Further digitalisation of society over the next decade demands infrastructure that is closer to the consumer as the shift in consumption requires data services at the edge of the digital networks. The key to meeting this demand is to rollout digital infrastructure that penetrates urban areas in support of this digital future. The problems associated with powering urban data centres hinges on the challenges of electrical power distribution within cities. This project aims to address these problems by creating a proof of concept (POC) alternative prime power source that employs fuel cell technologies for on-site power generation, which are efficient, quiet, showing reduced environmental impact and negligible demand on the electrical grid. Fuel cells have been around since the Apollo space program and can operate on different fuels like natural gas, hydrogen and propane (LPG). Fuel cells are electrochemical energy converters with efficiencies that exceed conventional power plants, already at small scale. The concept of connecting fuel cells to gas networks to power resilient urban and edge data centres overcomes the need to have backup generation in such areas, thus reducing the emissions and noise impact. The main objectives of the proposed project are to: 1. Define the fuel cell prime power concept for data centres. 2. Create an authoritative open standard for fuel cell adaption to power data centres. 3. Demonstrate and validate a POC fuel cell based prime power module for data centres. 4. Collect extensive operational data from running fuel cells as prime power for data centres. 5. Analyse the combined social, environmental and commercial impact for the European market. 6. Evaluate opportunities for improved energy efficiency and waste heat recovery. The project strongly anticipates opportunities for the European fuel cell suppliers to increase their uptake across multiple markets with improved energy efficiency and cost effectiveness.

Wind and sun will be central energy sources of a climate neutral Europe 2050, bringing with them the need to balance weather dependent differences between supply and load. Conventional gas turbines can fulfill this task also for longer periods even well as they can stabilize the grid with their capability of quick start/stop. However, their efficiency is limited and even if burning climate neutral hydrocarbons they still produce local emissions. HERMES overcomes these limitations and advances gas turbine technology to the future-proof level by creating a reliable, flexible, zero-emission solution for energy supply with long term impact at EU level. HERMES develops and assesses the first highly efficient closed-loop supercritical zero emission energy system. It is based on directly fired supercritical gas turbine engine operating on locally synthesized renewable liquid and gaseous fuels (e.g. methanol or hydrogen) coupled with decentralized carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS). The carrier medium is highly dense supercritical carbon dioxide or xenon demanding less compression power. Therefore, and because of operating at high pressure conditions (above 150 bar), the system achieves significantly higher efficiency (above 65%) than todays gas turbines. By utilizing pure oxygen for fuel oxidation, and by capturing bulky flow of exhaust products (H2O and/or CO2) and reusing them for fuel synthesis, the system produces virtually no pollutants. A detailed assessment of the HERMES approach will be done using experimental and computational approaches and dynamic simulation tools including digital twins and machine learning. The 36-month project will be realized by an 11-partner consortium including 3 SMEs with expertise in renewable energy, combustion, techno-economics and socio-political science. Hermes will pave the way to a major breakthrough in the understanding of fundamentals of combustion in supercritical fluids with zero emission of any pollutants.

Carbon neutral, high-energy density e-fuels are crucial to de-fossilize long-haul transport. Mildly oxygenated compounds such as C5+ (higher) alcohols and their ether derivatives hold the promise to overcome limitations of known e-fuels, such as non-oxygenated Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbons or heavily oxygenated methanol and DME, but no process exists for their effective production. The project aims to develop a disruptive route wherein CO2, water and renewable power are converted to higher oxygenate e-fuels in a once-through hybrid process integrating three major catalysis branches: “electrocatalysis” is applied in a robust high-pressure CO2/H2O co-electrolysis step to produce e-syngas (H2/CO), which is converted in a single-reactor, slurry-phase process combining “solid thermocatalysis” for linear hydrocarbon synthesis and “molecular chemocatalysis” for in situ oxo-functionalization via reductive hydroformylation. In this process, integration of catalytic functionalities in tandem, alongside an engineered interfacing of high- and low-temperature conversion steps and energy unintensive membrane separation technologies, offer a blueprint for superior atom and energy efficiencies. The project will demonstrate the new e-fuel production process at bench-scale, and assess its capacity to cope with fluctuating energy inputs. Moreover, e-fuel formulation and life-cycle aspects are covered to fully realize the potential of the higher oxygenate e-fuel to distinctively unite excellent combustion properties (high cetane), exceptional reduction of tailpipe soot emissions, advantageous logistics as liquid at ambient conditions and compatibility with current-fleet fuel infrastructure and engine technologies, with emphasis on applications as diesel replacement in heavy-duty marine transport. An exploitation plan will be created together with international stakeholders, to consolidate EU’s capacity to export advanced e-fuel technologies to areas with vast green energy potential.

The overall objective of REDIFUEL is to enable the utilization of various biomass feedstock for an ultimate renewable EN590 diesel biofuel (drop-in capable at any ratio) in a sustainable manner. REDIFUEL’S ambition is to develop new technologies, solutions and processes to be integrated to reach high conversion efficiencies for renewable fuel production. And, to proof the techno-economic potential to reach a highly competing production cost level of € 0.90 - 1.00 per litre (depending on biomass source) at moderate production plant sizes, e.g. 10-25 kt/a. The proposed drop-in biofuel contains high-cetane C11+ bio-hydrocarbons and C6-C11 bio-alcohols which has exceptional performance with respect to combustion and soot-inhibition properties. The environmental and the society aspects are taken into account by a comprehensive Biomass-to-Wheel performance check of the developed technologies.

The overall goal of IDEALFUEL is to enable the utilization of lignin from lignocellulosic biomass as maritime fuel in a sustainable manner. IDEALFUEL aims to develop an efficient and low-cost chemical pathway to convert lignocellulosic biomass into a Bio Heavy Fuel Oil (Bio-HFO) with ultra-low sulphur levels that can be used as drop-in fuel in the existing maritime fleet. This will be achieved by the strategy to first extract lignin from lignocellulosic biomass as a Crude Lignin Oil (CLO) and to convert the CLO - in a second chemical step - into a Bio-HFO. The solid cellulose fraction, which will be separated from the CLO via simple filtration, can be used in the pulp and paper industry or converted into ethanol. Hemicellulose will either be separated from the CLO or end up in the Bio-HFO. IDEALFUEL’s ambition is to develop new technologies, solutions and processes from the current lab-scale (TRL3) via bench-scale (TRL4) to pilot scale (TRL5) and to prove the performance and compatibility of the Bio-HFO over the whole blending range in maritime fuel systems and marine engines. This includes a safety evaluation, which is necessary for the approval by the relevant regulatory bodies. Further, IDEALFUEL will prove the techno-economic potential to reach a cost level of 700 € per tonne in 2025, 600 € per tonne in 2030 and < 500 € per tonne beyond 2030 resulting from optimisation, scaling effects of larger plant sizes and repetitive installations. This is cost competitive with Ultra-Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (ULSFO) which current, 2019, price level is 450-550 €/ton. IDEALFUEL will also carry out a Well to Propeller impact assessment and Life Cycle Analysis to check and proof the soundness of the environmental, society and sustainability aspects of the to be developed technologies, processes, products and logistics.