changer in the fight against climate change. The CSA SUNRISE gathers the scientific and industrial communities that will develop radically new technologies to harvest solar energy and enable the foundation of a global circular economy. SUNRISE targets three synergistic S&T approaches: (i) electrochemical conversion with renewable power, direct conversion via (ii) photoelectrochemical and (iii) biological and biohybrid systems. These will be implemented with the crucial support of novel material design via high performance computing, advanced biomimicry, and synthetic biology. Ultimately, the novel solar-to-chemical technologies will be integrated into the global industrial system. In 10 years, SUNRISE will bring renewable fuel production to TRL 9 at a cost of 0.4 €/L and atmospheric CO2 photoconversion at TRL 7. The ambition is to convert up to 2500 tons of CO2 and produce > 100 tons of commodity chemicals (per ha per year), realizing a 300% energy gain over present best practices and deploying devices on the 1000 ha scale. This requires new solutions for absorbing >90% of light and storing >80% of the photogenerated electrons in fuels/chemicals produced in large-scale solar energy converters, in close interaction with social and environmental sciences to optimize their deployment. SUNRISE will make Europe the leading hub of disruptive technologies, closing the carbon cycle and providing a solar dimension to the chemical industry, with enormous economical, societal and environmental benefits. SUNRISE is an intrinsically flagship enterprise that has obtained explicit commitment from top organisations, both from industry and academia across Europe, to set the stage for the next steps of the action.