CO2OLHEAT will demonstrate at TRL7 in the CEMEX cement manufacturing plant in Prachovice (CZ) the operation of a 2 MW Waste-Heat-to-power (WH2P) skid based on a 2MW-sCO2 cycle able to efficiently valorize local waste heat at a significant temperature of 400°C. Capitalizing consortium excellent knowledge coming from previous sCO2 turbomachinery design experience and EU funded projects on industrial waste heat valorisation (TASIO, i-THERM, sCO2-FLEX etc.) and stimulated by SPIRE roadmap and EU sCO2 R&D initiatives, CO2OLHEAT aims to valorize waste heat even at higher temperature if compared with the traditional steam/ORC solutions. The project will demonstrate the EU MW scale first-of-a-kind waste heat-sCO2 plant towards a cheaper/more flexible waste heat valorisation. The project will strengthen EU industrial leadership in both energy intensive industries (making them more competitive) and turbomachinery sectors, bridging the current gap on sCO2 turbomachinery that EU has with US and Japan-Korea. The project will analyse sCO2 WH2P potential from a technical, economic and environmental point of view, developing innovative models for the design of the cycle and of the turbomachinery as well as investigating CO2OLHEAT cycle benefits in the cement, glass, aluminium, power generation sectors via techno-economic and Life Cycle based replication feasibility studies, involving relevant EU industrial players (EDF, ENGIE, MYTH, CEMEX, SISECAM, CELSA). The project is coordinated by ETN and involves an industry driven consortium with key turbomachinery OEM (SIE-BH), energy intensive industries, energy utilities and R&D partners all committed to bring soon CO2OLHEAT sCO2 cycle technologies on the market. Thanks to its robust demonstration and replication campaign (also foreseeing extra-EU stakeholders collaboration), CO2OLHEAT can be considered a “demonstration to market” project, being keystone for EU sCO2 turbomachinery industry and for a more effective waste heat valorisation.

"Context/background of the projectCollegesWales is the national organisation that represents the 13 Further Education institutions (FEIs) in Wales. There has been a merger of two colleges since the application was submitted which is why there is a difference in the number of FEIs between application and final report stages. One of the main reasons for carrying out this project was to raise the aspirations of young people currently undertaking vocational education and training in Wales by empowering them to participate actively in society, not just in Wales but further afield in Europe. This experience has built their confidence, enhanced their technical & soft skills and improved their employability. This opportunity has also encouraged them to develop friendships & networks beyond their current comfort zone giving them opportunities to learn a new language & enjoy different cultural experiences. The objectives of the project were to enable participants to: -explore and deepen their knowledge of their vocational subject within a European context and within, at times, a totally different working environment -consider future employment opportunities in Europe within their chosen field -enhance their professional profile and employability by providing evidence of having acquired additional professional skills during their work placements overseas as well as enhancing their personal communication and team-working skills through working with their European counterparts - support the European tools for transparency and portability of qualifications For the consortium members and the receiving organisations, the project has enabled them to develop and strengthen partnerships across a range of curriculum areas and to contribute to the European Commission's objective to improve and modernise VET education across Europe. The project has also supported the EU transparency tools for qualifications and enabled vocational learners and apprentices to become more work mobile across Europe. Number and profile of participantsThere were 345 participants in this project - 338 were full time VET learners from FE colleges across Wales studying national vocational qualifications (NVQs or BTECs) at either Level 1, 2 or 3 and who were defined as those whose studies typically include work-based learning. There were 7 apprentices in the project - 5 Engineering apprentices and 2 Business apprentices. Across the whole project, there were 18 curriculum areas with participants undertaking work placements in 9 European countries: Childcare, Travel & Tourism, Hair & Beauty, Spa Therapy, Catering, Sport, Outdoor Education, Animal Care, Business Administration, Mechanical Engineering, Agriculture, Construction, Motor Vehicle Engineering, Equine Management, Electrical Engineering, IT, Interactive Media & Graphics and Creative Media. Activities The participants undertook two week training periods in companies/businesses/primary schools in 9 European countries. The work placements and/or training that the participants undertook overseas took into account the qualifications that the target group of participants were working towards in Wales and identified learning outcomes that were to be achieved during the training period that could contribute to the achievement of that qualification. Europass Mobility was also obtained by some of the participants to provide evidence of the learning achieved. Impact and longer term benefitsThe impact of these opportunities on individual participants was significant and led to some participants having the confidence to consider working in a different country in the near future or later in life. Here is a quote from one young learner “I worked in a tourist information centre. I was dealing with international tourists. Working aboard was a challenge and I now have more confidence and independence – when I was catching the train by myself every day. Now I would have the courage to apply for jobs abroad.” Travel and tourism student (GLLM) Returning participants stated that they would recommend this experience to others and this enthusiasm, when shared with peers, should increase the numbers of participants from Wales taking part in mobility projects. An Animal Care learner from Pembrokeshire College said “Apply, it will change your life"" and “It was my first time abroad and it could not have been more rewarding.” For some of the participating organisations, taking part in this type of activity had a positive impact on student intake into specific curriculum areas within that organisation. When undertaking schools visits, many of the sending organisations talk about the opportunities for overseas travel through Erasmus+ and this enhances and enriches teaching and learning experiences for staff and learners in the FE colleges in Wales."

