DINOSAR aims to develop Copernicus based algorithms to support smart farming applications that can be used worldwide, clouds, or no clouds. At the moment, most EO based crop monitoring tools are based on optical satellite inputs. In areas with substantial cloud cover the use of these applications is extremely limited. To be able to introduce more sustainable crop management practices, reliable and continuous time series on crop phenology and health throughout the growing season are needed. This will support farmers to match agricultural inputs (fertilisers, pesticides, water) with what the crop actually needs, decreasing their environmental footprint. DINOSAR will do this by integrating the diagnostic power of optical, infrared and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) signals. With the DINOSAR project we intend to kickstart a revolution in EO-based solutions that tackle challenges in agriculture (under clouds) by making full use of the Copernicus infrastructure. We intend to take the existing methodology a step further by designing a multi-sensor operational monitoring method for a single crop (sugarcane) capable of operating on large data volumes, and then extrapolating this approach to practical field cases and to other crops (and geographies) for which the application of EO-based applications has been underexplored. Rather than looking at optical and SAR based data as two parallel signals, we will focus on integrating the two early on in the processing chain. This has not been done before. Sugarcane in Colombia is our initial test-case, but we will not stop there. DINOSAR will also develop a methodology integrating the combined observations from optical, infrared and SAR EO satellites to monitor other crops in other geographies.

Direct aviation emissions accounted for 3.8% of total CO2 emissions and 13.9% of the emissions from transport in the EU in 2017, making it the second biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions after road transport. In addition, the growing amount of air traffic means that many EU citizens are still exposed to high noise levels. Intensified research and innovation activities are therefore needed to reduce all aviation impacts and emissions (CO2 and non-CO2, noise, manufacturing) for the EU to reach its policy goals towards a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. One of the main levers to decrease CO2 emissions is to reduce the airframe structural weight. As an answer, FALCON’s ambition is to enhance the design capabilities of the European industrial aircraft sector, focusing on fluid-structure interaction (FSI) phenomena to improve the aerodynamic performances of aircraft (unsteady loads). Specifically, FALCON aims to develop high-performance, predictive and multi-disciplinary tools for FSI in aeronautics, in order to reduce the aeroacoustics and aeroelastic instabilities using multi-fidelity optimization. This will also benefit to specific noise emissions generated by flexible and mobile airframe structures when exposed to both low and high-speed fluid flows. To achieve its ambitious goal, FALCON assembles a unique interdisciplinary environment of fifteen public and private institutions and their affiliated entities (from renowned research institutions to SMEs and aircraft high-tier suppliers and integrators) to cover all the required scientific and know-how expertise. Building upon three industrial testcases and tight links with key European partnerships such as Clean Aviation, FALCON delineates a high-impact/low-risk proposal that will significantly contribute to the digital transformation of the European aircraft supply chain.

The main objective of POLYPHEM is to improve the flexibility and the performance of small-scale Concentrated Solar Power plants. The outcomes of the project will allow in the short term to reinforce the competitiveness of this new low carbon energy technology and therefore to favour its integration in the European energy mix. The technology consists of a solar-driven micro gas-turbine as top cycle and an Organic Rankine Cycle as bottom cycle. There is no water requirement for cooling. A thermal energy storage is integrated between both cycles. The resulting power block is a solar power generation system able to meet the requirements of a local variable demand of energy with a high average conversion efficiency of 18% and a low environmental profile with an investment cost target below 5 €/W. Besides electricity generation, other applications will be considered for future developments, such as heating/cooling of multi-family buildings or water desalination for small communities. The project will build a 60 kW prototype plant with a 2 MWh thermal storage unit and will validate this innovative power cycle in a relevant environment (TRL 5), assess its technical, economic and environmental performances and establish the guidelines for its commercial deployment. POLYPHEM will lead to a supply price of electricity of 21 c€/kWh under DNI of 2050 kWh/m2/year, thus meeting for small scale CSP plants the 40% cost reduction of the SET Plan. POLYPHEM will be carried out by 4 research centers and 5 private companies. The project makes a step forward beyond the state-of-the-art of thermodynamic cycles in CSP plants. The micro gas-turbine will be solarized to integrate solar energy in the cycle. A novel pressurized air solar receiver with 80% efficiency and 0.4 €/W will be developed from a technology of solar absorber currently patented by CEA and CNRS. A thermocline storage at 28 €/kWh will be developed with thermal oil and a filler material in a concrete tank.

In line with the call H2020- LCE-03-2014, ORC-PLUS focuses on increasing the technological performance of renewable energy systems, reducing costs and improving dispatchability. The aim is to develop an optimized combination of innovative Thermal Energy Storage-TES (specialized for CSP scale 1-5 MWe) and engineering solutions to improve the number of production hours of an existing small CSP plant, located in a desert area and coupled with an ORC system. With an optimized TES solution, it is possible to extend periods of energy production of a CSP plant (also during non-solar radiation), eliminating or minimizing the need to burn fossil or renewable fuels in hybrid or back-up systems. Nowadays, efforts are being devoted to R&D on TES for large-scale plants, though large potential for small/medium-scale CSP installations exists. ORC-PLUS is in the spectrum of “large scale prototype to pre-commercial scale demonstration”. The technology proposed is based on a solar field, using a thermal oil as Heat Transfer Fluid and ORC power unit coupled with an innovative TES. Experimental demonstration of two different industrial prototypes of TES systems will be performed in relevant environment (TRL 6). For each prototype, a simulation model of the pilot processes will be developed, with prototypes of TES systems. The models will be optimized on the basis of the characteristics of the site and power load, to determine conditions and relevant parameters of the real scenarios for each application and to select the TES technology best fitting the needs of the targeted sector. Final result will be an industrial pilot plant used to validate the technology in a real operational environment and to demonstrate its feasibility (TLR7). Validation includes an analysis of the techno-economic viability and environmental impact, and of the replicability of the pilot plant final design. This proposal is supported by three support letters of ESTELA, ANEST and Green Energy Park (Morocco).

Wind is one of the leading sources of renewables contributing to EU energy mix, and its exploitation is pivotal to meet many of next environmental and energy policy goals. Europe being one of the world technological leaders, its wind energy sector has evolved into an important industry providing hundreds of thousands of jobs. Due to the limitations of available installation sites onshore, offshore wind is becoming crucial to ensure the further growth of the sector. In this scenario, exploiting the vast wind resources in deeper waters using floating wind farms and developing the required technology will enhance EU’s economy and will contribute to achieve its green energy goals. FLOATECH aims at stimulating this transition by increasing the technical maturity and the cost competitiveness of floating offshore wind energy. This will be achieved by two types of actions. On the one hand, a fully-coupled, aero-hydro-servo-elastic design and simulation environment (named QBlade-Ocean) will be developed. The more advanced modelling theories will lead to a reduction of the uncertainties in the design process and then to more efficient, reliable and cost-effective floating wind turbines. On the other hand, two innovative control techniques will be introduced, i.e. the Active Wave-based feed-forward Control and the Active Wake Mixing, which will lead to an increase of the actual energy yield of floating wind farms. Wave tank and wind tunnel experiments, as well as the application to a utility-size floating wind turbine are foreseen as validation and demonstration methods. The consortium comprises five public research institutions with relevant skills in the field of offshore floating wind energy, and three industrial partners, two of which have been involved in the most recent developments of floating wind systems. An innovation advisory board including stakeholders such as certifiers, research and business networks will support the dissemination of the project results.