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Maritimer Transport ist von enormer Bedeutung für Europa und den Rest der Welt. Über 90% des Außenhandels der Europäischen Union wird per Seetransport abgewickelt. Mehr als eine Milliarde Tonnen an Fracht werden pro Jahr in den Häfen der Mitgliedstaaten auf- und abgeladen. Der Schiffstransport ist gemessen am Volumen die wichtigste Beförderungsart. Mit dem Seetransportgeschäft begann auch der Transport von Organismen im Ballastwasser von Schiffen. Der internationale Transport von drei bis zu zwölf Milliarden Tonnen Ballastwasser jährlich führt zur Ansammlung von ca. 100 Millionen Tonnen von Ablagerungen in den Schiffen. Die Beseitigung des entstandenen Schlamms verursacht enorme Kosten (ca. 30.000 € für ein kleines Frachtschiff). Neben den wirtschaftlichen Aspekten wird das Ballastwasser als hauptsächlicher Verursacher für die Umsiedlung von Aquaspezies über biologisch-geografische Grenzen hinaus verstanden. Schätzungsweise werden täglich 10.000 Pflanzen- sowie Tierarten per Schiff in die ganze Welt transportiert. Aufgrund des wachsenden Welthandels wächst auch die Bedrohung der Ökosysteme durch invasive Lebewesen. Die immer kürzeren Fahrtzeiten erhöhen die Überlebenswahrscheinlichkeit der Bioinvasoren. Die automatische und zuverlässige Reinigung des Ballastwassers im Tank mithilfe einer neuen Hybrid-Technologie (UV, Filter, Elektrolyse), die einen seewasserbetriebenen Generator nutzt, ist das gemeinsame Ziel der Projektpartner. Durch die Produktion von aktiven Substanzen mit der Elektrolyse aus dem Meerwasser wird vermieden, gefährliche und ätzende Chemikalien an Bord mitzuführen.
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are caused by local proliferation of algae, with deleterious consequences, particularly in coastal waters throughout the world. Negative environmental effects include toxicity to human consumers of seafood, marine faunal mortalities or morbidity, habitat damage, disruption of marine food webs and economic losses to fishing, aquaculture, and tourism. In Europe, socio-economic factors and human health risk have led to comprehensive surveillance programmes for harmful microalgae and their toxins. Among harmful microalgae and cyanobacteria in European marine and brackish waters, many produce potent neurotoxins, ichthyotoxins or hepatotoxins. Although structural elucidation of many of these groups of toxins has advanced, much less is known about biosynthetic pathways and gene regulation in toxigenic species. We propose a limited genomic study of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) for toxigenic representatives of major eukaryotic microalgal groups, including dinoflagellates, raphidophytes, prymnesiophytes and diatoms, and cyanobacteria. Cultures will be grown under various environmental conditions to investigate the effects of external forcing functions on gene expression linked to toxicity and growth. After cloning of cDNA of toxigenic strains pooled from cultures grown under these different conditions into plasmid vectors, about 10,000 clones from each taxon will be randomly sequenced for ESTs. Our approach is to annotate the ESTs and attempt to identify genes associated with toxin production. DNA microarrays will be developed for screening of toxigenic and non-toxigenic strains. In addition, the sequence data will be analysed to identify other genes that may be involved in cell regulation or growth, cell cycle events, stress response and the induction of sexuality. Cultures will be grown under various environmental conditions to investigate the effects of external forcing functions on gene expression linked to toxicity and growth. Successful completion of this project will yield new information on microalgal and cyanobacterial genomic sequences for a diversity of taxa and will assist in the diagnosis of genes related to toxin biosynthesis and the formation of toxic blooms.
