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Objective: Energy from Biomass needs highly efficient small-scale energy systems in order to achieve cost effective solutions for decentralized generation especially in Mediterranean and Southern areas, and for applications without adequate heat consumer. Thus fuel cells are an attractive option for decentralized generation from biomass and agricultural residues but they have to meet at least two outstanding challenges: 1. Fuel cell materials and the gas cleaning technologies have to treat high dust loads of the fuel gas and pollutants like tars, alkalines and heavy metals. 2. The system integration has to allow efficiencies of at least 40-50 percent even within a power range of few tens or hundreds of kW. This proposal addresses in particular these two aims. Hence the first part of the project will focus on the investigation of the impact of these pollutants on degradation and performance characteristics of SOFC fuel cells in order to specify the requirements for appropriate gas cleaning system (WP 1-2). These tests will be performed at six existing gasification sites, which represent the most common and applicable gasification technologies. WP 3 will finally test and demonstrate the selected gas cleaning technologies in order to verify the specifications obtained from the gasification tests. The results will be used for the development, installation and testing of an innovative SOFC - Gasification concept, which will especially match the particular requirements of fuel cell systems for the conversion of biomass feedstock. The innovative concept comprises to heat an allothermal gasifier with the exhaust heat of the fuel cell by means of liquid metal heat pipes. Internal cooling of the stack and the recirculation of waste heat increases the system efficiency significantly. This so-called TopCycle concept promises electrical efficiencies of above 50 percent even for small-scale systems without any combined processes.
Objective: The overall objective of the FlameSOFC project is the development of an innovative SOFC-based micro-CHP system capable to operate with different fuels and fulfilling all technological and market requirements at a European level. The main focus concerning t he multi-fuel flexibility lies on different natural gas qualities and LPG, but also on liquid fuels (diesel like heating oil, industrial gas oil IGO and renewables like FAME). The target nominal net electrical output is 2 kWel (stack electrical output ca. 2,5 kW), which is expected to represent the future mainstream high volume mass market for micro-CHPs. An advanced planar, compact SOFC-stack will be developed and combined with an innovative, compact and robust fuel processor, which will be able to process many different fuels without catalytic components, thus enabling the potential for a long lifetime of greater than 30.000 h. A simple, highly integrated and reliable system design will result via the integration of advanced peripheral components like the advanced T hermal Partial Oxidation reformer (T-POX), the multi-purpose off-gas burner, the compact heat exchangers, the cool flame vaporizer and the soot trap. Advanced control strategies will assure an optimal integration in an electrical network environment. The o verall efficiency targets are greater than 35 percent net electrical efficiency and greater than 90 percent total CHP efficiency, which will result in 2 tons of annual CO2 reduction per unit (compared to the combination of a condensing boiler and European electricity mix). The SOFC fuel cell technology will be applied because it is less sensitive to impurities and variations in the fuel composition than other fuel cell systems and has a better cost reduction potential than other fuel cell types. The high temperature level of the SOFC tec hnology gives also a better integration potential in co- or tri-generation applications. The main target application is a micro CHP system for single or two-family residential homes with electrical grid connection.
Objective: Changes in climatic conditions, land use practices and soil and sediment pollution have large-scale adverse impacts on water quantity and quality. The current knowledge base in river basin management is not adequate to deal with these impacts. Austere is both integrating and developing knowledge to resolve this and disseminating it to stakeholders. In the water cycle, soil is a key element affecting groundwater recharge and the chemical composition of both subsurface and surface waters (the latter is additionally affected by sediments). The proper functioning of the river-sediment-soil-groundwater system is linked to key biogeochemical processes determining the filter, buffer and transformation capacity of soils and sediments. Austere aims at a better understanding of the system as a whole by identifying relevant processes, quantifying the associated parameters and developing numerical models of the groundwater-soil-sediment-river system to identify adverse trends in soil functioning, water quantity and quality. The modelling addresses all relevant scales starting from micro-scale water/solid interactions, the transport of dissolved species, pollutants as well as suspended matter in soil and groundwater systems at the catchments scale, and finally the regional scale, with case studies located in major river basins in Europe. With this integrated modelling system, Austere provides the basis for improved river basin management, enhanced soil and groundwater monitoring programs and the early identification and forecasting of impacts on water quantity and quality during this century. Austere is committed to the dissemination and exploitation of project results through structured workshops, dedicated short courses, and the active participation of consortium partners in national and international conferences. A peer review panel supervises the quality and direction of the project.
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.
The proposed regulation concerning the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (REACH) requires demonstration of the safe manufacture of chemicals and their safe use throughout the supply chain. There is therefore a strong need to strengthen and advance human and environmental risk assessment knowledge and practices with regard to chemicals, in accord with the precautionary principle. The goal of the project OSIRIS is to develop integrated testing strategies (ITS) fit for REACH that enable to significantly increase the use of non-testing information for regulatory decision making, and thus minimise the need for animal testing. To this end, operational procedures will be developed, tested and disseminated that guide a transparent and scientifically sound evaluation of chemical substances in a risk-driven, context-specific and substance-tailored (RCS) manner. The envisaged decision theory framework includes alternative methods such as chemical and biological read-across, in vitro results, in vivo information on analogues, qualitative and quantitative structure-activity relationships, thresholds of toxicological concern and exposure-based waiving, and takes into account cost-benefit analyses as well as societal risk perception. It is based on the new REACH paradigm to move away from extensive standard testing to a more intelligent, substance-tailored approach. The work will be organised in five interlinked research pillars (chemical domain, biological domain, exposure, integration strategies and tools, case studies), with a particular focus on more complex, long-term and high-cost endpoints. Case studies will demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the new ITS methodologies, and provide guidance in concrete form. To ensure optimal uptake of the results obtained in this project, end-users in industry and regulatory authorities will be closely involved in monitoring and in providing specific technical contributions to this project.
