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.

PeCATHS is committed to developing an integrated long-term energy storage system utilizing hydrogen in the form of liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs), coupled with innovative biomass conversion. This approach enables the direct transfer of hydrogen from biomass to LOHCs without the hydrogen gas production, while simultaneously generating high-value chemicals. By integrating chemical and energy sectors, the project aims to synthesize platform chemicals and achieve long-term energy storage in liquid form, enhancing both the sustainability and efficiency of energy systems. A major advantage of LOHC technology is its ability to transform hydrogen gas into a stable liquid energy carrier, significantly facilitating the storage, transport and distribution. To tackle the economic challenges associated with this technology, PeCATHS employs a cost-effective strategy that utilizes biomass as a hydrogen source and solar power as a renewable energy source. This method allows for the direct integration of hydrogen into LOHCs without the complexities of gas compression and storage, thereby reducing costs and enhancing competitiveness against conventional energy storage systems. PeCATHS addresses the critical need for sustainable and viable energy storage, transport, and distribution solutions through the use of advanced (photo)electrocatalytic transformations. This project not only aims to reduce operational costs but also seeks to contribute to the development of sustainable energy infrastructures vital for future energy networks.

The purpose of HYCOOL-IT is to develop a set of processes supported by both digital and technical equipment innovative solutions for an efficient and reliable development of IT Server Rooms for advanced tertiary buildings, with a special focus on its replicability through standardisation. In parallel, a highly innovative Rack-integrated adsorption chiller for waste-heat powered server cooling is developed and optimized to carry out efficient liquid cooling of IT servers and, simultaneously, provide cooling to the server room itself in a compact, self-contained, and cost-effective way. The Building Digital Twin Environment (BDTE) will be developed as a PaaS with their specific Web API communication microservices to connect specific tools to support planning and design assessment, commissioning and performance evaluation processes including advanced technical equipment solutions digitalized through as BDT SimBOTs (interactive simulators) in the ICT Ecosystem to enable a more effective integration and operation of these advanced server rooms within the whole buildings. Moreover, SimBOTS pave the way for the future prescription of the innovative technical equipment proposed in the project. In addition, existing rooms can be mirrored and enhanced with the usage of BDT Environments to generate improved baselines and forecasting to support designers in the design phase, choosing the best design option and for maintenance engineers to enable performance contracting to realise the KPI’s. All Methodology and Software solutions will be tested and validated in one of the POLIMI Campus Building undergoing renovation of campus server room as a representative TRL 5 Living Lab, whereas the innovative Rack-integrated adsorption chiller for waste-heat powered server cooling will be tested in a dedicated calorimetric laboratory as TRL 4 testing environment.

HERITALISE mission is to research and develop advanced digitisation techniques and solutions for documenting and representing diverse CH assets, giving a full comprehension of the diverse CH features, visible and non-visible. In addition, AI-powered tools including Machine Learning (ML) will be developed for improved and optimised data post-processing and integration based on standard and expanded methodologies. All this will be connected through a knowledge graph environment that allows the individual aspects known about the CH object to be related and retrievable. As with Wikipedia, by following links it will be possible to learn more about a particular object, what research has been done, and what results have been derived from it. HERITALISE will provide the upcoming ECCCH with a interoperable web-based Ecosystem, advanced input data from improved digitalisation methodologies and preservation supporting tools, which will be achieved by meeting the following General Objectives (GO) and setting the conditions for a wide-scale replicability and scalability across European CH institutions/organisations across European CH institutions/organisations: GO1: State-of-the-art review of current digitisation standards and methodologies defining the data requirements for CH tangible and intangible objects GO2: Improve 3D/2D Data acquisition methods and technologies GO3: Data post-processing methods and technologies will be adopted, including new AI-powered digitisation methods and the development of data fusion techniques to mix various multimodal digitisation approaches (multisensory, multiscale, multispectral, external and internal) GO4: Development of methodologies and solutions as Hardware (HW) and/or Software (SW) services GO5: Development of ECCCH-compliant open interoperability components enabling connecting and sharing data and modular services in a distributed web-based architecture GO6: Increasing the Impact of current and developing digitisation technologies

Despite the wealth of climate data and services currently available, access is often limited to scientists and modeling experts. FOCAL will develop a platform (FOCAL Platform) that combines intelligent workflow management with high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructures, featuring data and metadata management linked to artificial intelligence (AI) development routines. This environment will enable the fast and efficient training and validation of innovative AI and statistical methods, enhancing the understanding of climate change impacts at a local scale. The project focuses on two pilots: urban planning and forestry, intending to develop a platform that enables efficient climate impact assessments on the local level while leveraging AI and HPC for analysing earth observation (EO) and earth system modelling data. Furthermore, FOCAL will generate new insights into key processes of the Earth system by integrating advanced EO data with existing and new data assimilation or modelling approaches. By harnessing a diverse range of EO datasets, FOCAL will improve climate predictions and provide a more comprehensive understanding of the interactions within the Earth system. This integration will allow for the identification of previously unrecognized patterns and feedback mechanisms, ultimately refining local climate models and enhancing their predictive capabilities. The platform will also facilitate Web/Cloud app development through a co-design process with urban planners and foresters, ensuring the resulting applications address their specific impact assessment challenges. Additionally, the FOCAL ecosystem will support developers, particularly small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), by providing services, modules, tools, and workflows that can be integrated into their own solutions. The project promotes a highly interdisciplinary approach, with a defined clustering and dissemination strategy to effectively apply its innovations across various fields. An Open Geospatial Consortium Domain Working Group (OGC-DWG) will be established to manage and maintain these clustering efforts. Ultimately, FOCAL aspires to enhance climate science and policy, improve societal resilience to climate change, and promote sustainable practices, all while ensuring transparency and openness in data management and model development.