The Photo2Fuel project will develop a breakthrough technology that converts CO2 into useful fuels and chemicals by means of non-photosynthetic microorganisms and organic materials, using only sunlight as energy source. Photo2Fuel's technology is based on the artificial photosynthesis concept and will use a hybrid system of non-photosynthetic microorganisms and organic photosensitisers to produce acetic acid and methane, using Moorella thermoacetica (bacteria) and Methanosarcina barkeri (archaea) strains, respectively. After optimisation and characterisation, this hybrid non-photosynthetic microorganisms with organic photosensitiser system will be placed into an auto sufficient photo-micro-reactor running exclusively with sunlight. During the day, the natural sunlight will be used, and, during the night, artificial light will be used from previous stored solar energy in batteries (excess sunlight). This approach will guarantee the continuous operation of the photo-micro-reactor. Additionally, a solar concentrator will be coupled to the reactor to maximise conversion and stabilise the production of fuels and chemicals, even with variant solar flux. The Photo2Fuel project will also investigate technologies for the separation of the main products - acetic acid and methane and deliver solutions to achieve high separation efficiency. The overall sustainability of the Photo2Fuel's technology will be analysed, including the environmental, economic, and social aspects. Lastly, the market, barriers, and key stakeholders will be analysed from an end-user perspective, aiming at advancing the technology's TRL-4 after the project completion and, thus, actively supporting the transition to a climate neutral Europe by 2050.

"ProdLog addresses the issue of a weak industrial sector in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russian Federation and focuses on enabling universities to gain and provide a profound and holistic knowledge on planning and operating sustainable production processes. For that purpose a bologna-based master curriculum with 18 modules in resource efficient production logistics will be developed and implemented in six universities of the partner countries. The academic staff will be trained with innovative teaching methods in the learning factory ""Technology centre for production and logistics systems PULS"" and equipped with state of the art logistics laboratories. By means of that, the understanding of logistics shall be widened - away from transport logistics to a systemic and interdisciplinary approach of applicant-oriented education, challenges with economical, political and social problems of our society."

Developing low-cost energy storage systems is a central pillar for a secure, affordable and environmentally friendly energy supply based on renewable energies. A hybrid energy storage system (HESS) can be capable of providing multiple system services (e.g. frequency regulation or renewable balancing) at low cost and without the use of critical resources. Within HyFlow, an optimized HESS is designed consisting of a high-power vanadium redox flow battery (HP-VRFB), a supercapacitor (SC), advanced converter topologies and a highly flexible control system that allows adaptation to a variety of system environments. The system design enables modular long-term energy storage through HP-VRFB, while the SC as a power component ensures high load demands to be handled. The flexible Energy Management System (EMS) will be designed to perform high level of control and adaptability using computational analysis and hardware development. Within HyFlow, this innovative HESS is developed and validated on demonstrator-scale (5 kW scale) including sustainability analysis. The scope is to base the HP-VRFB on recycled vanadium and thereby reduce the environmental impact as well as the costs of the HESS. The consortium will build upon lab-scale and industrial application-scale experimental data to derive models and algorithms for the EMS development and the optimization of existing VRFB and SC components. An industry-scale demonstrator (300 kW scale) provides the possibility to test even the fastest grid-services like virtual inertia. Outputs of the project support the whole value-chain and life cycle of HESS by developing new materials and components and adding them together with an innovative EMS. The development of the above described HESS especially through the flexible EMS allows a plethora usage potentials to be assessed. This will lead to the grid integration of the HESS where the full potential of the flexibility can thoroughly be qualified and optimized for market requirements.

The dramatic effects of the climate crisis are calling for a change in the electrical grid paradigm. The market of Energy Storage Systems is now undertaking continuous growth, boosted by the relentless penetration of renewables. In this context, state of the art ESSs still have several limitations mainly due to technological constraints. Technology-dependent reaction times and rigid coupling between energy and power capacity, makes the choice of a specific ESS for different use cases very cumbersome and seldom optimal from both the technical and economic point of view. SMHYLES project proposes novel sustainable Hybrid Energy Storage Systems (HESSs) based on the combination of two low-CRM storage technologies, one with long duration capacity and one with very high-power density, providing ultra-fast ancillary services, managed in a combined control by smart EMSs. The projects comprehend the design, construction, deployment and demonstration of an Aqueous-based HESS (AHESS) and a Salt-based HESS (SHESS) as well as a storage duration expansion. Three demo sites in Portugal and Germany cover islanded grid, industrial microgrid, provision of grid services and EV charging use cases. Novel solutions for electrolyte recycling are also scaled up to industrially relevant size. The project will finalize techno-economic analyses to evaluate market segments for HESSs commercialization and deal with life cycle assessment along the whole design process. Digital twins are developed to support the optimal design of HESSs components and systems, define the strategies for HESSs real time management, investigate the business potential of SMHYLES solutions for specific use cases and countries, and support and test the energy management systems of the developed hybrid storage technologies. With high technological and economical advancements, SMHYLES will unlock novel flexible and multi-purpose energy storage solutions and ensure a remarkable impact on the European energy market.