Objective: To develop the market for solid biofuels within the EU standards are urgently needed. Based on a mandate given by the EC, CEN TC 335 'Solid Biofuels' currently develops such standards based on the available knowledge. In the meantime several Technical Specifications (TS) (or pre-standards) are available. They have to be upgraded to European Standards (EN) within the next 3 years. Other TS's are on its way. But applications in industry have shown that additional information has to be integrated and/or considerable gaps in knowledge still exist. This makes it difficult to develop the still missing TS's and/or to upgrade the TS's to EN's. Against that background the goal of the BioNorm II project is it to support the ongoing standardi sation efforts especially for the development of improved solid biofuel specifications concerning - specifications given by the combustion unit, and - rules for conformity of the products with their specified requirements. To achieve this, the following aspects will be addressed within this project in detail: - development of sampling and sample reduction methods for further materials as well as sampling plans, - improvement of existing reference test methods, - development of new reference test methods, - development of rapid on-site test methods, - development of improved quality measures especially adapted to solid biofuels. Additionally the results of this pre-normative work will be transferred directly into the ongoing standardisation process to allow for the development of improved EN's and acceptable TS's.
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.
The Mediterranean Partner Countries of the European Union are confronted with a rapidly increasing energy demand caused by a growing population especially in cities and increasing living standards. The region has a great potential for the use of renewable energies, notably solar energy due to its high level of solar radiation. However, only a small variety of solar thermal technologies is used in the region. The state of technology and the political support mechanisms vary strongly across the region and in relation to the EU countries, where new solar thermal applications for water and space heating as well as cooling are developed. SOLATERM is an EU-funded project that brings together research institutions, energy agencies, authorities and enterprises from EU and the Southern Mediterranean partners. The project consortium with partners from eight Southern Mediterranean and five EU countries has the aim of promoting the application of a new generation of solar thermal systems in the Mediterranean partner countries. SOLATERM combines the technological know-how of EU research institutions with the specific experiences and knowledge of the Southern Mediterranean partners. The EU partners provide important experiences in developing a successful political framework to boost the use of renewable energy.
The overall objective of ERAP harm is to improve and complement existing knowledge and procedures for the environmental risk assessment (ERA) of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals. Based on EU regulatory frameworks on the ERA of pharmaceuticals and on the outcome of previous projects ERAP harm will address the following aspects: It will investigate previously unstudied major routes leading to exposure of the terrestrial and aquatic environment and subsequent fate of pharmaceuticals in surface water and sediment. Factors and processes affecting the behavior of pharmaceuticals in the environment will be studied on the laboratory, semi-field and fieldscale. A scenario-based exposure assessment system will be developed for predicting concentrations of pharmaceuticals in soils, surface waters and sediments and leaching to groundwater. It will be investigated if environmentally relevant concentrations of pharmaceuticals pose a risk to aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Pharmaceuticals and selected transformation products will be screened using in vitro and low complexity bioanalytical tests in order to provide a first hazard characterization and to target higher tier testing. Higher tier test methods will be improved and applied for detecting the effects of long-term, low-level exposure to pharmaceuticals on aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates and fish. It will be evaluated if information on pharmaco- and toxicodynamics in mammalian species can be used to predict effects of pharmaceuticals on environmental organisms. Moreover, the effects of antibiotics on microbial communities will be studied with a main focus on the spread of genetically encoded resistance. Based on the developed approaches recommendations will be provided on how to improve the ERA procedures for pharmaceuticals. A guidance document will be compiled that will be made available to regulators, industry and the scientific community.
The objective is to train in the use of sustainablility impact and policy assessment in EU and Russia, especially in issues concerning forests, agricultural landscapes, water environments and built-up areas through the development of an innovative and interactive e-tool for multiple end users. This freeware product will be based on simulations of advanced dynamic models, incorporated into a multimedia presentation in parallel English/Russian. The e-tool will be developed base on case studies on Eurasian sites from Holland to Siberia, and within an infrastructure of Universities, research organisations, administrations, student groups within this large area. The project has four distinct phases (i) case studies on ecosystem biogeochemistry, pollution effects, biodiversity, eco-technosystems, multifunctional agriculture, sustainable building etc., (ii) feeding dynamic models and incorporating them into an interactive visualization software, (iii) combining simulations, text, videos and graphics into a e-textbook written by 30-40 experts, (iv) testing of the e-tool/e-textbook by policy makers (including EC staff) and stakeholders. Prime Contractor: Helsingin Yliopisto; Helsinki; Finland.
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