The Kick-off meeting of the H2020 RES4LIVE project: “Energy Smart Livestock Farming towards Zero Fossil Fuel Consumption” was held via teleconference – to comply with the current COVID-19 restrictions – on October 22, 2020.
Supported by members of Research Executive Agency and DG AGRI of the European Commission, over 45 representatives of 17 partner organisations, from 8 countries (Greece, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, France, Sweden, Cyprus), started the work programme of the RES4LIVE project by building up the interactions between the project partners and setting the immediate goals.
Led by Agricultural University of Athens (Greece), the four-year project, which started on 1st October, has received €5 million funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme and will be a first attempt for 100% replacement of the fossil fuel consumption of the industrial livestock farming sector with the aid of cost-effective Renewable Energy Source (RES) technologies.
A selection of innovative adapted and commercial RES technologies, which will include – among others – PVT systems, modular heat pumps, biogas upgrading to biomethane, tractors appropriately retrofitting to be fueled with biomethane, smart control and energy management systems will be installed in 4 pilot farms in Belgium (swine), Italy (swine), Germany (dairy) and Greece (poultry) and tested for at least 12 months, serving as the means of de-fossilizing evidence and impact generation.
The dedicated, optimal designs combined with energy efficiency and other solutions will be proposed and evaluated technically, economically, environmentally and socially.
The overall objective is to provide advanced and cost-effective technologies to the livestock sector that ensure the sustainability of the farms’ operation and the superior thermal comfort of the animals for increased productivity, with minimum climate change impact, complying with and contributing to further implementation of EU’s main environmental legislation.
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The RES4LIVE project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under Grant Agreement No. 101000785.