LIFE & Energy Sustainability The EU LIFE Programme The LIFE Programme is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment. Since 1992 it has co-financed innovative pilot and demonstration projects - with European added value - to improve the implementation and ongoing development of EU environment policy and legislation. Of the 3 956 initiatives supported by LIFE to date, over 130 projects - with a total allocation of 176 million euros - have been exclusively on energy sustainability. Through these, LIFE has supported progress on the supply and demand sides of the energy equation, making a significant contribution to the fight against climate change. Regarding energy supply, LIFE has focused on the further development of green energy sources such as hydropower, solar, wind and geothermal. LIFE has made a particular contribution to the development of the biomass energy sector, notably through new approaches and technologies for exploiting waste biomass. LIFE projects have targeted improved energy efficiency, especially in construction, transport and housing. Positive results have included: developing energy efficient products; improving energy transport and storage; raising public awareness on efficient usage; and supporting implementation of environmental management tools. Two good practice LIFE projects are profiled below, followed by a list of 14 other notable energy sustainability projects. Further details about all the LIFE energy sustainability projects can be found in the LIFE project database: ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/.
R E N E W A B L E E N E R G I E S
Title: Moveable HEPP - Demonstration Plant in the Kinzig River: Moveable Hydroelectric Power Plant for Ecological River Improvements and Fish Migration Reestablishment
Title: Green Bearings - Demonstrating innovative technologies that significantly improve the environmental performance of bearings
Project number: LIFE06 ENV/D/000485
Website: www.skf.com/group/index.html
Project number: LIFE06 ENV/NL/000176
Website: www.moveable-hepp.com/
Moveable HEPP
Green Bearings
Hydroelectric power accounts for 10% of EU electric power production. However, despite being a renewable source of energy, its generation can still cause significant negative environmental impacts, especially in the case of large dams. Meanwhile, the significant number of relatively small hydro-power weirs in Europe’s rivers are characterised by a low turbine head whose energy output is inefficient. Furthermore, fish are unable to pass through these constructions.
Bearings are an essential component of practically any technology or application involving moving elements. Environmental problems exist at each step of the lifecycle of the 50 billion bearings currently in use worldwide - these include energy consumption during production and use, and end-of-life waste of both bearings and lubricant.
With these challenges in mind, MOVEABLE HEPP developed a more efficient hydroelectric power plant that works in river weirs without hindering the natural ecosystem functions of river habitats. This new technology operates with moveable components that are able to work at different heights and allow fish to swim freely - even through the turbine, since it operates at a low rotation speed. It also reduces the flood risk and the transfer of river bed matter, along with the associated economic costs of mitigating these threats. The two pilot plants, built in Gengenbach and Offenburg (Germany), also showed more efficient energy generation than conventional hydropower, resulting in cost savings of 16% and 11% higher returns. Technological advantages of the new system include the lack of a frequency converter, combining the turbine and generator on a single shaft, and the use of a permanent magnet for the stator. This technology has a great transferability potential, as it can be replicated on most of the several hundred river weirs currently found in the EU.
GREEN BEARINGS developed a new and more environmentally-friendly range of bearings by using newly-developed technologies: new sealing technologies based on hard seal coatings, counterface coatings and surface design; polymers as lighter production materials; and new lubrication technologies based on thin film and ‘lub-for-life’, which avoid re-lubrication. The new bearings cut energy consumption by 30-70%, reduced lubricant consumption by avoiding the need for re-lubrification, and increased the lifespan of the overall product, bringing both economic and environmental benefits. With low investment costs in the new technologies there is also a strong cost benefit. The transferability of the technologies is high because the energy-efficient bearings can be used in almost all processes and products where bearings are required. The beneficiary (which has 20% market share in Europe) calculated that if 50% of its customers switched to the new bearings, in the short-to-medium term (< 5 years) the project technologies would reduce energy consumption by 4 000 GWh/yr; and lubricant disposal by 400 000 tonnes/yr.
Environment
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E N E R G Y E F F I C I E N C Y
Visit the LIFE website: ec.europa.eu/life
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SELECTIVE LIST – ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY EFFERNERGY
INSU-SHELL
Energy Efficient Building Systems
Environmentally Friendly Facade Elements made of thermal insulated Textile Reinforced Concrete
Beneficiary: Du Pont
Beneficiary: Rheinisch - Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen
www.effenergy.dupont.com
LIFE06 ENV/L/000121
www.life-insushell.de/
LIFE06 ENV/D/000471
BIOAGRO
Seq-Cure
Innovative method for reduction of emissions of green house gases and waste from the agriculture sector
Integrated systems to enhance sequestration of carbon, producing energy crops by using organic residues
Beneficiary: Skånefrö AB
Beneficiary: Centro Ricerche Produzioni Animali CRPA S.p.A. LIFE06 ENV/S/000517
www.bioagroenergy.com/
http://www.crpa.it/nqcontent. cfm?a_id=3995
LIFE06 ENV/IT/000266
SLUDGE2ENERGY
INTEGRAL-B
Waste prevention through sewage sludge reuse for efficient energy generation at waste water treatment sites
Demonstration of a multi-feedstock sustainable biodiesel production scheme integrating an on-site by-products energy valorisation system
Beneficiary: Huber SE
Beneficiary: Asociación de Investigación de la Industria Agroalimentaria
www.sludge2energy.de/
LIFE06 ENV/D/000460
www.integral-b.com/
LIFE07 ENV/E/000820
WINTECC
OIL PRODIESEL
Demonstration of an innovative wind propulsion technology for cargo vessels
Integrated Waste Management System for the Reuse of Used Frying Oils to Produce Biodiesel for Municipality Fleet of Oeiras
Beneficiary: Beluga Fleet Management GmbH & Co. KG
Beneficiary: Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade www.wintecc.de
LIFE05 ENV/P/000369
LIFE06 ENV/D/000479
DEMO SOFC
GREEN PELLETS
Development and demonstration of Manufacturing and Operation of clean and efficient power generation based on Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
Best sustainable life-cycle fittings for mixed herbaceous solid biofuels for heating to reduce GHG emissions
Beneficiary: Haldor Topsoe A/S www.demo-sofc.eu/
Beneficiary: Association d’Initiatives Locales pour l’Energie et l’Environnement
LIFE06 ENV/DK/000226
LIFE07 ENV/F/000178
BIOFUELS-2G
ZEM/SHIPS
Demonstration of a Sustainable & Effective 2nd Generation Biofuels Application in an Urban Environment
Zero.Emission.Ships
Beneficiary: Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH) www.biofuels2g.gr/
Beneficiary: State Ministry of Urban Development and the Environment of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
LIFE08 ENV/GR/000569
LIFE06 ENV/D/000465
EDEA
ET IDEA
Efficient Development of Eco-Architecture: Methods and Technologies for Public Social Housing Building in Extremadura
Environmental TRY for Innovative Dynamic Environmental and energetic Analyses
Beneficiary: Junta de Extremadura (Regional Government of Extremadura) www.proyectoedea.com/
LIFE07 ENV/E/000805
Beneficiary: NIER Ingegneria S.p.a.
www.itmeteodata.com/
LIFE09 ENV/IT/000124
The LIFE Project database: ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/ Visit the LIFE website: ec.europa.eu/life
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