The Danube Region holds huge potential for sustainable generation and storage of renewable energy. However, to date this region is highly dependent on energy imports, while energy efficiency, diversity and renewables share are low. In line with the EU climate targets for 2030 and the EUSDR PA2 goals DanuP-2-Gas will advance transnational energy planning by promoting generation and storage strategies for renewables in the Danube Region by coupling the electric power and gas sector. DanuP-2-Gas will bring together energy agencies, business actors, public authorities and research institutions via the Danube Energy Platform. Based on the platform developed during DTP project ENERGY BARGE it will incorporate all pre-existing tools and i.a. an Atlas, mapping prior unexamined available biomass and energy infrastructure.
The major challenge for public administrations is to reduce energy consumption in existing public buildings without significant construction works. Public administrations, however, lack reliable solutions and applicable integrated approaches to reduce this energy consumption. TARGET-CE will collect, adjust and deploy new ICT tools, financial models, action plans and trainings to the local and regional administrations and integrate them into territorial and thematic strategies.
The lack of the overall understanding of the impact of energy-efficient investments has made it difficult for policymakers to integrate it into their policymaking process. There is a need to gather evidence on the benefit of energy efficiency in ecological and socio-economic terms. These are the challenges that project EERAdata will address over the next three years with the help of academics and experts throughout Europe. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020.
Project partners will work with several municipalities to identify old building stock that can be upgraded to be more energy efficient. The project encourages local authorities to not rule out the renovation of old building stock – thus transforming regions and municipalities towards a sustainable and energy-efficient future. Partners will work with 2 pilot local authorities City of Copenhagen in Denmark and the Municipality of Velenje in Slovenia to create a decision-making tool that will identify older building stock that could be upgraded to be more energy efficient.
The team behind EERAdata will access the technical and socio-economical information across the relevant sector to develop the appropriate methodology and data analysis framework to plan and compare investment and impact in Energy Efficient Buildings.
This data and information will then be used to create a user-friendly tool that will enable policymakers to plan and prioritise EE Investment.
The ENTRAIN project is co-financed by the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE transnational program, the main objective of which is to promote structural cooperation between public authorities and key stakeholders at the transnational level and to extend knowledge of the systematic, integrated and efficient design of small district heating systems in 5 target regions (IT, DE, HR, SI, PL) based on renewable heat sources (solar energy, biomass, waste heat, heat pumps and geothermal energy).
The end result will help reduce CO2 and fossil fuel emissions, improve local air quality and bring socio-economic benefits for local communities by growing technical expertise and putting investment in innovative financial tools into operation.
The ENTRAIN project will launch investments in the construction or renovation of nine district heating networks and the preparation of nine heat planning studies, together with the development of three innovative local and regional financing schemes and the adaptation and adoption of the existing Austrian QM Holzheizwerke quality management system in at least three target regions.
Project aim is to give its contribution in increasing of present and future generations of secondary schools students’ skills and competences to face different challenges in everyday social life from different perspective and to become active members of their local communities.
The project is developing a new innovative students-centered educational approach as opportunity for secondary schools' students to observe “real life” situations from multiple perspectives students will have to organize own Virtual town and also to think as an active members of its virtual community and to develop own strategies in finding appropriate solution for faced challenges from the aspect of authorities as well as from interest of community.
The low-carbon energy shift of EU economies will have a profound economic & social impact on regions extensively involved in coal value chains. It is however acknowledged that this transition needs to be fair; EC’s "Clean Energy For All Europeans" package was set in place to speed the clean energy transition and growth & job creation. To this end, DeCarb will support public authorities to initiate efforts, join forces and exchange experiences to: a) identify growth strategies to mitigate the impact of decarbonisatoin, b) make the most of EU funds & financing tools, and c) promote public dialogue on conflicting interests.
DeCarb brings together 9 partners (9 countries), to exchange experiences & transfer knowledge on how to transition from the carbon-intensive era towards the clean energy future. It will support regions to secure sustainable development, economic & societal stability, and a role in the 2030 energy mix.
In the BB-CLEAN project 8 partners from 5 countries of the Alpine Region (AR) are working together to develop transnational policies for a sustainable use of biomass for domestic heating to minimize its negative impact on air quality and improve a smart use of biomass in the AR.
Biomass covers a large share of heat demand in the AR which can reach 90% for small municipalities in the Alps. That is why there is a need to support a better use of local resources and increase the energy self-sufficiency while reducing the impacts on climate and the environment. Biomass is available and affordable RES and its combustion involves critical aspects related to atmospheric particulate (PM) emissions, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Often unknown to population and local administrators is that biomass burning (BB) leads to consistent particulate matter (PM) emissions. They have an impact on natural ecosystems, on human health and even on climate change considering Black Carbon concentrations contained in PM emitted from BB.
The project will focus on innovative open-source and interactive approaches for the awareness raising of citizens and local administrators about the critical aspects linked to BB and on the definition of strategic technological, economical and regulative tools to reduce the impact of BB in the Alpine valleys. The development of shared policy-relevant documents will favour the application of harmonized regulations for a sustainable use of biomass in the AR.
Addressing poor energy performance of public buildings is at the core of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive - EED and Energy Performance Building Directive - EPBD, but it is also becoming a growing financial issue in central European countries. In order to address this issue, eCentral will support key stakeholders in better understanding benefits of nZEB - nearly Zero Energy Buildings. The project will prove that the nZEB approach, although innovative, is an optimal and cost-effective solution for the renovation and construction of public buildings.
Integrated low carbon policies and sustainable energy plans in the Alpine Space region are affected by common challenges. The future energy system, relying on renewable energies, will challenge all governance levels. Therefore, cooperation actions between all governance layers from villages to countries can help to make the Alpine Space a successful partner in the EU “new energy deal” for energy efficiency and renewable energy. The IMEAS multi-disciplinary team of technical, sociological, territorial partners, will develop a consistent methodology and practical guidance for the creation and integration of roadmaps based on multi-level approaches to climate change mitigation, energy innovation potentials, economic structures and control of energy plans.
KeepWarm is an EU-funded project whose objective is to accelerate cost-effective investments in the modernisation of District Heating Systems (DHS). It brings together eleven project partners from a variety of relevant sectors from seven countries across Central and Eastern Europe.