The future

European researchers and investors are focusing their efforts on those green technologies thought to have potential in the short to medium term. They include…

Passive houses

When the EU’s energy-efficiency directive was finally agreed last year, the energy- efficiency sector breathed a collective sigh of relief. After a five-year wait for EU legislation that would encourage home renovation and efficient appliances, and after much foot-dragging, EU lawmakers had at last come up with targets to set the EU on the road towards its goal of a 20% increase in energy efficiency by 2020.

The focus has been on the efficiency of buildings. Energy consumption in houses and buildings is responsible for 36% of all carbon dioxide emissions in the EU. Cutting this should be fairly straightforward as the technology and materials are available now. What is needed are regulatory or financial incentives to implement such changes on a large scale. Some progress has been made through the EU’s directive on energy performance of buildings, which, among other things, sets out rules for the allocation of energy- performance certificates.

The Renovate Europe Campaign, an initiative set up by EuroACE (the European Alliance of Companies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings), has for years been lobbying for greater ambition in this area. It wants the EU to triple the annual renovation rate of the EU building stock from the current 1% to 3% by 2020, and to ensure that the aggregate result leads to an 80% reduction of the energy demand of the building stock by 2050, compared to 2005.

The certification of ‘passive houses’, which use little energy for heating and cooling, has been one way to entice property-buyers to use energy-saving technologies. The practice, widespread in Germany and Scandinavia, uses a highly-insulated building shell as well as solar power.

Passive houses need 80 % less energy for heating and cooling compared to conventional buildings, and need 90% less energy than the existing building stock.

Fuel cells and hydrogen

Fuel-cells technology is one of the most promising areas of development, with huge implications for both transport and energy. Fuel-cell batteries can be an efficient conversion technology, and when paired with hydrogen as a clean energy carrier they have the potential to make huge reductions in carbon emissions.

The European Commission launched a public-private partnership for fuel cells and hydrogen in 2008, with a goal of speeding up the development of this technology and enabling commercialisation between 2010 and 2020.

The fuel cells and hydrogen joint undertaking is devoting €68.5 million this year to accelerate the market entry of fuel cells and hydrogen technologies. Fuel-cell technology has attracted the most attention for its potential in electric cars. Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands has been at the forefront of developing this technology for electric vehicles (see page 19).

Bio-based industries

While biofuel has made the headlines because of controversy over the potential effect of its cultivation on food and land use, bio-based technologies are being used for many different purposes. Bio-based products come from naturally- occurring, renewable resources such as crops, forests or biological waste. Their main advantage is that they are not petroleum-based, and are biodegradable and less toxic.

Soybeans, corn, flax and jute are some of the more common crops used for bio-energy, but they can also be used for other purposes, such as making clothing, lubricants or paper.

In July, the European Commission launched the €3.8 billion Bio-based Industries Initiative, as part of its Horizon 2020 research programme. It will focus on three areas: feedstock, bio refineries and bio products. The EU’s research budget will contribute €1bn to the initiative, with the rest coming from private investors.

One example of the kind of project that will receive funding is EUROBIOREF, a bio-refinery that handles many types of biomass and was set up in 2010 with €23 million from the European Union’s research budget. The Commission has highlighted the project as one that could increase in scale under the new funding programme. The fact that it is innovative and has set clear targets makes it a good candidate.

Waste-water treatment

The treatment of waste water is an area that has been given high priority by the EU. The technologies involved range from simple mechanical treatment systems to complex aquacultural systems that make use of nutrients and can convert waste to biomass. The EU’s waste-water treatment directive of 1991 sets out rules for the collection, treatment and discharge of waste water for both domestic and industrial sectors. It is credited with spurring the development of new technologies to help meet the directive’s requirements.

An example is membrane technologies, which use natural processes to separate waste from water without using heat, therefore using less energy. EU research projects administered by the European Commission have investigated and tested membrane technologies for municipal and industrial waste-water treatment, as well as for drinking water production.

Renewable energy generation

The EU has set a goal of sourcing 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. To meet this goal, three main technologies have been targeted for expansion: solar, wind, and hydro-electric power.

Given that hydro-electric has a long history of development in Europe and accounts for a large proportion of energy generation in some member states, solar and wind are the technologies most in need of development. The technologies exist but may need encouraging with the right policy frameworks and market environments. The solar panel dispute raised the question of whether the goal of increasing the use of such technologies should trump trade concerns (see page 17).

The EU has many policies to encourage the expansion of renewable technology, and each member state was required to draw up an action plan for deployment. European technology platforms have been set up for both wind and solar to encourage the co-ordination of research and commercialisation.

Air quality

The EU has repeatedly passed legislation aimed at reducing air pollution, and later this year the European Commission will produce a review of how these policies are developing. The EU is also funding research to improve and develop technology that can clean the air. The Commission designated 2013 as the ‘year of air’ and dedicated the annual European Mobility Week (16-27 September) to the theme of reducing air pollution from transport.

Technologies have already been developed to control the amount of nitrogen oxides, particulates, volatile organic compounds and sulphur dioxide in the air.

The quest is under way for more sophisticated methods. For example, Advanced Clean Air Technologies (ACAT), an American company, recently released a catalytic converter that can, it says, reduce particulate matter being released into the atmosphere by 44%. The demand for these new products is increasing as China attempts to tackle its enormous air-pollution problems.

The EU’s Horizon 2020 research programme and Innovation Union have targeted the development of air-cleaning technologies. But Janez Potoc?nik, the European commissioner for the environment, has identified air-quality technology development as an area that is lagging behind in Europe. An effort to boost innovation is expected to be a major part of the upcoming air-quality review.

A report published last year by the European Environment Agency found no noticeable drop in the proportion of people living in European cities who are exposed to excessive concentrations of particulate matter. There is a huge difference in air quality across the EU, with people in urban areas experiencing concentrations between 18% and 41% higher than EU air quality limits.