Obiettivo
Decarbonization of the heating and cooling sector with renewables is a crucial step for the EU to achieve its energy and climate goals. Although heat pumps are considered renewable technology, they are all (as well as cooling and air-conditioning devices) based on relatively inefficient vapor-compression technology that still uses environmentally harmful refrigerants. The Kigali Amendment mandates phasing out high-global warming potential refrigerants, such as hydrofluorocarbons, in the EU by 2036 and replacing them with eco-friendly natural refrigerants. However, natural refrigerants have their own limitations, including flammability, toxicity, high operating pressure, and lower efficiency in hot climates. Recently, elastocaloric technology has emerged as the most promising non-vapor-compression alternative. It is based on safe, environmentally benign solid-state refrigerants and may offer higher efficiency than vapor-compression.
The ERC PoC E-CO-HEAT project evolved from the ERC StG SUPERCOOL project, in which we explored fundamental aspects of elastocaloric technology. Based on this research, we have developed a fatigue-resistant elastocaloric regenerative cooling and heating device with breakthrough performance and an efficient drive mechanism. This device serves as the foundation for the E-CO-HEAT project, with the main objective to elevate the readiness level of elastocaloric technology in various areas, including technical aspects, customer engagement, business strategy and IPR. After fine tuning the elastocaloric device, it will undergo industry-relevant testing to achieve Technology Readiness Level 5 and IP protection of the most innovative solutions. These achievements will form the basis for disseminating the results to our (future) potential industry partners, elaborating a comprehensive business model and pursuing later-stage funding opportunities to further improve the readiness level of the elastocaloric technology and bring it closer to the market.
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept GrantsIstituzione ospitante
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia