From energy generation and conversion to alternative fuels, from hydrogen technology to chemical and thermal storage, from energy recovery to energy efficiency
VOLATILE is a large scale project in the frame of Horizon 2020 involving 21 industry and research partners from nine European countries.
The project’s intention is to develop a Volatile Fatty Acids Platform (VFAP) for the economic utilization of municipal as well as industrial biowaste. Fatty acids will continuously be recovered from anaerobic digestion processes applying membrane technology and will be provided for value added fermentation approaches:
The evolvement of the new value-added chains will be supported by findings of executed case studies and market analyses. Furthermore, the processes will be optimized applying agent-based modeling. To ensure environmentally friendly and economical reasonable process design, VOLATILE additionally will be accompanied by a life cycle assessment (LCA) and an economic feasibility study. Business cases will be developed and a CEN workshop will support standardization on “Sustainable use of municipal solid and sludgy biowaste for added value biomolecules for industrial application”.
Das Kopernikus-Projekt P2X: Erforschung, Validierung und Implementierung von Power-to-X-Konzepten ist eines von vier vom BMBF geförderten Kopernikus-Projekten zur Energiewende. In den nächsten zehn Jahren sollen Technologien erforscht und entwickelt werden, die zur effizienten Speicherung und Nutzung von elektrischer Energie aus erneuerbaren Energiequellen durch Umwandlung in stoffliche Energieträger und chemische Produkte mit hoher Wertschöpfung dienen können. Durch die Verwendung von CO2 aus Abgasen kann zudem der Einsatz von fossilen Brennstoffen reduziert werden. P2X leistet somit einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Dekarbonisierung und zum Umbau der Energiesysteme als Teil der Energiewende.
What is the role of Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) in industrial water management? This question is answered by the ProcessNet Expert Group “Production-Integrated Water/Waste Water Technology”, in cooperation with the DGMT-DME “Committee Water Future” (AWZ) in their discussion paper. Experts warn about excessive expectations in ZLD related to economical and ecological perspectives. Pros and cons are listed in the discussion paper and decision paths are outlined for industrial application.
Energy storage systems for the energy transition: Position Paper of the Joint Working group on Chemical Energy Research. Fundamental research for new storage technologies, a data base for the economic evaluation and an integrated system including electricity, heat and mobility are required in order to implement the energy transition successfully. A comprehensive article supplementing the position paper has been published in Chemie Ingenieur Technik (access via http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cite.201400183/pdf).
The Technology Roadmap "Energy and GHG Reductions in the Chemical Industry via Catalytic Processes" explores how the chemicals sector can harness catalysis and other related technology advances to improve on energy efficiency in its production processes. Furthermore, it evaluates how continuous improvements and breakthrough technology options can affect energy use and reduce greenhouse gas emission rates in the chemical sector. Measures from policy makers, investors, academia and the sector to facilitate developments in catalytic technology and implement its potential around the globe are also described. The roadmap has been jointly developed by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) and DECHEMA to demonstrate the role catalytic processes can play to improve the chemicals sector's energy and GHG emissions intensity.