• Energy Research
• OA Publications Mandate: Yes close
• 2020 close
• 2024 close

In order to meet the climate change mitigation objectives of the European Union as well as the objectives of the Paris Agreement, it is inevitable that the European Union phases out fossil fuel consumption in the power sector and decarbonizes fossil-fuel dependent industries. These industries are not spread evenly across the EU but concentrated in a number of carbon-intensive regions. Decarbonization will lead to deep structural changes with implications for regional economies, labour markets, as well as for the regions’ social, political, cultural and demographic composition. If not managed well, these structural changes may cause serious economic impacts, societal upheaval, aggravated social inequalities and hardship. To minimize such consequences it is necessary to better understand the patterns and dynamics of structural change in response to decarbonization at the regional level, to understand which parameters determine the pace of transformation as well as the capacity of regional actors to adapt and pro-actively create alternative structures. This project aims to enable these activities through highly integrated, inter- and transdisciplinary research working in close collaboration with regional stakeholders. It combines quantitative model-based research with qualitative in-depth analysis. The qualitative research will focus on four highly fossil-fuel dependent regions: Western Macedonia (Greece), Silesia (Poland), Ida-Virumaa (Estonia) and the Rhenish mining area (Germany). The regions were selected to cover a diverse set of different fuels, state of economic development, diversification of the regional economy, political economy, and spatial composition. This diversity will enable the project to derive generalizable insights about the patterns and dynamics of decarbonization and the corresponding structural adjustments that hold relevance for all carbon-intensive regions in the EU and its neighbouring countries.

The MOST project aims to develop and demonstrate a zero-emission solar energy storage system based on benign, all-renewable materials. The MOST system is based on a molecular system that can capture solar energy at room temperature and store the energy for very long periods of time without remarkable energy losses. This corresponds to a closed cycle of energy capture, storage and release. The MOST project will develop the molecular systems as well as associated catalysts and devices to beyond state-of-the-art performance and scale. Further, the MOST systems will be combined with thermal energy storage (TES) in a hybrid concept to enable efficient and on-demand utilization of solar energy. The hybrid structure of the device, combining TES and MOST, enables the operation of the system in two different modes, targeting different applications. In mode A, the objective is to reach a stable thermal output. In this operation mode, the MOST system is used to mitigate the daily variation in solar flux which consequently leads to a variable output of the TES. In operation mode B, the system is targeting larger temperature gradients under shorter durations of time. Mode A is simulating applications where a stable temperature output is needed, such as e.g. heat to power generation. Mode B is simulating operation where the system operates as a part of a larger energy system where the task is to mitigate variations in energy demand and energy production. The materials production features scalable, green chemistry production routes. Further, the project will build an innovation ecosystem around the project and engage with future users of the technology in order to ensure future development and EU capacity for future market implementation.

STEP4WIND aims at increasing the commercial readiness level of floating offshore wind energy through technological innovations across the supply chain. Floating wind turbines (FOWTs) could be a game changer to further decrease the cost of offshore wind energy and unlock new markets. Wind turbines placed on a floating support and moored to the seabed can harness energy in areas with much higher wind speeds, at a reduced installation cost. It also gives the opportunity to countries with deep water to enter the offshore wind industry. The SET-Plan stresses that Europe needs to move fast in deploying FOWTs. It also highlights the urgency to widen the basic knowledge of early-stage researchers (ESRs) towards the design of FOWTs and match it with industrial needs. This European Industrial Doctorate programme will achieve this by delivering 10 doctoral degrees jointly supervised by the public and private sectors. The ESRs will be supervised by 3 universities with a track-record in wind energy research and 5 companies leading the deployment of floating wind farms and heavily involved in policy-making bodies. A mentoring scheme will be tailored to the needs of each ESR, with the involvement of several female senior staff. Scientifically, STEP4WIND will develop floating-specific tools, methods and infrastructures to tackle the technological and economical challenges of FOWTs, from design to deployment, operation and scaling up. The innovations from each ESR will be systematically integrated in a common multi-disciplinary design and optimisation tool to assess their impact on cost, risk and the environment. STEP4WIND will also deliver guidelines for large farm deployments, with a clear roadmap to commercialisation. The results will be disseminated openly in a series of innovative ways, including an online game and a design competition. STEP4WIND will also take part in large outreach initiatives, such as the TORQUE2020 outreach events organised by the Coordinator in May 2020.

Application of Solar Thermal Energy to Processes (ASTEP) will create a new innovative Solar Heating for Industrial Processes (SHIP) concept focused on overcoming the current limitations of these systems. This solution is based on modular and flexible integration of two innovative designs for the solar collector (SunDial) and the Thermal Energy Storage (TES, based on Phase Change Materials, PCM) integrated via a control system which will allow flexible operation to maintain continuous service against the unpredictable nature of the solar source and partially during night operation. ASTEP will demonstrate its capability to cover a substantial part of the heat demand of the process industry at temperatures above 150 ºC and for latitudes where current designs are not able to supply it. Its modularity and compactness will also enable easy installation and repair with reduced space requirements, while most of components can be sourced locally. The ASTEP`s process integration will allow full compatibility with the existing systems of potential end-users of SHIP. These aspects will provide a very competitive solution to substitute fossil fuel consumption. The developed solar concept will be tested at two industrial sites to prove the objective’s target of TRL5. Life Cycle Analysis will be included to validate and demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed technologies. The first Industrial Site of the proposal is the world’s leading steel company, ArcelorMittal, with a heating demand above 220 ºC for a factory located at a latitude of 47.1 N (Iasi, Romania). The second site is the dairy company MANDREKAS, located at a latitude of 37.93 N (Corinth, Greece) with a heating demand for steam at 175 ºC and a cooling demand at 5 ºC. These test locations will validate the ASTEP solution for a substantial part of the potential requirements of industrial heating and cooling demand of the European Union (EU28), which is estimated at approximately 72 TWh per year