Specific programme for research and technological development, including demonstration, in the field of non-nuclear energy (1994-98)

Directorate-General For Research And Innovation European Commission

Description

JOULE III: Project synopses 1997-98
Nuclear energy and safety

Informations

• Publié par: DIRECTORATE-GENERAL-FOR-RESEARCH-AND-INNOVATION-EUROPEAN-COMMISSION
• Nombre de lectures: 8
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 8 Mo

Extrait

European Commission
Community Research
1997-98
Non-nuclear energy
JOULE III
EUR 18788 European Commission
Directorate-General
Science, Research and Development
Specific programme for
research and technological
development, including demonstration,
in the field of non-nuclear energy
(1994-98)
JOULE
Project synopses
1997-98
1999 EUR 18788 LEGAL NOTICE
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is responsible for the use which might be made of the following information.
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Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1999
ISBN 92-828-5255-5
© European Communities, 1999
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Spain
PRINTED ON WHITE CHLORINE-FREE PAPER Contents
Preface V
Introduction VII
Index of contracts by topic IX
Index of participating organizations XI
Index of contracts XLIII
Contract data 1 Preface
Non-Nuclear Energy (NNE) RTD under the Fourth Framework Programme (1994-98) covered re­
search (JOULE) and demonstration (THERMIE) projects respectively.
The prime objectives were to improve security of supply of energy and to reduce the impact of the
production and use of energy on the environment, in particular the emissions of C02 and other
greenhouse gases. Within this frame also other important EU objectives were addressed such as
strengthening the technological basis of the energy industry (e.g. employment and export poten­
tial), improving social and economic cohesion and contributing to cooperation with third countries
(in particular Central and Eastern European and developing countries). It also introduced a new
activity in support of an overall energy RTD strategy in the inter-disciplinary area of energy-en­
vironment-economy.
Projects under JOULE during FP4 covered a wide range of energy-related RTD areas, under the
four broad headings of energy research strategy, rational use of energy (RUE), renewable energies
and fossil fuels. In total, 461 shared-cost projects and 4 concerted actions have received support to­
talling 423 M€. The JOULE component of the Non-Nuclear Energy programme is characterised
by a strong participation of projects on renewable energy with an EU support of 249 M€ ; the bud­
get allocations for RUE, fossil fuels and energy strategy were 113,46 and 14 M€ respectively.
The quality of NNE research was good, but in some cases such as in RUE in buildings and in­
dustry, participation of industry and users of the technology should have been higher; this in par­
ticular to facilitate exploitation and dissemination.
Major technological changes occurred during the last four years. In photo-voltaic solar energy,
emphasis changed from silicon to thin layer PV, which has the promise of low cost solar electric­
ity. In the field of electric vehicles, battery driven EV experience increasingly strong competition
from fuel cell driven EV which have the advantage of a range which is comparable to that of petrol
driven cars.
The projects where selected by independent experts following 4 calls of proposals; on the average
30% of the proposals resulted in contracts. This "bottom up" approach led to a number of projects
which did not always allow a strategic and co-ordinated approach as sometimes important areas
of research were not represented. Projects were therefore monitored on an individual basis, all
though in a number of NNE areas added value was achieved by information exchange in contrac­
tors meetings.
The present synopsis booklet lists 268 projects funded under the last three calls for proposals and
the open call in 1997-98 (194 of 197sd under the first call for proposals of JOULE
in 1995-96 were summarised in a previous synopsis booklet published in 1997 (EUR 17356 EN).
The purpose of this publication is to inform the industrial and scientific community about the work
undertaken by JOULE. We also hope that, in providing this background, it will help to enhance
both the technological quality and the industrial participation of projects under the ENERGIE pro­
gramme, JOULE's successor under the Fifth Framework Programme (19982002).
it
Jean-François MARCHIPONT
Director Introduction
The Non­Nuclear Energy (NNE) Programme covered research (JOULE) and demonstration
(THERMIE) in the field of non­nuclear energy within the EU's Fourth Framework Programme
(1994­98).
Under the JOULE component of the programme there were four Calls for Proposals resulting in
the award of contracts. Synopses of the 194 R&D out of 197 projects selected in the 1995 Call for
Proposals were published in book form in 1997 (EUR 17356) and are also available on the World
Wide Web (http://www.cordis.lu).
This second booklet covers synopses of all projects selected under the remaining three Calls ­ the
"additional" Call of 1996 (specific to Renewable Energies), and the Second and Third Calls of
1997 and an open call including concerted actions.
These three Calls were targeted, each putting the emphasis on different aspects of the overall Work
Programme, and so each resulted in a group of contracts concentrating on specific sectors. The
1996 Supplementary Call d in 44 projects, all in Renewable Energies. The Second Call
generated 100 projects (44 in Rational Use of Energy, 17 in Fossil Fuels, 28 in Renewable Ener­
gies and 11 in Energy RTD Strategy) while the Third Call produced a further 120 (8 in Rational
Use of Energy and 112 in Renewables). 4 concerted actions were also funded as a result of an open
call (I in Rational Use of Energy, 2 in Renewables and 1 in Energy RTD Strategy).
This distribution is shown in Figure 1, while Figure 2 shows the budgetary commitment for each
Call and sector.
Figure 1 - JOULE III Contracts
KEY to Figures and 2
JOS3 Energy RTD Strategy
JOR3 Renewable Energies
JOF3 Fossil fuels
JOE3 Rational Use of Energy
Open Call ■
3rd Call ■
2nd Call D
Suppl. Call D
1st Call ■
Number of Contracts (Total: 465)
Non­nuclear energy ( 1994­1998) — JOULE III VII Figure 2 - JOULE ΙΠ Budgetary Commitments
300,00
250,00
Open Call ■
3rd Call D
2nd Call D
Suppl. Call D
1st Call ■
JOE3 JOF3 JOS3
(CA) : Concerted Actions
These further Calls brought a large number of new participants into the programme, more than
doubling the 1295 from the First Call to a total of 2953 .
Figure 3 - Nature of participants in JOULE III
KEY to Figure 3
BIG Industry - large
enterprise
CNT Consultants
EDU University/higher
education
EEIG European Economic
Interest Group
JRC Joint Research Centre
OTH Other
RMX Research organization -
mixed
ROR Research organization
RPR h n -
private
RPU Research organization -
public RPR
R0R" RMX OTH JRC 157 SME Small and medium (0,44%)
37 Π5 81 34 (5,3%) enterprise
(1,25%)(59%)(26%)(U5%)
The overall balance of participation remained quite similar throughout the Calls, with industrial
organizations representing about two-fifths of the participants, academia and research institutes
about one quarter each.
VIII Non-nuclear energy (1994-1998) — JOULE III