START project primary objective is to build an innovation ecosystem in the European Union (EU) based on the development of sustainable and economically viable thermoelectric (TE) waste heat harvesting systems to be applied in heavy industry and in maritime industry as well as primary power source for off-grid sensors and IoT devices. This objective will be achieved by incorporating abundant sulphides (mainly tetrahedrite mineral series), at present an environment hazard in mine tailings, collected in five European countries, in the production of advanced sulphide p-type TE thermoelements. In contrast, current commercial TE devices incorporate p-type and n-type TE thermoelements that are produced from expensive and rare elements, namely tellurium, which is predominantly sourced in China. The impact of START project approach on endorsing a more sustainable and resilient EU comes from three inputs. First, by reducing EU?s dependence on primary critical raw materials. Secondly, through the promotion of circular economy processes that will create value in EU by building a strategic ecosystem based on a high-abundant mineral. Just recently, it was demonstrated by our team that the mineral was amenable to processing to single phase p-type tetrahedrite. Thirdly, by the production of TE energy harvesting systems offering a contribution to the reduction of fossil fuels consumption with a great impact on the increase of the overall efficiency of energy production and consumption systems, as well as on the reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions. For that, START project aggregates research organizations, with strong background and knowledge on geology, materials science and renewable energies, and industrial organizations that guarantee the entire production and exploitation supply chain.

To meet the ambitious EC target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) needs to move rapidly towards full scale implementation with geological storage solutions both on and offshore. Onshore storage offers increased flexibility and reduced infrastructure and monitoring costs. Enabling onshore storage will support management of decarbonisation strategies at territory level while enhancing security of energy supply and local economic activities, and securing jobs across Europe. However, successful onshore storage also requires some unique technical and societal challenges to be overcome. ENOS will provide crucial advances to help foster onshore CO2 storage across Europe through: 1) Developing, testing and demonstrating in the field, under “real-life conditions”, key technologies specifically adapted to onshore storage. 2) Contributing to the creation of a favourable environment for onshore storage across Europe. The ENOS site portfolio will provide a great opportunity for demonstration of technologies for safe and environmentally sound storage at relevant scale. Best practices will be developed using experience gained from the field experiments with the participation of local stakeholders and the lay public. This will produce improved integrated research outcomes and increase stakeholder understanding and confidence in CO2 storage. In this improved framework, ENOS will catalyse new onshore pilot and demonstration projects in new locations and geological settings across Europe, taking into account the site-specific and local socio-economic context. By developing technologies from TRL4/5 to TRL6 across the storage lifecycle, feeding the resultant knowledge and experience into training and education and cooperating at the pan-European and global level, ENOS will have a decisive impact on innovation and build the confidence needed for enabling onshore CO2 storage in Europe.

The exploitation of minerals in Europe is an indispensable activity to ensure that the present and future needs of the European society can be met. This means that sufficient access is required to explore and exploit minerals. At the same time the mineral needs of our society must be met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Accordingly exploitable mineral deposits (known deposits, abandoned mines and historical mining sites) need to be assessed against other land uses, taking into account criteria such as habitats, other environmental concerns, priorities for settlements, etc. Access to mineral deposits, on the other hand, also meets public interests such as raw materials security (compared with many international access options). The deliberation between these diverse land uses requires adequate consideration of the exclusiveness, reversibility, and consequences on the surrounding. The overall objective of MINATURA 2020 is to develop a concept and methodology (i.e. a harmonised European regulatory/guidance/policy framework) for the definition and subsequent protection of “mineral deposits of public importance” in order to ensure their “best use” in the future. Providing a policy planning framework that comprises the “sustainability principle” for mining is the key driving force behind MINATURA.