Sustainable development is a fundamental goal of the European Union and loss of biodiversity is emphasised as one of the main threats to it. However, biodiversity and ecosystems of European Seas are under human impact, such as pollution, eutrophication, and overfishing. Therefore it is necessary to monitor changes in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The aim of the project is the development of DNA chips for the identification of marine organisms in European Seas as a cost effective, reliable and efficient technology in biodiversity and ecosystem science. Many marine organisms, such as eggs and larvae of fishes, plankton, and benthic invertebrates, are difficult to identify by morphological characters. The classical methods are extremely time consuming and require a high degree of taxonomie expertise. Consequently, the basic step of identifying such organisms is a major bottleneck in biodiversity and ecosystem science. Therefore, the project seeks to demonstrate that DNA chips can be a new powerful and innovative tool for the identification of marine organisms. Three DNA chips for the identification of fishes, phytoplankton, and invertebrates of European Seas will be developed. These chips will facilitate research on dispersal of ichthyoplankton, monitoring of phytoplankton, and identification of bioindicators as well as prey in gut contents analysis. To achieve this goal a combined biological and technical approach has been initiated: The biological material will be sampled by marine biologists. The next step is the sequencing of suitable molecular markers for probe design. The technical part consists mainly in constructing gene probe libraries and determining their specificity. This will be done by biotech research centres in connection with SMEs engaged in bioinformatics and DNA chip technology. Therefore the project has the potential to bring Europe's marine biotechnology to the forefront of this field.
Objective: The FELICITAS consortium proposes an Integrated Project to develop fuel cell (FC) drive trains fuelled with both hydrocarbons and hydrogen. The proposed development work focuses on producing FC systems capable of meeting the exacting demands of heavy-dut y transport for road, rail and marine applications. These systems will be: - Highly efficient, above 60Prozent - Power dense, - Powerful units of 200kW plus, - Durable, robust and reliable. Two of the FC technologies most suitable for heavy-duty transport applic ations are Polymer Electrolyte FuelCells (PEFC) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC). Currently neither technology is capable of meeting the wideranging needs of heavy-duty transport either because of low efficiencies, PEFC, or poor transient performance,SO FC. FELICITAS proposes the development of high power Fuel Cell Clusters (FCC) that group FC systems with other technologies, including batteries, thermal energy and energy recuperation.The FELICITAS consortium will first undertake the definition of the requirements on FC power trains for the different heavy-duty transport modes. This will lead to the development of FC power train concepts, which through the use of advanced multiple simulations, will undertake evaluations of technical parameters, reliab ility and life cycle costs. Alongside the development of appropriate FC power trains the consortium will undertake fundamental research to adapt and improve existing FC and other technologies, including gas turbines, diesel reforming and sensor systems f or their successful deployment in the demanding heavy-duty transport modes. This research work will combine with the FC power trains design and simulation work to provide improved components and systems, together with prototypes and field testing where ap propriate.The FELICITAS consortium approach will substantially improve European FC and associated technology knowledae and know-how in the field of heavv-duty transport.
Objective: The aim of this project is to turn 4 core communities (Germany, Austria, Luxemburg, Poland) with clearly defined system borders and 14 - 20.000 inhabitants each into CONCERTO communities. A mix of different EE and RES demonstrations (including refurbishment of old buildings, eco-buildings and polygeneration, all underpinned with complete business plans) will allow to avoid about 300 GWh/yr end energy from fossil sources, thus avoiding 94.000 tons CO2/yr, and saving 22.9 mio Euro/yr of disbursements for extra-communal electricity and heat deliveries. The application of the Decentralised Energy Management System (DEMS) will allow for local and inter-communal operation, monitoring and control of energy consumption, storage and generation units and grids, including DSM and LCP, thereby exploring a EE potential of at least 5Prozent. The target in RES coverage for 2010 is of resp. 39 to 62Prozent of the then remaining electricity and heat demand. EnerMAS, a low-threshold version of the European environmental management system.
