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RENEWABLE ENERGIES FOR AFRICA: EFFECTIVE VALORIZATION OF AGRI-FOOD WASTES

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.

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

IA - Innovation action

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-LC-GD-2020

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Coordinator

UNIVERSIDAD DE JAEN
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 421 456,14
Address
CAMPUS LAS LAGUNILLAS SN EDIFICO B1 VICERRECTORADO DE INVESTIGACION DESAR TECN E INNOVACION
23071 JAEN
Spain

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Region
Sur Andalucía Jaén
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 610 899,31

Participants (28)

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