CO2 capture process represents typically about 70% of the total cost of the CCS chain. Power plants that capture CO2 today use an old technology whereby flue gases are bubbled through organic amines in water, where the CO2 binds to amines. The liquid is then heated to 120-150ºC to release the gas, after which the liquids are reused. The entire process is expensive and inefficient: it consumes about 30 percent of the power generated. One of the most promising technologies for CO2 capture is based on the adsorption process using solid sorbents, with the most important advantage being the potential energy penalty reduction for regeneration of the material compared to liquid absorption . Nevertheless, the challenge in this application remains the same, namely to intensify the production of a CO2 stream in terms of adsorption/desorption rates and energy use while preserving the textural characteristics of the sorbents. The key objectives of the CARMOF project are (1) to build a full demonstrator of a new energy and cost-competitive dry separation process for post-combustion CO2 capture based on hybrid porous Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) & Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) (2) to design customized, high packed density & low pressure drop structures based on 3D printing technologies containing hybrid MOF/CNT to be used in CO2 capture system based on fluidized beds. The morphology of the printed absorber will be designed for the specific gas composition of each of the selected industries (ceramic, petrol products and steel) and (3) to optimize the CO2 desorption process by means of Joule effect combined with a vacuum temperature/preassure swing adsorption (VTSA or VPSA)/membrane technology that will surpass the efficiency of the conventional heating procedures

Today, 19th and 20th c. modern period buildings are the trademark of numerous European cities, forming a great part of EU Built Heritage, reflecting and shaping the identity of our local, national and multinational societies. Considering that historic buildings are ineffective in terms of energy consumption for heating and cooling, among the biggest restoration and renovation challenges is to enhance the energy performance of historic buildings. SINCERE aims to elucidate the values of Built Heritage and provide the tools for optimizing the carbon footprint and energy performance of historic buildings, towards the requirements of net-zero-carbon-buildings, by utilizing innovative, sustainable, and cost-effective restoration materials and practices, energy harvesting technologies, ICT tools and socially innovative approaches. SINCERE adapts a multi-scale concept, from material-, to building-, to neighbourhood- to city-scale, applied on the three main parts of buildings: structure, external envelope (opaque), and transparent parts, implemented at different time-frames, in order to provide decision making tools to the stakeholders involved in the process, considering the full-service life of the buildings, including restoration, operation, monitoring and maintenance phases. Energy performance in terms of retrofitting materials and solutions will be optimized according to the buildings’ unique structural, architectural, functional and materials characteristics, their environmental setup, as well as local future climate change scenarios. SINCERE will provide a palette portfolio of sustainable restoration options that will be evaluated by H-BIM/H-DT tools in order to enable the selection of optimum solutions and the planning of necessary adaptation actions. SINCERE will also focus on raising awareness and empowering Europeans to promote the concept of preservation CH buildings by disseminating the obtained results through national and international scale activities.

To tackle its (critical) raw material dependency, Europe needs comprehensive strategies based on sustainable primary mining, substitution and recycling. Freshly produced flows and stocks of landfilled industrial residues such as mine tailings, non-ferrous slag and bauxite residue (BR) can provide major amounts of critical metals and, concurrently, minerals for low-carbon building materials. The European Training Network for Zero-Waste Valorisation of Bauxite Residue (REDMUD) therefore targets the vast streams of new and stockpiled BR in the EU-28. BR contains several critical metals, is associated with a substantial management cost, whereas spills have led to major environmental incidents, including the Ajka disaster in Hungary. To date, zero-waste valorisation of BR is not occurring yet. The creation of a zero-waste BR valorisation industry in Europe urgently requires skilled scientists and engineers, who can tackle the barriers to develop fully closed-loop environmentally-friendly recovery flow sheets. REDMUD trains 15 researchers in the S/T of bauxite residue valorisation, with emphasis on the recovery of Fe, Al, Ti and rare earths (incl. Sc) while valorising the residuals into building materials. An intersectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration of EU-leading institutes and scientists has been established, which covers the full value chain, from BR to recovered metals and new building materials. Research challenges include the development of efficient extraction of Fe, Al, Ti and rare earths (incl. Sc) from distinct (NORM classified) BRs and the preparation of new building materials with higher than usual Fe content. By training the researchers in pyro-, hydro- and ionometallurgy, electrolysis, rare-earth extraction and separation technology, inorganic polymer and cement chemistry, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), NORM aspects and characterisation, they become the much needed scientists and engineers for the growing European critical raw materials industry.

