Objective
The environmental benefits of switching from liquid to natural gas fuelling for road vehicles are now well recognised; prospects of realising these benefits are increasing through national Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) programmes. To maximise their environmental benefit and hence improve the quality of life in Europe there is a need to facilitate and accelerate the growth of NGV usage throughout the Community in a trans national approach. Three main issues need to be resolved: the space and weight intrusion of the cylinders required for high pressure on board storage; the high costs of refuelling the present range of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles; and the need to operate with natural gases distributed throughout Europe.
The LEVINGS proposal seeks to address these issues by development and demonstration of an NGV with integrated low pressure storage of natural gas, and by development of refill options that permit both refuelling at lower cost and with gases as distributed through European natural gas grids. Development of advanced ANG storage techniques will ensure fuel carrying capacity is maintained whilst increasing safety by the reduction in storage pressure from 20 MPa (200 bar) to 3.5 MPa (35 bar).
The development of low pressure storage will permit the replacement of heavy, bulky, CNG cylinders by innovative conformable steel tanks that can be integrated into the vehicle's structure. This configuration will result in improved vehicle ergonomics by reducing or eliminating the serious space intrusion of the cylinders in present NGV
installations. Paramount in the project objectives is to demonstrate improved vehicle safety through advanced design, manufacturing and integration methods.
This technically ambitious programme will be undertaken by the LEVINGS Consortium; this comprises a fuel supplier and large scale fleet operator (British Gas), a vehicle designer (Fiat Research Centre), both of whom would be first users of the LEVINGS vehicles, an international steel manufacturer and developer (British Steel), an SME that is a major contractor in the automotive industry (IETA), an internationally known manufacturer of shaped active carbons (Sutcliffe Speakman Carbons), an applied research organisation (TNO), a non profit making technical and scientific organisation (ISQ), and a higher learning institution (University of Gent).
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering vehicle engineering automotive engineering
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels fossil energy natural gas
- social sciences psychology ergonomics
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
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.
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.
Coordinator
LE11 3GR Loughborough - Leicestershire
United Kingdom
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.