Production of electrical insulation components is globally a B$1.19 business. Cellulose is one commonly used raw material for insulation components. State-of-the-art production methods for high quality electrical insulation products are typically labour intensive and slow. The main objective of NOVUM is to develop and demonstrate a compact and feasible pilot line concept based on novel processing technologies for rapid, design driven production of advanced cellulose-based electrical insulation components. This new pilot line will result in significant efficiency improvement and higher productivity and flexibility, while ensuring lower operational costs as compared with the state-of-the-art process. Manual production will be replaced by an automated manufacturing concept with increased resource efficiency, including 40% reduction in labour time and 60% reduction in waste generation, 20% lower energy consumption and 40% decrease in operating costs. Processing technologies in the focus of NOVUM are 3D printing of cellulose-based materials having thermoplastic features as well as foam forming and thermoforming of cellulose fibres. These three technologies will be developed in parallel to each other, together with the cellulose materials, in order to reach optimal combination for the pilot line concept. Besides technical feasibility, the decision on the pilot line concept will be based on the end use requirements as well as on economic, social and environmental impacts including circular economy considerations. The novel manufacturing concept will also enable exploitation of the full potential of design in generating form and thus novel functionalities to cellulose-based electrical insulation components. In addition, the concept will be based on multipliable technologies, enabling their transition and wide adoption for cellulose-based materials across the process industry and for applications beyond NOVUM for other industrial areas.

INGUMA aims to foster the development of bio-based materials and their acceptance by the public by relying on three main values sustainability, inclusion, and aesthetics - the values of the New European Bauhaus. The value of sustainability will be tackled by developing different types of bio-based materials from raw materials derived from agriculture residues and secondary raw materials from wood processing. Various types of materials will be developed: functionalized fibers, insulation material based on mycelium, resin-free insulation material based on wood fibers, bio-based adhesive for plywood, low-formaldehyde plywood board, wooden sandwich panels, and growth media for plants. In addition, these materials will be integrated into insulation panels and vegetated roofs. The sustainability and circularity of these materials and solutions will be ensured by applying environmental criteria and digital tools that will allow users to make decisions on the most sustainable solutions available. Additionally, the materials will be tested according to European and international standards, as a first step in the commercialization outside of Europe (Canada). The value of inclusion will imply the design of co-creation laboratories that encourage collaboration among stakeholders, fostering transparent communication and generating innovative ideas. These labs will provide a platform for engagement and a structured process for stakeholders to contribute their insights and actively participate in the development of bio-based construction materials. This way, the acceptance of the developed materials, products and solutions by end-users and consumers will be maximized. The value of aesthetics will be accomplished by co- designing and constructing a community house prototype in the rooftop of an experimental building (Derio, Spain) and as part of test houses (Savonlinna, Finland) that will use extensively the materials and products developed.

Europe is on an ambitious path to becoming climate neutral by 2050, aiming to cut 55% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. Transport is a sector where so far it has proved harder to reduce emissions, while being one of the main energy users and source of emissions. Transport sectors such as aviation heavily depend on high energy density fuels, for which sustainable biofuels are the best near term low-carbon renewable alternative. Biofuel production based on algae is being considered as a main clean energy alternative and one of the most promising solutions. However, there are several challenges that hinder development and application of algae-based biofuel, ranging across the entire value chain. SUSTEPS main overall objective is to improve key knowledge, identify systemic constraints and opportunities, and propose solutions for the scaling up of a sustainable algae-based biofuel value chain. It aims to contribute to cost-effective and more sustainable large-scale production of sustainable algae-based biofuels by developing and validating a bio-refinery concept that efficiently produces sustainable biofuel from non-food/feed microalgae via CO2 fixation from high-emission facilities and through feeding on nutrient-rich wastewater, thereby minimising biomass production costs and utilising harmful CO2 emitted from energy-intensive activities. The process will be coupled with green hydrogen to be used in upgrading of microalgae-based fuel, and smart integration of processes that also produce value-added chemicals, valorising all side streams effectively. Based on international collaboration, SUSTEPS will build a more efficient, less costly CO2-to-biofuels process, identifying systemic constraints, opportunities and solutions for scaling up the value chain of algae-based sustainable biofuels which will support the development of best practices and concepts along the entire value chain and accelerate the scale-up of sustainable biofuels worldwide.

Sustainability in coatings covers aspects related to energy and resource conservation, waste minimization or efficiency and the use of renewable and non-toxic products. The coatings industry has been driven by regulatory issues to diminish the content of volatile organic compounds to improve indoor and outdoor air quality, shifting from solvent borne systems (still the preferred choice globally) to waterborne ones. However, even in the case of products labelled as “environmentally friendly” their bio-based content is usually small (up to 30-40%). The challenge is to substitute fossil-based resins maintaining at least the same performance. New bio-based value chains are necessary. Lignin is an underutilized product with a high potential to provide not only economic returns, but also environmental benefits if value-added applications are found. Although lignin is a topic of great interest, the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into real products is not trivial and still no commercial options are available. LIGNICOAT proposal provides new synthetic routes to obtain bioresins “à la carte” (PUD, ALKYD and EPOXY) based on lignin intermediates (Polyols, Epoxies, phosphorylated, polyacids and carbonates) for application in coatings and validated in an industrial relevant environment (TRL5). The target is not only to increase the biobased content and ensure performance, but also take advantage of lignin specific characteristics, to develop bioadditives (enzymes, chitosan, sugars, …), increasing the biocontent and providing anticorrosive, fireproof and antimicrobial/antiviral features in high-volume market case studies. Depending on the intermediates and the resins used, the estimated biocontent of the coatings will vary between 60-90%. A multidisciplinary and complementary consortium consists in 9 industrial partners BARPIMO, VENCOREX, AEP, WESTLAKE, FORESA, BRS, IRIS, ECOAT and AXIA and 4 RTOs, TECNALIA, VITO, VTT, NORCE and ARDITEC.

OCT is a key imaging technology, allowing non-contact high resolution 3D imaging which has helped to save the sight of millions of people. However, progress has stalled since reaching the axial resolution (dz) limit of 1 um. Quantum OCT (QOCT) offers a step change x2 improvement in dz and greatly reduces dispersion. In addition, control of orbital angular momentum (OAM) reduces noise and improves edge and surface profile definition and discrimination of chiral objects. SEQUOIA will deliver the highest resolution OCT system ever built, protected from noise by artificial intelligence (AI) based OAM control in a real-world application: retinal imaging. Underpinning SEQUOIA is an ultra-stable, ultra-low noise comb source of unprecedented bandwidth (250-400 nm) which builds on NKT’s world-leading supercontinuum sources and adds new PTB techniques for stabilisation and noise control. AI-based algorithms (UPV) will be used at TUD to program spatial light modulators to encode high purity high-dimensional OAM onto the QOCT beams to increase resilience to noise and improve imaging quality. MPD will deliver new single-photon avalanche diode arrays specifically tailored for quantum imaging, to perform photon coincidence correlation at an unprecedented rate. NOR’s world-leading classical OCT software will be extended to create the first ever QOCT software. Theoretical work at NCU will develop the first mathematical models of noise in QOCT to optimise the spontaneous parametric downconversion. PTB will perform metrological characterisation of all relevant parameters and DTU will quantify the QOCT advantage over classical OCT. Retinal imaging using stable test standards from WWU will be performed, with automated AI-algorithms (UPV) to compare performance with classical OCT. ARD will perform a detailed techno-economic and social life cycle analyses to evaluate future markets and impacts. VIV will coordinate an extensive dissemination programme with a high-profile Advisory Board.