Heat-to-Fuel will deliver the next generation of biofuel production technologies towards the de-carbonisation of the transportation sector. Heat-to-fuel will achieve competitive prices for biofuel technologies (less than 1Euro/l) while delivering higher fuel qualities and significantly reduced life-cycle GHG reductions. Heat-to-fuel will result in increased Energy production savings (greater than 20%) and enhanced EU's energy security by the use of local feedstocks which in turn ensured local jobs are preserved and increased. The benefit of combining technologies like in Heat-to-Fuel is, that the drawbacks of the single technologies are balanced. FT and APR are promising technologies for the efficient production of 2nd generation fuels. But currently the economic border conditions don't allow the implementation, similar to many other biofuel technologies. The radical innovation of combining an APR with a FT reactor is the basis to overcome this barrier. The large organic wastes (from HTL or other streams) can be conveniently treated with APR to produce H2. Both dry and wet organic wastes can be integrated, with mutual advantages, i.e. steam production for gasification, HTL and APR preheating; FT heat cooling without external utilities. Using the synergies between these technologies maximizes the total process efficiency. Heat-to-fuel aims will be met thanks to the diversification of the feedstock for biofuels production, reducing the supply costs and upgrading the efficiencies of promising and flexible conversion.
Heat Roadmap Europe 4 (HRE4) will create more certainty in relation to the long-term changes that are necessary to decarbonise the European heating and cooling sector. Through this HRE4 will enable new policies and prepare the ground for new investments.
The combination of local demand and resource mapping and integrated energy system analysis shows both the local nature of heating and cooling, but also the impact that heating and cooling has on our national energy systems. This allows us to develop and assess scenarios that are inherently local, and on a national and European scale.
HRE studies the heating and cooling sector in Europe, and quantifies the effects of increased energy efficiency on both the demand and supply side in terms of energy consumption, environmental impact, and costs. By looking at the 14 largest consumers of heating and cooling in Europe, we will develop country-specific Roadmaps, but will also be able to discuss the future of 90% of European heating and cooling demands.
So far, Heat Roadmap Europe studies have concluded that energy efficiency in the heating sector, which primarily includes heat savings in buildings, district heating in urban areas, and heat pumps and solar thermal in rural areas, will result in a cheaper, more local, and far more renewable heating and cooling sector in the future.
Heat Roadmap Europe 4 is mapping and modeling the heating and energy systems of the 14 largest users of heat in the EU, to develop new policies at local, national, and EU level to ensure the uptake of efficient, sustainable and affordable heating and cooling solutions.
Fraunhofer ISI will contribute with applying its bottom-up model FORECAST (www.forecast-model.eu) for a detailed profiling of today's heating and cooling demand in Europe as well as for simulating its future evolution. A particular focus will lie on the potentials and costs for heat savings in both buildings and industry.
To reach the goals of improving the efficiency of CHP systems while simultaneously widening the biomass feedstock base as well as increasing operational flexibility, the project aims to develop a full scale technology demonstrator of a hybrid power plant using biogas as main fuel in lab environment. A combined hybrid heat and power plant combines a micro gas turbine (MGT) and a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC).
The focus of the technology demonstration plant is to prove the functional capability of the plant concept, followed by detailed characterization and optimization of the integration of both subsystems. The main objective is to move the technology beyond the state of the art to TRL 4.
Electrical efficiencies of more than 60% and total thermal efficiencies of more than 90% are intended to reach at base load conditions. An operational flexibility ranging from 25% to 100% electric power should be achieved. The emission levels should not exceed 10 ppm NOx and 20 ppm CO (at 15% vol. residual oxygen). The system should allow the use of biogas with methane contents varying from 40-75%, thus covering the biogas qualities from the fermentation of the entire biomass feedstock range.
To achieve the objectives the subsystems MGT and SOFC including their subcomponents have to be adjusted and optimized by a multidisciplinary design approach using numerical and experimental measures to ensure a proper balance of plant. In addition an integrated control system has to be developed and implemented to achieve a reliable operation of the coupled subsystems.
