JOULE II: Results of first call for proposals
A total of 679 proposals were submitted to the Commission of the European Communities in response to the first JOULE II call for proposals issued in September 1991. Projects put forward involved 2,064 proposers seeking a total requested Community funding of over ECU 941 million. After the selection procedure and the subsequent contract negotiations, 210 proposals were retained. The finalized contracts involve an overall Community financial contribution of ECU 130 million. Project descriptions plus listings of participants and contact addresses will be available shortly. JOULE II is a development and extension of the JOULE I programme on non-nuclear energies and rational use of energy (1989-1992). The general objective of the programme is to contribute to the development of new energy options that are economically viable and environmentally safer, and to the development of energy saving technologies. Specific programme objectives addressed are: - To guarantee the supply of energy and to improve the quality of life, taking account of energy-environment interactions; - To adapt and modernise certain sectors (industry, transport, housing, tertiary and agriculture) by offering cleaner, cheaper, safer and more efficient energy technology; - To further the development of the technical ability and adaptability of Community industries in the field of energy technologies, via the promotion of innovation, to ensure high competitiveness by means of research leading to the definition of norms and standards; - To take account, in the developing of energy technologies, of the needs of less favoured regions and developing countries (particularly innovative exploitation and rational management of energy resources, and technology transfer). Technical areas set out in the work programme, with indicative allocations of expenditure, are as follows: - Area I: Analysis of strategies and modelling (analysis of strategies, development of new methodologies and models addressing issues related to energy, the environment and the economy), ECU 8 million; - Area II: Minimum emission power production from fossil sources (energy production from fossil fuels using advanced technologies, reduction of emissions), ECU 32 million; - Area IIIA: Renewable Energy Sources (the solar house, renewable power plants, biomass, renewable energies for rural electricity, local fuel and water), ECU 51 million for areas IIIA and IIIB combined; - Area IIIB: Geothermal Energy and Deep Reservoir Geology (geothermal energy topics, improved knowledge and data on deep reservoir geology); - Area IV: Energy Utilization and Conservation (large and small fuel cells, technologies for energy saving in industry and buildings, energy efficiency in transport including suitable substitutes for conventional fuels), ECU 47 million. A second JOULE II call for proposals concerning Area I was published in OJ No C 201 of 8.8.1992 with a closing date of 18 September 1992. The response to this call is at present being analysed.