Renewable Energy and its role in European Commission Research

The European Commission-funded conference (mentioned earlier in this ECCE Brussels Brief) aimed at promoting the use of renewable energy as part of Europe’s research policy was accompanied by an exhibition which provided information on a number of projects, including the following:

Geothermal energy  In the EU project “European Hot Dry Rock” water is pumped into fissures deep in the ground, heated up and pumped back out again, creating in essence an artificial hot spring. A heat exchanger transfers energy to a second circuit that drives a turbine generator to produce electricity. Europe is currently the world leader in this technology   http://www.soultz.net

Ocean energy The EU research project Wave Dragon is the world’s first offshore wave energy converter producing power for the grid in Denmark. Moored in water, the 237 tonne Wave Dragon recuperates energy that is generated by ‘overtopping’ waves. The water is initially stored in a reservoir and then passed through turbines which produce electricity. http://www.wavedragon.net

Concentrated solar thermal energy: the Sol Air Project uses mirrors to redirect the sun’s energy towards a ceramic receptor that heats air which is, in turn, used to heat water. The water vapour then activates turbines which produce electricity. In the future, the size of solar power plants using central tower technology may vary from 10MWe to 100MWe, depending on demand and on land available. http://www.psa.es/webeng/index.html

Photovoltaic:  are based on the principle in which “photons” (units of light) fall on a cell, generating a “voltage”.  Two such projects are:  (1) “Roll-to-Roll” photovoltaic modules (Project H-Alpha-Solar): a collaboration to develop new thin film technology which paves the way towards cost effective mass production of silicon-based solar energy devices. (2) An alternative to silicon (Project PROCIS): Researchers have developed an efficient low-cost technology, using alternatives to silicon (CIS), to generate cheaper solar cell modules.

Biomass: Europe’s wood, agricultural residues and organic waste, which can be transformed into ethanol or used to produce hydrogen for fuel cells. EU-funded Project TIME focuses on converting biomass into ethanol (using the cellulose of plants and trees) as a replacement for gasoline. http://timeproject.vtt.fi  Project BIOELECTRICITY is investigating the conversion of biomass into hydrogen to produce electricity in a fuel cell.  http://www.bio-electricity.tnw.utwente.nl

For general information: http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/energy/index_en.htm