Growing demand for high quality iron ores and scrap as well as abandonment of carbon intensive sintering in the future require novel technological approaches for upgrading of low-grade iron ores and recycling of mill scale. TransZeroWaste will apply hydrometallurgy for mill scale de-oiling and use this iron-rich scrap equivalent to upgrade low-grade iron ores. For that, TransZeroWaste will develop low carbon technologies such as cold pelletising and briquetting, hot microwave pelletising, and magnet-supported hydrometallurgy from TRL 6 to TRL 8. The developed technologies will be transferable to further material flows such as dusts and sludges. On European level, the expected impact will be the potential upgrade of over 18 million t/a low-grade iron ore, up to 6 million t/a mill scale and 3 million t/a pellet sieving residue. Total impact of TransZeroWaste will include upgrading of 27 million t/a materials with low carbon technologies and avoiding of corresponding sinter plant carbon footprint of 4,3 – 9,9 MtCO2/a. Technological competences and know-how are owned by the participating partners from the applied research. They will be developed and transferred to the two industrial partners with 9 production sites. Thoroughly planned dissemination and exploitation activities will ensure effective implementation of technologies after project end. Life cycle assessment and economic evaluation will be performed; sustainable business models will be developed. Furthermore, a decision support platform for industrial users will be installed. In combination with workshops and trainings it will help to find and implement the best upgrading technology for various low-grade materials considering environmental and economic aspects. TransZeroWaste will serve as a vehicle for the transition of the European steel industry to the carbon free zero waste future.

PROBONO brings together a European multidisciplinary consortium of 47 partners, construction and consulting entities, public asset service managers, municipalities, technology solution providers and experts, to turn the six European districts (PROBONO´s Living Labs) into Green Building Neighborhoods (GBN), with positive energy balance and zero carbon emissions: two large-scale demonstrators (Madrid and Dublin) and four living labs representing business/owner promoters of the green buildings and neighborhoods’ transition (Porto, Brussels, Aarhus, Prague). PROBONO will provide strong examples of how GBN's technological and social innovations can be applied, with a vision focused on building infrastructure and a renewed focus on people and sustainability, taking full advantage of digitalization and smart technologies for the benefit of society. The adoption of the PROBONO approach and innovations will be proposed through a range of participatory methods that promote stakeholders (including citizens) partaking in co-designing and co-delivering a sustainable GBN. PROBONO will provide GBN Strategic Planning Tools in spatial, economic, technical, environmental regulatory, and social context aligned with city and urban masterplans and policy frameworks. PROBONO will create evidence-based policy recommendations, standardization actions, and robust adoption and commercialization strategies supported by a capacity-building program and a European Alliance of GBN Innovation Clusters. PROBONO will provide a GBN Digital Twin (DT) implemented across the LLs as a virtual representation of associated GBN including operational assets that implicate environmental and efficiency KPI. A cloud-based decision support-planning tool will be created to develop an optimized design for carbon-neutral energy GBN systems incorporating PROBONO innovative solutions on GBN demand and response dynamics. The technological developments will include metering different utilities with electricity, gas, warm energy, cold energy, and water linked to Smart IoT gateway and Energy Optimisation middleware, all this combined with geothermal, PV, micro-turbines, efficient HVAC technologies, green roofs, custom insulation, and GB energy optimization, efficient energy storage and integrating EV charging value chain. To enhance wide-scale adoption and standard creation, PROBONO will contribute with evidence-based policy recommendations, standardization actions, and robust adoption and commercialization strategies.

R3VOLUTION (R3V) project will revolutionize industrial water management in the EU, providing key innovations that can enable economically, environmentally and operationally water reclamation projects (by addressing solutes and energy recovery challenges), and generate significant impact for the EU in the next decade. To pave the way towards sustainable and efficient water and resource consumption, R3V takes on the challenge of developing and demonstrating a resource recovery solution that will enable >90% water reuse across most intensive water industries, applicable upstream and downstream, whilst recovering >45% effluents solutes, >50% waste heat reuse and eliminate 100% of hazardous substances. R3V will investigate, develop and demonstrate tailored membrane-based treatment trains coupled with waste heat, and a digital process assistant (DPA) to support the design phase to achieve optimal configuration for different industrial settings, minimising risks in implementation and provide critical support in operation. With the aim to demonstrate R3V solution capabilities and replicability potential across varied process industries, the project includes 4 physical demo cases at pilot scale targeting several up- and down- streams in a variety of industries with high water discharges and complex effluents: petrochemical, bio-based chemical, pulp & paper and steel, each led by renowned technological partners. The project will also assess the transferability of the results by evaluating one additional industry (mining in Chile), and its replicability in 3 additional streams, via the DPA tool developed within the project. The consortium perfectly maps the triangle of competences required to develop R3V solution: membrane technologies and design of treatment trains, energy recovery and digitalisation, considering also transversal competences such as economic, environmental and social assessment, together with the exploitation plan of the developments.