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
Factsheet-LIFE-Energy-final.indd 1
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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