Physical sciences, Earth sciences

Drinking water is a limited resource threatened by contamination with pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and other micropollutants. An EU-funded initiative investigated new technologies for the bioremediation of drinking water resources contaminated with micropollutants.

EU-funded scientists are working to improve short-term forecasts for direct solar radiation and coming cloudiness. Reliable estimations will greatly benefit the solar energy sector, leading to decreased costs and massive deployment of renewable energy technologies.

European regions are exchanging know-how on alternatives to water and nutrient reuse and developing business opportunities with the help of an EU-funded initiative.

As renewable energy production continues to grow, EU researchers are investigating how to integrate it into the power distribution grid without affecting reliability or the quality of supply.

An EU-funded project is investigating the use of smart sensor networks for the water industry that are capable of energy harvesting.

Under an EU-funded initiative, a network of brokers worked together to identify novel uses of technology that were developed as part of the European fusion energy programme.

Increasing the thermal efficiency of fossil power plants is a promising way to decrease fuel consumption and emissions and minimise global climate change. A new steel alloy promises to do just that for major global benefits.

An EU-funded study of vortices, waves and mixing processes in idealised models has provided a greater understanding of mechanisms behind weather patterns, climate and other natural processes.

A recent project worked to improve translation of EU marine research results into policy outcomes. The team summarised existing research, suggested effective ways of using the data and produced various software tools.

Chinese and EU researchers have built a model to evaluate the effects of different greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction policies on urban citizens' health and well-being

An EU network is helping to overcome fragmentation in research and development facilities for thermochemical technologies by granting researchers access to high-level experimental facilities and services across Europe.

Power generation from a renewable resource like wind directly depends on the weather, which cannot be easily predicted. An EU initiative improved wind power and electricity demand forecasting in order to make wind power more valuable on the power market.

An EU team is helping Poland's Institute of Engineering develop clean energy technologies. Achieving knowledge-exchange through secondments, the project advanced the discipline in numerous important ways, while also upgrading equipment.

An EU research project has developed guidelines and tools to help restore Europe's river systems, in the face of multiple pressures on this important ecosystem.

Nearly zero-energy buildings are a major element of European climate policy, and by 2021 every new building has to meet this standard. Hybrid systems that are 100 % renewables will help transform the heating and cooling market, providing improved efficiency and carbon dioxide reductions.

An EU team has devised a cheaper industrial wastewater treatment process using just electricity. Prototype testing demonstrated effective removal of suspended particles and oxidisation of dissolved chemicals.

An EU-funded consortium is working on increasing the efficiency and reliability of coal-fired power plants in India and Turkey.

Recent research has identified the interplay between social, political and technical challenges associated with the complex and expensive process of radioactive waste disposal.

Researchers are reconstructing the climatic history of ancient coral reefs to predict the impact of climate change on modern-day reef ecosystems.

Preserving ecosystems and the biodiversity they support could reduce the emergence of infectious diseases from these natural systems. The current rates of biodiversity loss around the world could have major consequences for emerging diseases.

These days, extreme weather phenomena and terrorist attacks that debilitate electricity supply infrastructures are a reality. Researchers have created new tools to protect the EU against such attacks.

The HYDRALAB research network has improved access to expensive equipment and facilities for water-related research across Europe.

Sediments and landforms left behind by retreating glaciers can provide valuable information on the processes that shaped them. Reconstructing the behaviour of glaciers and ice sheets could provide important indicators of environmental change.

In an environmentally friendly waste cycle, researchers are creating compounds from urban refuse that decontaminate pollutants in other waste streams.

Climate change is set to increase the susceptibility of forest ecosystems to damage by alien invasive pests and pathogens. EU scientists investigated ways to counter this threat in order to prevent a decrease in primary production, and hence yield, as well as loss of vulnerable tree species.