Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ULTIMATE (ULTIMATE: indUstry water-utiLiTy symbIosis for a sMarter wATer society)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2020-06-01 do 2021-11-30
Circular economy, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, aims to design waste and pollution management with new value chains, by keeping products and materials in re-use and regenerating natural systems. Transformation of the traditional linear production-consumption-disposal chains to circular water systems is key to the success.
Industry accounts for circa 40% of all water abstractions in Europe, making it one of the largest water users next to agriculture and households. ULTIMATE aims to become a catalyst of a particular type of industrial symbiosis – henceforth termed “Water Smart Industrial Symbiosis” (WSIS) – in which water/wastewater plays a key role both as a reusable resource per se but also as a vector for energy and materials to be extracted, treated, stored and reused to stimulate new circular business arrangements.
ULTIMATE develops and demonstrates systemic inter-linkages focusing on four of the most important industrial sectors in Europe: the agro-food processing industry, the beverages industry, the heavy chemical/petrochemical industry and biotech industry. These industries have a significant water consumption and wastewater footprint and are at the heart of the SPIRE 2050 Vision on Industrial Symbiosis.
ULTIMATE supports the transition to WSIS by systematically addressing technical, digital, socio-economic, governance and business systems interdependencies, to
- showcase, promote and learn from successful high profile WSIS paradigms where water and industrial sectors collaborate to deliver innovative resource-efficient, circular solutions, with special emphasis on cross synergies, transferability and applicability of the WSIS concept in the EU and beyond.
- develop, optimise and demonstrate novel technologies for water reclamation and reuse (recovery, refining and reuse of wastewater from industries and municipalities), exploitation of energy and heat (extraction of energy, combined water-energy management, water enabled heat transfer, storage and recovery of heat), nutrient and material recovery/reuse (nutrient mining, extraction/reuse of high-added value exploitable compounds), and assessing the impact with life cycle and risk based tools.
- assemble, further develop and apply digital support tools to improve the design, control and operation of industrial symbiotic schemes.
- develop and demonstrate novel exploitation/valorisation schemes (value chains) for these resources, through a range of business models and symbiotic arrangements, linking them to ongoing investments and plans for industries and water utilities.
- design, promote and accelerate business transformation to WSIS, through active stakeholder engagement and innovation co-creation.
- reduce existing barriers for recovery, reuse and commercial exploitation of valuable water-related resources (incl. requirements and standards for reuse).
The setup of ULTIMATE is such that it supports uptake in and transfer of WSIS knowledge and experiences to other industrial environments, different regional and cultural settings, as well as the upscaling of current case studies. As such, ULTIMATE actively contributes to the green and digital ‘twin’ transition promoted by the EC in the EU and beyond.
Industry accounts for circa 40% of all water abstractions in Europe, making it one of the largest water users next to agriculture and households. ULTIMATE aims to become a catalyst of a particular type of industrial symbiosis – henceforth termed “Water Smart Industrial Symbiosis” (WSIS) – in which water/wastewater plays a key role both as a reusable resource per se but also as a vector for energy and materials to be extracted, treated, stored and reused to stimulate new circular business arrangements.
ULTIMATE develops and demonstrates systemic inter-linkages focusing on four of the most important industrial sectors in Europe: the agro-food processing industry, the beverages industry, the heavy chemical/petrochemical industry and biotech industry. These industries have a significant water consumption and wastewater footprint and are at the heart of the SPIRE 2050 Vision on Industrial Symbiosis.
ULTIMATE supports the transition to WSIS by systematically addressing technical, digital, socio-economic, governance and business systems interdependencies, to
- showcase, promote and learn from successful high profile WSIS paradigms where water and industrial sectors collaborate to deliver innovative resource-efficient, circular solutions, with special emphasis on cross synergies, transferability and applicability of the WSIS concept in the EU and beyond.
- develop, optimise and demonstrate novel technologies for water reclamation and reuse (recovery, refining and reuse of wastewater from industries and municipalities), exploitation of energy and heat (extraction of energy, combined water-energy management, water enabled heat transfer, storage and recovery of heat), nutrient and material recovery/reuse (nutrient mining, extraction/reuse of high-added value exploitable compounds), and assessing the impact with life cycle and risk based tools.
- assemble, further develop and apply digital support tools to improve the design, control and operation of industrial symbiotic schemes.
- develop and demonstrate novel exploitation/valorisation schemes (value chains) for these resources, through a range of business models and symbiotic arrangements, linking them to ongoing investments and plans for industries and water utilities.
- design, promote and accelerate business transformation to WSIS, through active stakeholder engagement and innovation co-creation.
- reduce existing barriers for recovery, reuse and commercial exploitation of valuable water-related resources (incl. requirements and standards for reuse).
The setup of ULTIMATE is such that it supports uptake in and transfer of WSIS knowledge and experiences to other industrial environments, different regional and cultural settings, as well as the upscaling of current case studies. As such, ULTIMATE actively contributes to the green and digital ‘twin’ transition promoted by the EC in the EU and beyond.
