Project description
Powering Africa with biomass wastes
The number of people without access to electricity in Africa had dropped in recent years, from 860 million in 2018 to 770 million in 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic is reversing this positive trend. In this context, the EU-funded REFFECT AFRICA project will develop innovative, reliable and adapted sustainable energy solutions based on the valorisation of biomass wastes from agriculture and the food industry through biomass gasification. Full-scale demonstrators will be built in Morocco, Ghana and South Africa to consider both urbanised and rural contexts on the continent. The project will propose solutions for on-grid and off-grid communities, such as the generation of renewable energy, its transmission and the use of storage systems.
Objective
Population without access to electricity is set to increase again in 2020 after 6 years of decline in Africa. The number of people gaining access to electricity in Africa has increased greatly: the number of people without access to electricity dropped from almost 860 million in 2018 to 770 million in 2019, a record low in recent years . Nonetheless, past progress is being reversed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to tackle this, the present proposal will demonstrate innovative, reliable and adapted sustainable energy solutions based on the valorization of biomass wastes from agriculture and the food industry through biomass gasification. REFFECT AFRICA will adapt and optimize these technologies to a wide variety of biomass wastes: olive mill residues, almond hulls and husks, millet, rice, sorghum or peanut wastes and sugarcane bagasse, among others locally available. Three full- scale demonstrators will be built in Morocco, Ghana and South Africa to consider both urbanized and rural contexts in Africa, on- and off-grid solutions, as well as different socio-economic backgrounds. The project will carry out comprehensive LCA and LCC of each supply chain and will consider the climate adaptation and mitigation potential of this technology compared to other technologies and solutions in the African social, economic and environmental contexts. REFFECT AFRICA will tackle the development of renewable energy sources, providing solutions for on-grid and off-grid communities, and their integration into the existing energy system. It will consider the generation of renewable energy, the transmission, and the use of storage systems.With the aim to closing all water- energy-food links, the project will work on obtaining biochar from the gasifier, and will be improved to provide a valuable fertilizer to local farmers. The demonstrators will include a robust but reliable water laboratory to provide their location with basic but often lacking testing services.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energy
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencespublic healthepidemiologypandemics
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesinfectious diseasesRNA virusescoronaviruses
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculture
- agricultural sciencesagricultural biotechnologybiomass
Keywords
Programme(s)
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
IA - Innovation actionCoordinator
23071 Jaen
Spain
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Participants (29)
10000 Rabat
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BEN GUERIR
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2046 KRAM TUNIS
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3000 Sfax
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81528 Aswan
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20040 Casablanca
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09000 Blida
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08197 VALLDOREIX
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Sunyani
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Participation ended
SAWLA
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500101 Port Harcourt
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Dakar
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4001 Durban
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4001 Durban
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00200 Maputo
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67115 MOROGORO
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256 Kampala
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35003 Las Palmas De Gran Canaria
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09001 Burgos
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
27612 Loxstedt
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3174 Revetal
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
06129 Perugia
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
56126 Pisa
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57123 Livorno
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
2795-089 Linda A Velha
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
21071 Huelva
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3000 Sfax
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00233 SAWLA
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