Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ECOLOOP (ECOLOOP)
Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2025-03-31
ECOLOOP project develops and demonstrates a set of solutions to optimise the combination of different energy distributed sources (biogas, biomass, agri-PV, geothermal), meeting the local needs for electricity, heating, cooling, transport and waste and land management in rural areas, fostering regional development and creating benefits for farmers and foresters. The project solutions focus on promoting the reduction of carbon footprint in rural areas by means of the higher penetration of distributed renewable energy sources, self-consumption and an optimal agricultural/forest waste management, while creating positive effects in biodiversity and soil health and reducing the risk on groundwater contamination.
ECOLOOP project will move towards a circular economy in rural areas, focusing on agriculture and forestry sectors, contributing to job creation, gender equality, biodiversity and climate resilience and adaptation.
Following this approach, ECOLOOP objectives are:
• To optimise the production of biogas from agriculture and forestry wastes in situ (modular slow pyrolysis).
• To combine in an efficient and sustainable way different distributed renewable energy sources (biogas, biomass, agri-PV, geothermal), meeting the local needs for electricity, heating, cooling, transport and waste and land management in rural areas.
• To develop innovative renewable-based agricultural protocols and advance bioproducts to increase sustainability and circularity while creating positive effects on biodiversity and soil health and groundwater pollution.
• To foster regional development in rural areas while empowering farmers’ and foresters’ by means of innovative business models, financial instruments and policy recommendations.
All the benefits provided by ECOLOOP solutions will be demonstrated in 4 pilot sites in Spain, Estonia, Bulgaria and Slovenia, involving different forest and agriculture natural conditions (climate, soils), size and types of crops trees, management techniques, degree of mechanisation, geographic location and socio-economic factors, and considering the interaction of different types of energy sources.
ECOLOOP project will move towards a circular economy in rural areas, focusing on agriculture and forestry sectors, contributing to job creation, gender equality, biodiversity and climate resilience and adaptation.
Following this approach, ECOLOOP objectives are:
• To optimise the production of biogas from agriculture and forestry wastes in situ (modular slow pyrolysis).
• To combine in an efficient and sustainable way different distributed renewable energy sources (biogas, biomass, agri-PV, geothermal), meeting the local needs for electricity, heating, cooling, transport and waste and land management in rural areas.
• To develop innovative renewable-based agricultural protocols and advance bioproducts to increase sustainability and circularity while creating positive effects on biodiversity and soil health and groundwater pollution.
• To foster regional development in rural areas while empowering farmers’ and foresters’ by means of innovative business models, financial instruments and policy recommendations.
All the benefits provided by ECOLOOP solutions will be demonstrated in 4 pilot sites in Spain, Estonia, Bulgaria and Slovenia, involving different forest and agriculture natural conditions (climate, soils), size and types of crops trees, management techniques, degree of mechanisation, geographic location and socio-economic factors, and considering the interaction of different types of energy sources.
ECOLOOP holistic view, will enable the cross-integration of the three pillars, energy, biodiversity and SSH. To address this 3 pillars approach, the project will demonstrate 7 Key Exploitable Results:
KER 1: Efficient biogas production and conversion process (KER 1.1: Flexibility management to increase the profitability of slow pyrolysis) (WP3)
KER 2: Optimal combination of different renewable energy technologies to address the needs of agricultural or forest processes (WP3)
KER 3: Bioproducts to create positive effects in soil health, biodiversity and groundwater (WP3)
KER 4: Decision support tool for farmers and foresters (AI and big data analytics / IoT ecosystem) (WP4)
KER 5: Carbon sequestration tool calculation and renewable-based agricultural protocols (WP4)
KER 6: Economic and social support for farmers’ and foresters’ engagement as prosumers of renewable energy (WP6)
KER 7: ECOLOOP soil Living labs (LL) (WP2)
KER 1: Efficient biogas production and conversion process (KER 1.1: Flexibility management to increase the profitability of slow pyrolysis) (WP3)
KER 2: Optimal combination of different renewable energy technologies to address the needs of agricultural or forest processes (WP3)
KER 3: Bioproducts to create positive effects in soil health, biodiversity and groundwater (WP3)
KER 4: Decision support tool for farmers and foresters (AI and big data analytics / IoT ecosystem) (WP4)
KER 5: Carbon sequestration tool calculation and renewable-based agricultural protocols (WP4)
KER 6: Economic and social support for farmers’ and foresters’ engagement as prosumers of renewable energy (WP6)
KER 7: ECOLOOP soil Living labs (LL) (WP2)
The following table presents the ECOLOOP results level of maturity and their respective initial and final:
KER 1: Efficient biogas production and conversion process (KER 1.1: Flexibility management to increase the profitability of slow pyrolysis): ECOLOOP proposes innovative and sustainable production of biogas using locally sourced feedstocks from agroforestry wastes in rural areas.