ULTIMATE brings together nine WSIS cases. The baseline conditions for all case studies were assessed successfully and pilot systems were designed. Two pilot plants are currently operational. The pilot plant of the case study Kalundborg (Denmark) produces fit for purpose water using a novel ultrafiltration membrane as a pre-treatment and the pilot plant of the case study Karmiel (Israel) consists of an immobilized high-rate anaerobic system (AAT) for biogas production. Most case studies will have their pilot plants operational in the coming months. The first factsheet of an Ultimate technology, Electrostimulated Anaerobic Reactor (ELSAR), was developed and integrated in the online version of the Technology Evidence Base.
A baseline strategy for demonstrating the WSIS digital tools has been established. Demo cases have been selected to implement and elaborate the ontology and information modelling, the Sherwood plots, the hybrid modelling tools and the final toolbox for assessing WSIS performance.
An engagement toolbox has been designed containing Communities of Practice (COP), co-creation, and Living Labs. COP and co-creation, set up in the case studies, stimulate business to business engagement and involve stakeholders in the learning process. Playbooks and co-creation protocols for each case study are now ready for use in community engagement. The first steps towards developing Living Labs were taken, by formulating criteria for the transition of the cases into (WSIS) Living Labs, to enable open innovation with industry.
A white paper describes corporate moral and ethical drivers and motivations for companies to adopt CE (and WSIS) practices and societal expectations regarding the adoption of such CE practices, based on large-scale survey results.
The synergy of the ULTIMATE case studies with pre-selected industries was explored, leading to a selection of the technically and economically most relevant synergies. Exploration of the value creation opportunities from shared use of water resources between industrial facilities, other economic activities and communities was initiated. Discussions have also started with two SME partners (GtG, Agrobics) on models for exploitation. Furthermore, an evaluation of the market feasibility of identified Key Exploitable Results was started, leading to an identification of the first markets and associated factors to be targeted. Sherwood Plot models were developed as a tool to generate a performance index upon which CE Finance contracts can be based.
A baseline strategy for demonstrating the WSIS digital tools has been established. Demo cases have been selected to implement and elaborate the ontology and information modelling, the Sherwood plots, the hybrid modelling tools and the final toolbox for assessing WSIS performance.
An engagement toolbox has been designed containing Communities of Practice (COP), co-creation, and Living Labs. COP and co-creation, set up in the case studies, stimulate business to business engagement and involve stakeholders in the learning process. Playbooks and co-creation protocols for each case study are now ready for use in community engagement. The first steps towards developing Living Labs were taken, by formulating criteria for the transition of the cases into (WSIS) Living Labs, to enable open innovation with industry.
A white paper describes corporate moral and ethical drivers and motivations for companies to adopt CE (and WSIS) practices and societal expectations regarding the adoption of such CE practices, based on large-scale survey results.
The synergy of the ULTIMATE case studies with pre-selected industries was explored, leading to a selection of the technically and economically most relevant synergies. Exploration of the value creation opportunities from shared use of water resources between industrial facilities, other economic activities and communities was initiated. Discussions have also started with two SME partners (GtG, Agrobics) on models for exploitation. Furthermore, an evaluation of the market feasibility of identified Key Exploitable Results was started, leading to an identification of the first markets and associated factors to be targeted. Sherwood Plot models were developed as a tool to generate a performance index upon which CE Finance contracts can be based.
ULTIMATE demonstrates innovative solutions for symbiosis between industry and water service providers. Technology demonstration, community building and market studies have been initiated to prepare the acceptance and uptake of novel approaches and technologies, contributing to reduce use of water from freshwater sources and to improve recovery and use of resources. LCA and LCC studies show the potential of full-scale implementation of WSIS concepts which provide the baseline for investment decisions and may mobilise investments and synergies with other funding instruments. The symbioses in ULTIMATE were assessed for their potential technical and economical exploitation, and two exploitation pathways have already been identified. The technologies to be assessed by technology verification schemes (incl. EVT) will be done in a number of workshops. A preliminary list of suitable technologies will be discussed with the technology providers.
The initiation of COP, co-creation, digital support tools, the inventory of drivers and societal expectations for adoption of CE practices, and market exploration and exploitation activities support the transition to CE at different scales, economic and social conditions, enhance water security, water use efficiency and improve resilience to climate change for EU Industries & Utilities. ULTIMATE builds on the main achievements of EIP Water and contributes to the objectives of water legislation, as well as with the European Green Deal. Active involvement of key ULTIMATE researchers in the ICT4Water and CIRSEAU clusters and in Water Europe Vision Leadership Teams supports the implementation of EU policies and UN SDGs.
The initiation of COP, co-creation, digital support tools, the inventory of drivers and societal expectations for adoption of CE practices, and market exploration and exploitation activities support the transition to CE at different scales, economic and social conditions, enhance water security, water use efficiency and improve resilience to climate change for EU Industries & Utilities. ULTIMATE builds on the main achievements of EIP Water and contributes to the objectives of water legislation, as well as with the European Green Deal. Active involvement of key ULTIMATE researchers in the ICT4Water and CIRSEAU clusters and in Water Europe Vision Leadership Teams supports the implementation of EU policies and UN SDGs.