Acceleration new energy generation technologies by European cooperation

EERA launches three new joint energy research programmes, bringing together more than 1000 researchers from almost 100 research organisations across Europe in a collaboration aiming to accelerate the development of energy technologies.

Three new EERA Joint Programmes will be officially launched in the occasion of the SET-PLAN Event, taking place in Brussels on the 15th and 16th of November 2010 under the Belgian Presidency. The new Joint Programmes cover Carbon Capture and Storage, New Materials for Nuclear and Bioenergy. Following the launch of the first four JPs in June this year, the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) continues in its objectives of strengthening, expanding and optimising EU energy research capabilities through the joint realisation of Pan-European research programmes, as conceived in the Strategic Energy Technology Plan – SET-Plan.

The Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) provides a significant contribution to each of these programmes. In the Bioenergy programme, it contributes on technology development of various ways to produce biofuels. In the CCS programme, it participates in research on how to best capture CO2. It contributes to the programme of new Materials for Nuclear through the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG), a subsidiary.

EERA’s innovative programmes aim at identifying and bringing together national centres of excellence in the energy research sector, proactively engaging involved organisations in the identification of common needs and areas of research for the 2013-2020 programming period.

Since its birth, the EERA is working for better organizing research efforts across Europe, selecting technologies with the greatest potential and planning with major actors in the field how to target future funding.

Thanks to the three new joint programmes of research, more than 1000 researchers from almost 100 research organisations all over Europe are going to collaborate through the EERA Joint Programmes and activities, exploiting a total investment coming from the involved institutes of about 100 millions of Euros.

This innovative and open approach and the critical mass of investments behind it, is currently creating high interest even at international level in countries like US and Japan, where the EERA is today perceived as an important European counterpart to create synergies and collaborations with in the field of energy-related research.

The content of the new Joint Programmes will be presented by their Coordinators during a specific session organised in the framework of the SET-PLAN conference to an audience mainly composed of representatives from the research community, industry, policymakers, the financial community and international partners.

Mr Henrik Bindslev, Chairman of the EERA, will also report the state of play of the first four JPs already active as well as on the status of those under development.

The Brussels conference will represent a stage of discussion also with the other initiatives foreseen by the SET-Plan (European Industrial Initiatives, Universities’ involvement, International cooperation) and with actors interested in getting acquainted with the EERA specificities waiting for the first EERA annual Congress expected to take place at the beginning of April 2011.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Notes to Editor

1.    Further information about the SET-Plan conference is available at http://www.setplan2010.be/
2.    In the afternoon of the 15th, EERA Chairman, Mr Henrik Bindslev, will present the recent developments of EERA’s activities, the results achieved so far, as well as the new Joint Programmes currently under preparation.

For further information please contact:
Bas van Bree – ECN - vanbree@remove-this-part-ecn.nl
Massimo Busuoli – ENEA  – massimo.busuoli@remove-this-part-enea.it
or
Holger Ihssen  - Helmholtz Association – Holger.Ihssen@remove-this-part-helmholtz.de

EERA Executive Committee
The EERA Executive Committee is currently composed by 15 of the top Public Research Organisations dealing with energy in Europe, namely: the “Austrian Institute of Technology”, AIT (AT),  the “Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives”, CEA (FR), the “Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas2, CIEMAT (ES), the “Centre for Renewable Resources”, CRES (GR), the “Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands”, ECN (NL), the “Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development”, ENEA (IT), the “Helmholz Association”, HZ, (GE),  the “Institute of Power Engineering”, IEN (PL), the “Laboratorio Nacional de Energia e Geologia”, LNEG (PT), the “Paul Scherrer Institute”, PSI (CH), the “National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy”, Risø-DTU (DK),  the “Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research”, SINTEF (NO), the “UK Energy Research Centre”, UKERC (UK) and the “Technical Research Centre of Finland”, VTT (FI). The EERA Executive includes two European organisations as observers – the European University Association (EUA) and the European Heads of Research Councils (EUROHORCs).

 

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