RobetArme will deliver a human-robot collaborative construction system for the automation of shotcrete (i.e. concrete spray casting), which is an emerging technology in construction domain. A multitasking Inspection-Reconnaissance mobile manipulator-IRR (ROB) will fuse the latest Geotechnical models (BIM/CIM) (DTT), high-density visual data and semantic SLAM (CERTH) representations to automate modelling and fast reconstruction (DTU) of the surface to be shotcreted. IRR will facilitate rebar reinforcement through metal additive manufacturing (ANIMA) capitalizing on its precise repair skills (EPFL). The Shotcrete and Finishing mobile manipulator ?SFR (COBOD) will apply dexterous concrete placement through closed-loop visual guidance methods, suitable for turbid conditions (KUL). Concrete mix-design and study on innovative reinforced cementitious materials (TITAN) will contribute to the reduction of materials? and water waste during shotcrete. The SFR robot equipped with universal tool changing (ROB) will also automate the surface finishing step through delicate and human-like robot manipulations, enabled from a safety operation toolkit that includes physical human-robot collaboration and human-aware navigation (CERTH). A Digital Twin (DTT) coupled with simulation tools (SDU), advanced decision making (ICE) and task planning (CERTH) skills will facilitate fast and greener shotcrete automation. RobetArme will be evaluated (DS4) on four diverse construction sites, i.e. tunnels/culverts (BYCN), bridges posttensioned boxes (ARUP), beams & piles of buildings (CEAS) and ground support walls (BYCN), assessing its autonomous shotcreting abilities. RobetArme will substantially increase the repair/maintenance automation, will foster adoption of robots in Construction 4.0 era (EFF), while it will increase construction productivity providing flexibility to the maintenance personnel, contribution to standards (UNI) and better quality to their workplaces (MORE).

FLEXIndustries builds upon a holistic multi-disciplinary (device, process and value-chain) and multi-scale (operating, tactical and strategic) approach fostering its 6 multi-sector (automotive, biofuels, polymers, steel, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals) energy intensive industries design and deploy the most suitable Energy Efficiency Measures and Process Flexibility Methods for their industrial environments along with a positive impact onto their interconnection with the electrical & heating networks. FLEXIndustries develops and demonstrates a Dynamic Energy & Process Management Platform to monitor, analyse and optimize the most energy-intensive industrial processes, by managing properly emerging demand response mechanisms and providing plant and process flexibility as well as offering grid services. The unique premise of FLEXIndustries, is the optimal integration of i) innovative energy generation, storage and conversion assets (e.g., BESS and waste heat recovery solutions based on novel HPs, ORC and heat exchangers systems), ii) smart and digital tools for optimised operation and control, all supported by iii) novel business models and market mechanisms for enhanced industrial flexibility. Overall, FLEXIndustries has the potential to save: a) ≥ 159 GWh/ y of Primary Energy in total, b) ≥ 6.0 M€/y Life Cycle Costs on demo scale and c) ≥ 33,111 CO2-eq/y emissions at project level. Demonstration will take place in 6 industrial facilities in 5 reference countries (Turkey, Greece, Poland, Bulgaria, and Italy) and will feature: a) energy efficiency and operational flexibility along with process redesign/modification, b) increased levels of electrification, digitalisation and automation, c) enhanced user satisfaction and grid flexibility services, and d) decreased environmental footprint. A highly competent team of 16 Large Enterprises, 6 Research Institutes, 8 SMEs, 2 Universities and 3 Non-profit Organizations are assembled to ensure FLEXIndustries success