Objective: The project aims to develop highly integrated solar heating and cooling systems for small and medium capacity applications which are easily installed and economically and socially sustainable. The envisioned applications are residential houses, small office buildings and hotels. The goal is to use the excess solar heat in summer to power a thermally driven cooling process in order to provide cooling for air-conditioning. In the heating season the solar system is used to provide direct heating. The proposed project therefore aims to demonstrate the technical feasibility, reliability and cost effectiveness of these systems, specially conceived as integrated systems to be offered on the market as complete packages which will make better use of the available solar radiation as present systems.
Objective: As consumption of psychoactive substances such as alcohol, drugs and certain medicines are likely to endanger the drivers aptitude and impaired driving is still one of the major causes for road accidents, some active steps have to be taken to reach the goal of a 50% reduction in the number of road deaths in the EU. The objective of DRUID is to give scientific support to the EU transport policy to reach the 2010th road safety target by establishing guidelines and measures to combat impaired driving. DRUID will - conduct reference studies of the impact on fitness to drive for alcohol, illicit drugs and medicines and give new insights to the real degree of impairment caused by psychoactive drugs and their actual impact on road safety - generate recommendations for the definition of analytical and risk thresholds - analyse the prevalence of drugs and medicines in accidents and in general driving, set up a comprehensive and efficient epidemiological database.
Objective: The Act2 project builds on the previous experience of Hannover and Malmö and seeks to support development in Nantes, analyse the drivers for success in partner cities, implement major developments in target communities taking significant steps to establish best practice experience as standard commercial practice. The Act2 communities will demonstrate technical and process solutions for large-scale RUE and RES integration in new-build and refurbishment, in housing and tertiary buildings providing a benchmark for the Cities of Tomorrow.
Objective: Observational records show that the global climate is changing and ongoing changes are also visible in Central Eastern Europe. About 64Prozent of all catastrophic events in Europe since 1980 can directly be attributed to weather and climate extremes. Climate change projections show even an increasing likelihood of extremes. Certainly negative impacts of climate change will involve significant economic looses in several regions of Europe, while others may bring health or welfare problems somewhere else. Within CLAVIER three representative Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) will be studied in detail: Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Researches from 6 countries and different disciplines will identify linkages between climate change and its impact on weather patterns with consequences on air pollution, extremes events, and on water resources. Furthermore, an evaluation of the economic impact on agriculture, tourism, energy supply and the public sector will be conducted. This is of increasing importance for CEEC, which are currently facing a rapid economic development, but also for the European Union as e.g. Romania's and Bulgaria's high vulnerability from extreme events such as floods will impact not only the respective economic goals for joining the EU but also the EU solidarity fund. CLAVIER will focus on ongoing and future climate changes in Central and Eastern European Countries using measurements and existing regional scenarios to determine possible developments of the climate and to address related uncertainty. In addition, climate projections with very high detail will be carried out for CEEC to fulfil the need for a large amount of detail in time and space, which is inherent in local and regional impact assessment.
Project main goals: The main purpose of this project is to develop an innovative 400 kWth solar reformer for several applications such as Hydrogen production or electricity generation. Depending of the feed source for the reforming process CO2 emissions can be reduced significantly (up to 40 percent using NG), because the needed process heat for this highly endothermic reaction is provided by concentrated solar energy. A pre-design of a 1 MW prototype plant in Southern Italy and a conceptual layout of a commercial 50 MWth reforming plant complete this project. Key issues: The profitability decides if a new technology has a chance to come into the market. Therefore several modifications and improvements to the state-of-the-art solar reformer technology will be introduced before large scale and commercial system can be developed. These changes are primarily to the catalytic system, the reactor optimisation and operation procedures and the associated optics for concentrating the solar radiation. For the dissemination of solar reforming technology the regions targeted are in Southern Europe and Northern Africa. The potential markets and the impact of infrastructure and administrative restrictions will be assessed. The environmental, socio-economic and institutional impacts of solar reforming technology exploitation will be assessed with respect to sustainable development. The market potential of solar reforming technology in a liberalised European energy market will be evaluated. Detailed cost estimates for a 50 MWth commercial plant will be determined.
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