Hydrogen is undoubtely the most talked-about carbon-free energy vector. However, policymakers and citizens that are supporting hydrogen large-scale penetration in the energy sector should not only be aware of the evident benefits but also of potential safety and climatic risks driven by a long term hydrogen-based economy. HYDRA will start from the evaluation of policies and directives on hydrogen technologies to derive the actual penetration rate of H2 in the market, and evaluate atmospheric emissions of hydrogen and other gases linked to production processes or leakages. The project will then model socio-economic and energy scenarios, considering land use and water consumption, due to the future deployment of a hydrogen economy. The possible impact on the atmosphere will be assessed, considering the interaction of H2 with the oxidizing cycles of CH4, CO, N2O, and O3, and the possible increase in water vapor concentrations, finally estimating the overall radiative forcing. HYDRA will also assess the possible contribution of soil in removing H2 from the atmosphere. Climatic projections will simulate possible climate change scenarios caused by the hydrogen economy, to which HYDRA will respond proposing guidlines and mitigation actions. Finally, since hydrogen-air mixes are highly imflammable and H2 leakages can represent a serious safety issue along the whole value chain, HYDRA will develop a remote-control monitoring tool. The HYDRA tool will detect and quantify hydrogen leakages to increase the saefty of hydrogen-based technologies and prevent unecessary emissions to the atmosphere. The monitoring system will also be able to detect emissions of other gases, so that also possible impurities can be taken into account. The monitoring tool will be tested in a facility where a large scale H2 storage infrastructure will be available. Experimental and modeling activities will also be useful to update the LCA methodology in assessing the environmental impact of hydrogen technologies.

Mobility is crossing a new digital frontier in terms of connectivity, allowing vehicles to communicate to each other, to the infrastructure and to other transport systems users. However, the potential implications and impacts of integration of CCAM solutions into the mobility system are not well understood neither for specific actors nor for the systems level. MOVE2CCAM will: i) explore the impact of CCAM passenger and freight solutions; define use cases, business models and KPIs through co-creation activities with the “Satellites”, and ii) develop a practical system dynamics-based impact assessment tool that will enable the evaluation of CCAM interventions’ impact on mobility-, socio-economic-, public health- and environmental-related aspects considering diverse European region specifics and different actors’ needs, objectives and perceptions. The Satellites is a multi-systems network of actors across the whole CCAM ecosystem consisting of industries, authorities, researchers citizens, and orbits around the project by participating in a series of co-creation activities. Case studies for different types of organisations, dialogues, social simulation experiments, virtual reality games, and AV demonstrations take place in 8 European countries and at a pan-European level to collect data and specify the multi-systems impacts of CCAMs. The impact assessment tool will allow stakeholders to test and evaluate the system-wide impacts of CCAM interventions along with a range of complementary policies providing also a series of KPIs (within the project it is applied for Helmond(NL), GZM(PL), and Aegean Islands(GR). Given these activities, MOVE2CCAM significantly contributes to a well-founded understanding of the impacts of CCAMs. It will deliver impact evaluation frameworks and tools with KPIs covering sectors such as society, economy, and the environment; policy recommendations for CCAM partnerships and large-scale demonstrations; and recommendations for SUMP.

With 75% of the EU’s citizens living in urban areas, the potential of circular economy for European cities is clear. However, one of the main issues hindering a widespread deployment is that compared to industrialized economies, circular economy business cases are often perceived as risky by investors, often because the business models are poorly described or understood. InvestCEC will develop a replicable model for the implementation of circular economy projects in cities and regions across Europe, while taking into account all relevant stakeholders. Specifically, the model will address the city and region’s needs, support entrepreneurs in making their circular economy solution investment ready, and include the investment program set up and management. The model viability will be then demonstrated in the city of Klagenfurt, Austria as a test case. InvestCEC will also develop a platform for the stakeholders involved in a circular economy project to communicate, exchange information, as well as monitor the project and its progress. A tailored replication plan including replication materials and replication activities will be established in order to encourage the replication of the model in other local and regional settings across Europe. Alongside the model’s development and demonstration, the project will carry out prospective activities and implement measures to support the transition towards circular economy, including policy-related work, information exchange events, marketplace of circular economy solutions, and additional resources, tools and guidelines for the use of all stakeholders.

The detailed knowledge of building stock features and performances has a potential positive disruptive effect on the ability of the EC to design effective policies targeting buildings in view of the 2050 strategy and the European Green Deal. Given the lack of comprehensive and reliable data on the EU building stock, BuiltHub will develop a structured and inclusive data collection approach, as well as an easy to access & use datahub, in the shape of a structured web-based platform (IT infrastructure, analytics and user-friendly dashboard), which will be fed into thanks to a benefits-based engagement strategy targeted to data and metadata providers, as well as simple users. The mentioned benefits-based engagement strategy will be implemented by developing added value information services tailored to lead-users of the platform and other main beneficiaries (end-users). The main premise behind the BuiltHub community building proposal is that data owners will be willing to feed-in data/information to the BuiltHub platform, in exchange for the added value information/knowledge that will be put out by the platform through its operation. In addition, “multipliers” will disseminate the BuiltHub achievements for enlarging the related community. The BuiltHub consortium will also develop different data processes and service schemes to cover possible users, based on their needs and potential use of data & analytics, as well as the benefits they could enjoy from cooperating with BuiltHub. The project aims to build upon the building stock observatory database and related analytics for making the data flow easier, resilient and safe. However, the BuiltHub consortium is also ready for a development approach which stands on its own, as a back-up plan. It also aims to work in close collaboration with mirror and sister projects and in particular B4E-6 MATRYCS by sharing data collection approach and a standard definition of each elements at different level (country to single building).