While it’s widely accepted that energy efficiency investments are not only necessary from an environmental point of view but also convenient in terms of expected return and payback times, it’s still difficult to attract private finance that can boost the energy transition process on a large scale in the retail sector and supermarkets is just a good example of it. Of the total operating costs of a supermarket, which include purchasing merchandise, employee salaries, and more, energy can account for between 10% and 15%, which is huge for a business that operates such tight margins. SUPER-HEERO develops an innovative collaborative and scalable financial scheme based on i) Citizen financing through a crowd-funding/co-operative scheme building upon the loyalty programs in the supermarkets and implementing gamification strategies, ii) Strategic partnerships with ESCOs and utilities to support financially the energy efficiency investments on the basis of the benefits of engaging a large base of energy users through the supermarket co-operative program, iii_ Engagement of technology providers in performance-based schemes that allow them to profit from their products/technologies through innovative circular business models (e.g. leasing, Technology as a service) while making the technology more affordable and accessible for supermarket and similar business. In this way, SUPER-HEERO provides an instrument for supermarkets to access the much-needed funding that allows implementation of energy efficiency strategies and unlocks the potential of energy savings over 40%, which in turn would materialize in economic, social and environmental gains.

HP4All brings together leading experts across Europe to enable capacity and skills development within the Heat Pump sector and to ensure that the energy efficiency gains afforded by heat pumps are realised. HP4All, following a a holistic, systemic point of view, will work both with the supply side (manufacturers, SMEs, installers etc) and demand side (building owners, public sector etc.). This way, the project will enhance, develop and promote the skills required for high quality, optimised Heat Pump (HP) installations within residential/non-residential buildings bringing Europe to the forefront of the climatization sector. HP4All will develop the HP4All package, a set of different tools and resources to be used by the different related stakeholders. The package includes a HP Competency Framework to facilitate Mutual Recognition of HP Skills and, from an end user perspective, a HP Knowledge Hub will be created to provide guidance, support and tools e.g. procurement guidance to increase the demand for HP skills and knowledge. HP4All will validate this package through 3 regional plans being implemented (AT, ES and IE) with the ambition of driving market change, influencing end user decisions and planning for new innovations. The implementation plans will be informed by extensive stakeholder engagement to map current and future barriers to HP market exploitation and skills development. Leading experts in the HP and Energy sector will support the regional actors to prepare the market for new innovations related to HP technology, procurement and contracting services. The impact of the project will be maximised through the role of the Observers (HR, PT,RO ) as they will follow closely the development and validation of the HP4All package, being early adopters even before the project ends. Replication activities will include train-the-trainer, a roadmap and pan-European events for policy makers and public bodies.

In 2017, EU GHG emissions, including emissions from international aviationEurope has successfully reduced its GHG emissions since 1990 levels. The pace of reducing CO2 emissions is positive, however it is projected to slow after 2020 resulting in difficulties to achieve EU’s reduction target of 55% by 2030 as planned in the European Green Deal. Additional measures and policies are foreseen in EU to forefront this situation. Negative emissions technologies, as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) ones are currently a priority to explore, especially in non-exploited industrial sectors such as the bio-based industry as they significantly contribute to CO2 emissions. CATCO2NVERS will contribute to reduce GHG emissions from the bio-based industries developing 5 innovative and integrated technologies based on 3 catalytic methods (electrochemical, enzymatic and thermochemical). It will transform waste-CO2 (up to 90%) and residual biomass from 2 bio-based industries into 5 added-value chemicals (glyoxylic acid, lactic acid, furan dicarboxylic methyl ester (FDME), cyclic carbonated fatty acid methyl esters (CCFAMEs) with production yields between 70-90%. Methanol which will not have an energetic use but will be used in CATCO2NVERS own technologies. These target chemicals will be used as building blocks and monomers to obtain biopolymers of 100% bio-origin. Industrial partners will validate the application of the obtained chemical building blocks on the most relevant markets. In addition, the waste-CO2 stream will be conditioned by removing potential inhibitors for the catalysts. CATCO2NVERS will meet some of the principles in green chemistry (atom economy, use of renewable feedstocks, reduce derivatives and use of catalysts instead of stoichiometric reagents). CATCO2NVERS will explore an energy and resource efficient scenario following an industrial symbiosis model to ensure a biorefinery process along the CO2 valorization chain with zero or negative GHG emissions.

BEATLES aspires to change the way agri-food systems currently operate and accelerate the systemic and systematic behavioural shift to climate-smart agriculture and smart farming technologies fully aligned with the ambitions of the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies, and the new CAP at regional and EU levels. By adopting a food systems approach, the agri-food value chain is viewed as a system of interlinked components where interactions lead to systemic innovations. Through targeted selection of agri-food value chains across the EU and by engaging multiple stakeholders in the co-creation of systemic innovations, in the context of appropriate behavioural and experimental settings, the project will provide an integrative inventory of behavioural insights about the full range of “lock-ins” and levers that hinder or motivate behavioural change, including individual, systemic and policy factors. Five different food systems representing the major crop and livestock farming systems in Europe (cereals, dairy, stone fruits, livestock, vegetables) in various EU regions (Western, Eastern, Southern and Northern Europe), will be studied to account for the diversity in agri-food systems and conditions in the EU. The behavioural insights are used to develop transformative pathways, via business strategies and policy recommendations, to encourage transition to fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food systems. BEATLES will provide a set of business strategies establishing roadmaps for a fair shift towards climate-smart agriculture, based on environmental, social and economic sustainability assessments. Moreover, a series of policy recommendations and tools will be developed to foster behaviourally informed policy design and implementation. The active participation of multiple value chain actors, at various levels of society (public, political, professional), in the co-creation activities all along the project’s lifespan will establish a mutual understanding of the value

Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) provides both essential aspects of substitution of traditional building materials, hence with potential low electricity costs, and high quality architectural design. It has the potential to contribute significantly to clean electricity generation, in line with EU policies, as well as to contribute to the rebuild of a stronger European industrial sector in the field of solar energy. So far, BIPV has remained mostly limited to emblematic façade and roof demonstration projects with standard modules very often just added on top of an existing finished building. This project will help to break the multiple barriers, which have been holding back the diffusion of BIPV by: - Supporting the industrialisation of new material and process for the manufacturing of multi-functional BIPV elements, with a focus on break-through transformative approaches to realise, in a cost effective way, aesthetical modules. - Working at improved manufacturing process, allowing the call’s targeted cost reductions, To allow a stronger market deployment of the new technologies, the project will: - Develop a business model and exploitation strategy for each key stakeholders of the whole value chain including for the architectural and building sectors and will enable an improved awareness and coordination among the multiple stakeholders involved in a building/renovation process, - Demonstrate the results of the project through real case spectacular demonstrators and through the implementation of an innovative communication plan dedicated to experts such as architects and builders as well to a large public audience. The unique and multi-disciplinary consortium of BE-Smart, representing the full value chain, will demonstrate cost effective new BIPV product concepts from their technological, planning, normative, installation and social aspects in order to accelerate the implementation process.