WAS

Using fungi and bacteria to clean European contaminated soils. LIFE InBioSoil develops a new biological technology to decontaminate soils directly in situ, without the need for excavation, using fungi and bacteria that transform pollutants into harmless substances. The project offers a sustainable, efficient, and low-impact solution to restore polluted soils across Europe and drastically reduce the emissions associated with traditional remediation methods such as excavation or thermal treatment, which are also costly, energy-intensive and often destructive to the soil. LIFE InBioSoil combines low-pressure injection, mycoremediation, biosurfactants, and predictive functional genomics to demonstrate that it is possible [...]

Resilient, autonomous, and intelligent water management solution for military units operating in diverse and challenging environments. SWIFT transforms water management in military field operations through disruptive technological innovations tailored to modular, mobile camps. The project replaces traditional, centralised, and energy-intensive methods—such as bottled water supply and reverse osmosis—with a circular, integrated system for water reuse and recycling. Focusing on advanced technologies like graphene-based filtration and photocatalytic processes, SWIFT ensures safe and clean water while reducing energy demands. It also emphasises the coupling of water and energy systems for improved efficiency and resilience, including demand-side energy management. [...]

Consolidation of reclaimed water as a safe and reliable source in Catalonia, improving the quality of water bodies and strengthening resilience against the impacts of climate change. DECIDEIX provides tools to safely plan direct and indirect potable reuse schemes, proposing and applying innovative strategies to increase public acceptance of reclaimed water use. The project improves and expands the tool developed in the SUGGEREIX project for decision-making in treatment and monitoring systems for reuse schemes. This updated and expanded tool will include both direct and indirect potable uses, as well as new protective values for reclaimed water [...]

Reduction of nitrate pollution, recovery of organic waste and environmental monitoring SERENA reduces nitrate diffuse pollution in ecosystems through the research of innovative technologies for the denitrification of groundwater, the recovery of organic waste and the development of systems for monitoring the concentration of nitrates in water. The project addresses the decontamination of aquifers through bioremediation and chemical reduction technologies, combined with research into denitrifying enzymes. In addition, the anaerobic co-digestion of slurry and vegetable water is explored together with the use of nanoparticles with the aim of mitigating the inhibition problems of current technology. SERENA [...]

Promoting sustainability in the European wine sector. WatEnerWine improves the efficiency of water and energy use in the European wine sector and other agri-food sectors, while promoting the use of renewable energy sources. The project develops a strategy focused on improving the support structures for the sustainable transition of the sector, including the creation of Green Transition Centers to advise wineries on the adoption of new technologies that optimise the use of resources such as water and energy. WatEnerWine also facilitates knowledge transfer within the industry through good practice guides and innovation catalogs, carrying out events [...]

Technological and innovative entrepreneurship program in Lleida. EMPRÈN BIO 4.0 promotes technological and innovative entrepreneurship as a driver of new sustainable business models in Lleida. The project boosts the economic and business fabric through the bioeconomy and its value chains: agri-food, biomaterials, bioenergy, biofertilizers, biofuels, bioproducts, bioplastics and the economic and social valorisation of ecosystem services. EMPRÈN BIO 4.0 supports entrepreneurs through specialised training and mentoring to promote the creation and growth of companies based on innovation, technology and new business models in the field of bioeconomy. The objective is to promote the valorisation of renewable [...]

New system for the treatment and removal of nitrogen oxide (NOx) from flue gases. NoNOx develops a new technology for the treatment of nitrogen oxides from industrial emission gases. Nitrogen oxides (NOx, including NO and NO2) are emitted by combustion processes in many industrial sectors (e.g., energy, thermal waste valorisation and steel industry). In terms of air quality, high emissions of NOx contribute negatively to the ecosystem and human health. Currently, industrial NOx emissions are treated by physical-chemical technologies (selective non-catalytic and selective catalytic reduction) that have high operational and capital costs and produce a great [...]

Application of biochar in regenerative agriculture. BIOSAL applies biochar in regenerative agriculture, promoting the circular bioeconomy and improving soil health. This initiative addresses significant environmental challenges, such as poor soil quality, dependence on chemical fertilisers and inefficient management of organic and forestry residues. Biochar, produced through the pyrolysis of plant residues, has the capacity to enhance soil quality, increase soil biodiversity and reduce the need for chemical inputs. Furthermore, it contributes to climate change mitigation by capturing carbon and improving soil structure. The project evaluates the properties of biochar and other organic amendments in compliance to [...]

