Ethylene is the chemical industry’s primary building block. SolDAC’s ambition is to reinvent the ethylene industry by proving (TRL4) an emerging breakthrough technology for producing technically and economically competitive, socially desirable and climate-neutral (sustainable) ethylene and co-product ethanol (C2 products) from solar energy and air. The project features a photo-electrochemical conversion (PEC) unit, being electrochemistry the only possible route for direct conversion of carbon dioxide into ethylene. The PEC exploits bandwidth-selected light from a solar collector (FSS) that splits the solar spectrum for electricity and heat generation at efficiency higher than standalone PV modules and standalone solar thermal collectors. Heat is used in an innovative direct air capture (DAC) unit at ultralow temperature (~60°C), fostering the eventual circular integration with heat networks. The DAC unit removes carbon dioxide from the air, concentrates it to 95+% and compresses it to feed the PEC stack and a pipeline for carbon dioxide storage. This allows the carbon footprint of the whole sun-to-chemicals process to be offset and enables gain in carbon credits, opening an opportunity to exceed climate-neutrality and produce carbon-negative C2 products. The process is energetically self-sufficient, economically viable and carbon-negative on the condition that each unit (DAC, PEC, FSS) reach new targets in efficiency. That is exactly the high-risk/high return outcome expected in the project. The research is balanced to overcome technical, early-stage social and market barriers by exploiting the expertise of its 8 partners (SMEs in the renewable technology field, leading EU research institutions and one networking NGO). This project performs all the necessary groundwork for the full deployment of the process before 2050 through activities that build up a new ecosystem of stakeholders, making Europe the first circular, climate-neutral and sustainable economy.

The vision of the ARV project is to contribute to speedy wide scale implementation of Climate Positive Circular Communities (CPCC) where people can thrive and prosper for generations to come. The overall aim is to demonstrate and validate attractive, resilient, and affordable solutions for CPCC that will significantly speed up the deep energy renovations and the deployment of energy and climate measures in the construction and energy industries. To achieve this, the ARV project will employ a novel concept relying on a combination of 3 conceptual pillars, 6 demonstration projects, and 9 thematic focus areas. The 3 conceptual pillars are integration, circularity and simplicity. Integration in ARV means the coupling of people, buildings, and energy systems, through multi-stakeholder co-creation and use of innovative digital tools. Circularity in ARV means a systematic way of addressing circular economy through automated use of LCA, digital logbooks and material banks. Simplicity in ARV means to make the solutions easy to understand and use for all stakeholders, from manufacturers to end-users. The 6 demos are urban regeneration projects in 6 locations around Europe. They have been carefully selected to represent the different European climates and contexts, and due to their high ambitions in environmental, social and economic sustainability. Renovation of social housing and public buildings are specifically focused. Together, they will demonstrate more than 50 innovations in more than 150,00 m2 of buildings. The 9 thematic focus areas are 1) Effective planning and implementation of CPCCs, 2) Citizen engagement, environment and well-being, 3) Sustainable building re(design) 4) Resource efficient manufacturing and construction workflows, 5) Integrated renewables and storage, 6) Energy management and flexibility, 7) Monitoring and evaluation, 8) Business models, financial mechanisms, policy and exploitation, 9) Communication, dissemination, and stakeholder outreach.

The main goal of the eNeuron project is to develop innovative tools for the optimal design and operation of local energy communities (LECs) integrating distributed energy resources and multiple energy carriers at different scales. This goal will be achieved, by having in mind all the potential benefits achievable for the different actors involved and by promoting the Energy Hub concept, as a conceptual model for controlling and managing multi-carrier and integrated energy systems in order to optimize their architecture and operation. In order to ensure both the short-term and the long-term sustainability of this new energy paradigm and thus support an effective implementation and deployment, economic and environmental aspects will be taken into account in the optimization tools through a multi-objective approach. eNeuron’s proposed tools enable tangible sustainability and energy security benefits for all the stakeholders in the LEC. Local prosumers (households, commercial and industrial actors) stand to benefit through the reduction of energy costs while leveraging local, low carbon energy. Developers and solution providers will find new opportunities for technologies as part of an integrated, replicable operational business model. Distribution system operators (DSOs) benefit from avoiding grid congestion and deferring network investments. Policy makers benefit from increasingly sustainable and secure energy supply systems. eNeuron is a high TRL project in line with the Work Programme, by developing innovative approaches and methodologies to optimally plan and operate integrated LECs through the optimal selection and use of multiple energy carriers and by considering both short- and long-run priorities. Through optimally coordinating all energy carriers and vectors, cost-effective and low-carbon solutions will be provided for fostering the deployment and implementation of this new energy paradigm at European level.

The SOLAR-MOVE project aims to contribute to the massive adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) minimizing their impact in the power grid by proposing solutions for different Vehicles Integrated Photovoltaic (VIPV) ecosystems: i) VIPV in cities, ii) VIPV in residential and service buildings, iii) VIPV in passenger transportation and iv) VIPV in highways. The SOLAR-MOVE will follow three main targets: i) increase the range of the VIPV in 5 to 10 km/day compared to normal EVs; ii) reduce the dependency on the grid (energy provided by the grid) from 20 to 50 %, depending on the eco-system; and iii) create solutions with positive Net Present Value. To achieve these goals the consortium - comprised by 34 partners across 16 countries - will develop innovative VIPV solutions, including tools to be integrated in VIPV; VIPV prototypes (Heavy-duty vehicles with PV in the trailer, garbage trucks, passenger buses, last-mile delivery and motorhome); VIPV Use Optimisation solutions to maximise the range of the VIPVs; and ePIPV (charging stations with PVs) for diverse applications (in highways, opportunity charging for eBus, ePIPVs at municipality level, public ePIPV in commercial areas and private ePIPVs). The solutions will be demonstrated in six pilots across Denmark (VIPV:heavy Duty vehiles, ePIPV parking lot for trucks in highways), Greece (VIPV: Garbage Truck, ePIPV: Management of ePIPV at municipality level), Turkey (VIPV: Passenger Bus, ePIPV: Management of ePIPV Opportunity charging), Portugal (VIPV: Last mile delivery, ePIPV: Management of public ePIPV), Albania (ePIPV; Management of private ePIPV) and Slovenia (VIPV:Motorhome). The findings will contribute to the elaboration of policy recomendations to support the adoption of VIPV and ePIPV, guidelines for municipalities to simplify the procurement process for VIPS and ePIPVs solutions and regulatory frameworks and incentives to facilitate the mass deployment of these technologies.