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.

A bio-based system covers all sectors that rely on biological resources (animals, plants, micro-organisms and derived biomass, organic waste), processes, and principles.The development of a bio-based economy has been emphasized in EU Green Deal to decrease dependency on non-renewable energy and material resources, maintain food security, and decarbonize the economy.However, considering limited land and biological resources in the EU,sustainable and just development of industrial bio-based systems calls for special attention to material circularity, carbon emission, & iLUC risks of bio-based systems, as well as social objectives. BioRadar takes a system perspective to fill the indicator gap in material circularity, environmental impacts, and social impacts of industrial bio-based systems and develop digital monitoring tools for policy-makers and investors. BioRadar identifies circularity opportunities in industrial bio-based systems through biological and technical loops.Material Circularity Indicators(MCIs) are required to assess how well a bio-based system performs in the context of a circular economy.MCIs will help to incorporate circularity as design criteria in developing new bio-based systems, from material choice to new business models.Such indicators will also allow policy-makers to investigate the transition of bio-based systems from linear to circular. Environmental impact assessment of industrial bio-based systems calls special attention to energy use, water consumption, carbon emission, and land use indicators.For this, BioRadar aims to develop frameworks and metrics to evaluate carbon emission and assess the carbon capture and utilization potential, develop methods to evaluate iLUC risks of bio-based systems, and explore climate change mitigation and adoption opportunities for the whole supply chain of industrial bio-based systems. Further,BioRadar aims to identify social development objectives, formulate action plans for social impact assessment.

The 4th Industrial Revolution/Industry 4.0 has enabled reduction of production costs, improved consistency of product quality and enabled mass customisation by merging the physical and digital worlds. The transition is still ongoing - Industry 4.0 is a general-purpose technology, adding value across all industrial sectors. However, the perception of Industry 4.0 at a human level has not all been positive. It has been plagued by fear of job cuts and in some sectors completely replacing the human workforce. Automation projects have often failed due to omitting the critical skilled human elements in business success with unintended consequences including reduced customer satisfaction, poorer product quality and lower process efficiency. Automation alone clearly cannot be a source of sustained competitive advantage. I5.0 will address the balance between humans and technology, focussing on the collaborative relationship between skilled workers and automation. The intent is reinstate skilled craftsmanship at the centre of production processes where people add unique value and competitive advantage, augmented by intelligent, data-driven technology emerging from Industry 4.0. In the Up-Skill project, we will address the implications of Industry 5.0, in particular the relationship between automation, skilled work and organisational systems. Our research will establish how the relationship between automation and human input plays out in a range of industrial settings, creating comparative case studies to capture effective implementation strategies. We will address under-explored strategic spaces in production - where automation adds value to skilled and artisanal work, and where further automation risks undermining product value. This research will identify the shifting organisational characteristics that are needed to ensure technology advancements are implemented within companies while ensuring sustainable, added value for man, machine, and organisation.

RHODaS project aims at developing disruptive topologies of power converters using new semiconductor materials as well as cutting-edge digital technologies to improve architecture efficiency, power density, reliability, cost and sustainability. Moreover, multi-disciplinary approaches of modular power electronics for Integrated Motor Drive (IMD) and ecodesign considerations are addressed, to create compact solutions that can be integrated in a wide range and heavy-duty vehicles, enabling these electric vehicles to be more sustainable and autonomous throughout the entire lifecycle of their components. Nevertheless, power electronics solutions that use Wide Band Gap (WBG) devices can also be applied to light-duty vehicle types M and L, with competitive advantages on the efficiency and power densities compared with current technologies. Finally, the RHODaS project targets the validation of the proposed solutions in electric drivetrains of 1200V for zero emissions class N3 (carriage of goods > 12 tonnes) and O4 (trailers >10 Tonnes), which correspond to USA Class 7-8 heavy duty vehicles (>12 Tonnes) and beyond.

HIGFLY will develop the next generation of technologies for the production of advanced bio jet fuels from abundant and sustainable biomass feedstocks. In a nutshell, HIGFLY: 1. Utilises abundant and sustainable feedstocks (e.g. second-generation biomass and macroalgae), focusing on feedstock flexibility and synergies across the bioenergy sector. 2. Develops innovative, highly-efficient and scalable reactor and separation technologies to produce advanced bio jet fuels in a resource, energy and cost-effective manner. 3. Develops new and robust catalytic materials and sustainable solvents for the renewable energy sector. 4. Advances the knowledge of its innovative technologies by evaluation of the entire value chain (from feedstock(s) to bio jet fuel) to demonstrate the environmental, social and techno-economic performance of HIGFLY technologies and the prospect of regulatory compliance of HIGFLY’s bio jet fuel. HIGFLY will develop and demonstrate in a step-wise approach and under industrially relevant conditions (at TRL3-4) innovative and highly efficient conversion technologies and integrative approaches to valorise abundant and sustainable feedstocks in a resource-, energy- and cost-effective manner. This has the unique potential to increase the total share of advanced biofuels in the EU jet fuel market. In this way, HIGFLY addresses EU priorities for decarbonizing the transport sector through the key actions of the EU SET Plan, specifically: i) by sustaining technological leadership through development of highly performant renewable technologies and their integration in the EU energy system; ii) by reducing the cost of key technologies through maximizing resource and energy efficiency; and iii) by strengthening market uptake through intensive early-stage cooperation between key end-users, policy advisors and technology developers. The HIGFLY consortium combines experts along the entire value chain, from research to end users, to accelerate market uptake.