Development of a substrate with properties similar to conventional substrates, made from the by-products of the agri-food industry as an alternative to peat and/or coconut fiber. AGRIVAL identifies which by-products and mixtures from the agri-food industry have similar properties to peat and coconut fiber in order to generate sustainable and efficient substrates. Once characterised, the new substrates will be used in crops of local agricultural producers, particularly in strawberry and tomato crops, to assess their technical, economic, and environmental application. Currently, peat and coconut fiber are key components in the production of agricultural substrates, as they [...]

Nutrient management strategies for regional ecosystems across Europe. GREENHOOD pioneers a comprehensive approach to address the global challenge of unbalanced nutrient flows in regional ecosystems, tackling climate change and biodiversity loss. Specifically, GREENHOOD reduces nutrient losses in soil, air and water; develops scalable solutions for nutrient management, and enables cross-sector collaboration across all stakeholders. The rebalancing actions are being tested in four different demonstrators, representing different cases of unbalanced regions and focusing on diverse emitting hotspots, including diffuse and point-based emitting sectors. As outcomes of the project, GREENHOOD will implement nutrient flow mapping by analysing and [...]

Building a water-smart economy and society. The CIRSEAU cluster consists of five sister projects granted within the Horizon 2020 call topic CE-SC5-04-2019 “Building a water-smart economy and society” demonstrating the feasibility of a water-smart economy and society, including B-WaterSmart, Wider Uptake, Rewaise, ULTIMATE and WATER-MINING. These five projects share the objectives of identifying alternative water sources, reducing water consumption, and increasing use efficiency, recovering valuable materials from wastewater, producing carbon-free water cycles, and increase their resilience in the face of climate change. The initiatives of the CIRSEAU alliance help mobilise water-related investments and synergies with other [...]

Production of vehicular biomethane from agro-food waste in rural areas. The LIFE CHANDELIER project demonstrates an innovative solution for the production of high-quality vehicular biomethane in rural areas, using agro-food waste. LIFE CHANDELIER addresses one of the great environmental challenges of our time: the mitigation of climate change through the efficient and traceable production of biomethane, a renewable fuel with a significantly lower environmental impact than traditional fossil fuels. The project focuses on the integration of advanced technologies to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of biomethane production, while ensuring the economic and environmental sustainability [...]

Turning agri-food waste and biomass into sustainable polymers. The Polymers-5B project develops novel alternative biological polymers synthesized from biobased monomers sourced from underexploited second-generation feedstocks, such as agri/food waste and biomass, obeying the food first and cascading principle. Polymers-5B brings together cutting-edge technologies and knowledge to develop and drive innovation in biocatalysis and green chemistry processes, generating novel bio-based polymers like polyesters and polyamides with pendent functional groups (e.g. hydroxy, carboxylic, amine, epoxy, thiol, etc.), polyphenols and polyfurans, which mimic fossil-based polymers properties, targeting improved biodegradability. These new polymers will be blended to provide valuable bio-composites [...]

Hybridization of smart energy networks, from components to system. The HIBRIDe project reinforces technological capabilities for sustainable energy autonomy, addressing the challenge of generating an innovative technological solution that allows optimization, hybridization, storage and network management for the integration of renewable energies. HIBRIDe responds to the challenge of optimizing the design and comprehensive management of a local energy network with the research and development of advanced digital tools for optimal planning and operation of hybrid networks; that is, with coupling between electrical and thermal energy, to maximize the use of primary energy from different renewable energy [...]

Artificial intelligence to reuse wastewater and nutrients in the agricultural sector. The iRAIN project investigates an innovative advanced water resource management system to optimize water resources applied in precision agriculture. iRAIN's system combines new treatments for water regeneration and nutrient recovery from urban wastewater with hybrid technologies based on monitoring, artificial intelligence and spectroscopy by fusing data from satellites, drones , agricultural robots, sensor networks and smart multispectral cameras. The initiative's work plan is divided into four activities: research into water regeneration techniques and nutrient recovery for agricultural use; research into advanced techniques for monitoring water [...]