KER 2: Optimal combination of different renewable energy technologies to address the needs of agricultural or forest processes
ECOLOOP will propose solutions to get the energy generated from the solar panels to be used for the consumption of the heat pump that will be used to extract the heat from the subsoil for heating, air conditioning and hot water for the Agri-PV structures, mushroom cultivation, chambers or refrigerators for the maintenance of fruit and hot water for toilets. This will improve crop production and eliminate temperatures that can affect the crop.
KER 3: Bioproducts to create positive effects in soil health, biodiversity and groundwater: ECOLOOP will propose different type of processes to reduce environmental and soil negative effects, and at the same to promote circularity by using the digestate locally generated.
KER 4: Decision support tool for farmers and foresters (AI and big data analytics / IoT ecosystem): ECOLOOP DSS will help end users of rural areas also to reduce energy consumption and GHG emission, increasing the use of green energy coming from distributed renewable energy sources (biogas, PVs, etc,).
KER 5: Carbon sequestration tool calculation and renewable-based agricultural protocols: ECOLOOP public carbon sequestration calculator will be based on the modelling of long-term empirical data from the network of forest plantation demonstration areas that considers all variables (tree species, soil type, fertilization etc.) and estimates the amount of CO2 fixed in forest plantation based on the modelling of scientific data.
KER 6: Economic and social support for farmers’ and foresters’ engagement as prosumers of renewable energy): In ECOLOOP, new support schemas and business models based on value stacking and energy community principle will be designed and proposed to the policy makers to stimulate the installation, development of micro biogas units and offtake of slow pyrolysis.
KER 7: ECOLOOP soil Living labs (LL): ECOLOOP-SOIL Living Lab will allow a co-innovation space, through participatory and transdisciplinary systemic processes in which all the participants in the project will generate the necessary information to improve soil quality and therefore approach more sustainable agriculture in a specific community.
KER 1: Efficient biogas production and conversion process (KER 1.1: Flexibility management to increase the profitability of slow pyrolysis): ECOLOOP proposes innovative and sustainable production of biogas using locally sourced feedstocks from agroforestry wastes in rural areas.
KER 2: Optimal combination of different renewable energy technologies to address the needs of agricultural or forest processes
ECOLOOP will propose solutions to get the energy generated from the solar panels to be used for the consumption of the heat pump that will be used to extract the heat from the subsoil for heating, air conditioning and hot water for the Agri-PV structures, mushroom cultivation, chambers or refrigerators for the maintenance of fruit and hot water for toilets. This will improve crop production and eliminate temperatures that can affect the crop.
KER 3: Bioproducts to create positive effects in soil health, biodiversity and groundwater: ECOLOOP will propose different type of processes to reduce environmental and soil negative effects, and at the same to promote circularity by using the digestate locally generated.
KER 4: Decision support tool for farmers and foresters (AI and big data analytics / IoT ecosystem): ECOLOOP DSS will help end users of rural areas also to reduce energy consumption and GHG emission, increasing the use of green energy coming from distributed renewable energy sources (biogas, PVs, etc,).
KER 5: Carbon sequestration tool calculation and renewable-based agricultural protocols: ECOLOOP public carbon sequestration calculator will be based on the modelling of long-term empirical data from the network of forest plantation demonstration areas that considers all variables (tree species, soil type, fertilization etc.) and estimates the amount of CO2 fixed in forest plantation based on the modelling of scientific data.
KER 6: Economic and social support for farmers’ and foresters’ engagement as prosumers of renewable energy): In ECOLOOP, new support schemas and business models based on value stacking and energy community principle will be designed and proposed to the policy makers to stimulate the installation, development of micro biogas units and offtake of slow pyrolysis.
KER 7: ECOLOOP soil Living labs (LL): ECOLOOP-SOIL Living Lab will allow a co-innovation space, through participatory and transdisciplinary systemic processes in which all the participants in the project will generate the necessary information to improve soil quality and therefore approach more sustainable agriculture in a specific community.