A detailed analysis of different European markets, economic and technical constraints in terms of biogas production potentials will clarify the regional suitable sizes and attractive performance conditions of the power plant system. To identify cost reduction potentials a thermo-economic analysis will be performed. Here, an internal rate of return (IRR) of the system of higher than 15% should be achieved over a 20 years.
The project aims at the development of a new fuel flexible and highly efficient residential biomass heating technology (20 - 130 kW). It is based on the successful UleWIN wood chip and pellet boiler concept consisting of a fixed-bed updraft gasifier directly coupled with a Low-NOx gas burner and a hot water boiler, which shall be further developed for fuel flexible operation (utilisation of forest residues, SRF, miscanthus, olive stones, nut shells and agro-pellets). Moreover, a compact flue gas condensation system with integrated condensate neutralisation, also capable to operate with highly acidic flue gases from agricultural fuel combustion, shall be developed to increase the efficiency of the whole system up to 110% (related to the fuel NCV). An advanced control system as well as measures for improved system integration shall additionally increase the annual utilisation rate up to 95%. It is expected to achieve at the end of the project a TRL of 5.
These objectives are very relevant to the work programme since they focus on highly efficient and fuel flexible residential heat production at almost zero CO and OGC emissions, by 50% reduced NOx emissions (compared with conventional boilers) as well as ultra-low PM emissions below 13 mg/MJ (even when utilising K-rich fuels). Since this shall be reached by primary measures only, fuel flexible heat generation will be possible at reduced heat generation costs in comparison to present heating systems.
To fulfil these goals an overall methodology shall be applied which is divided into a technology development part (based on process simulations, computer aided design of the single units, test plant construction, performance and evaluation of test runs) as well as a technology assessment part covering risk, techno-economic, environmental and overall impact assessments, market studies regarding the possible potentials for application of the new technology as well as dissemination activities.
Wie kann ich meinen Energieverbrauch durch Verhaltens- und technische Änderungen positiv beeinflussen? 'enffi motiviert Menschen, ihren verhaltensbedingten Energieverbrauch im Privathaushalt zu reduzieren. Ein innovativer Algorithmus normalisiert verschiedene Wohnsituationen; Differenzen im Verbrauch sind damit auf das Verhalten der Bewohner zurück zu führen. Den Nutzenden der App wird es so ermöglicht, ihre Strom- und Wärmeeffizienz sozial zu kontextualisieren und zu vergleichen. Ineffiziente Gewohnheiten können identifiziert und nachhaltige Motivation für effizientes Verhalten generiert werden. Die Nutzenden sparen Geld, reduzieren den Ausstoß klimaschädlicher Emissionen und leisten so einen persönlichen Beitrag zur Energiewende. Grundlage hierfür ist eine gamifizierte Umgebung, in der Erkenntnisse aus Motivationspsychologie, Umweltpsychologie und Lerntheorie neuartig angewandt werden. Ziel in der einjährigen Förderphase ist es, einen tragfähigen Businessplan zu erstellen und ein marktfähiges Produkt zu entwickeln, welches profitabel in den B2C und B2B Markt eingeführt wird. Das Produkt wird mit 'Agile-Scrum Methodik entwickelt. Daher ist der Arbeitsplan und das Produkt modular aufgebaut. Die Entwicklung bezieht direktes Kundenfeedback mit ein. Zunächst wird eine Prototypenversion der Module entwickelt und diese ersten Nutzern in einer Android Beta-Veröffentlichung zur Verfügung gestellt. Gleichzeitig werden die Nutzenden durch Marketingmaßnahmen an das Produkt und die Marke 'enffi gebunden. Mit Beginn der Heizsaison 2015 wird ein erster Android-'Release zeitgleich mit öffentlichen Launch--Events in Kooperation mit den B2B--Partnern durchgeführt. Die Weiterentwicklung der Module mit weiteren Funktionen erfolgt dann in mehreren Sprints, jedoch zeitgleich für beide Mobilplattformen und führen jeweils zu einem neuen 'Release der App.