Regional projects

These projects are funded bythe main world regions, i.e. the European Union, ECOWAS...

 

SophiA

(Sustainable Off-grid solutions for Pharmacies and Hospitals In Africa)

 

 

Funded by: The European Commission- Horizon 2020 and European Green Deal

Duration: 4 years (October 1, 2021-September 30, 2025)

Grant agreement ID: 101036836

Website: https://sophia4africa.eu/

 

SophiA will enable a growing number of African populations to access carbon-neutral energy for electricity, heating and cooling of food and medicine as well as safe and clean drinking water, thereby increasing the quality of life in a sustainable way. SophiA will develop and locally manufacture innovative, modular, flexible, affordable and efficient solar containers to provide the local population with:

  • Electricity supply in case of grid power failure
  • Safe and clean drinking water
  • Hot water; if needed steam
  • Cooling of surgical or intensive care unit
  • Cooling of medicine to +5°C – possibly food cooling
  • Low-temperature storage of blood plasma at -30°C
  • Ultra-low-temperature storage of sensitive medication (e. g. some Covid-19 or Ebola vaccines) at -70°C

 

SophiA’s multifunctional systems will use photovoltaic panels, solar thermal modules, water purification and natural low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants in a cascade refrigeration system incorporating highly efficient thermal energy storage. The project will design, build, install and monitor demonstrators in four rural health centres located in four different climatic regions: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Uganda and Malawi, i.e. where help is most needed,  offering sustainable solutions adapted to the African context and then transferable to the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. The SophiA consortium consists of 13 project partners from Germany, Switzerland and five African countries. 

 

The role of the IIR as leader of the Communication and Dissemination Work Package is as follows:

  • Develop and implement the communication and dissemination strategy of the SophiA project.
  • Develop the dedicated website and communication material.
  • Organise and facilitate SophiA workshops at IIR conferences, co-sponsored conferences and other events.
  • Facilitate the publication of academic papers in the International Journal of Refrigeration (IJR) and other high impact journals.
  • Disseminate SophiA news through the IIR’s digital communication materials and social media.
  • Promote SophiA at trade exhibitions, international meetings and conferences.
  • Create and disseminate the final outcomes of the project.

 

ENOUGH

(European Food Chain Supply to Reduce GHG Emissions by 2050)

 

Funded by: The European Commission- Horizon 2020 and European Green Deal

Duration: 4 years (October 1, 2021-September 30, 2025)

Grant agreement ID: 101036588

Website: www.enough-emissions.eu

 

The ENOUGH project aims to address all environmental concerns arising from the food sector. The main objective of ENOUGH is to support the EU’s sustainable farm to fork strategy by providing technical, financial and political tools and solutions to reduce GHG emissions and achieve climate neutrality in the food industry. To achieve this, the project has set itself the following main objectives:

  • The reduction of GHG emissions in the EU by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 1990 values, by implementing a zero carbon food chain strategy.
  • Providing European food businesses with guidelines, tools and TRL 5-7 decarbonisation technologies to achieve climate neutrality.
  • Reducing primary energy use in food systems while increasing energy efficiency.
  • Enhancing the sustainability of food systems. 
  • Raising awareness among all parties including end-users, stakeholders, policy makers, industry and investors, to generate interest in the project’s outcomes.

 

The project also aims to demonstrate promising technological solutions applied to the supply chain of four food applications (meat, fish, fruit/vegetables and milk/dairy) from production to the consumption point, in order to limit the emissions footprint, such as the replacement of fossil fuel boilers by CO2 heat pumps in the meat, fish and dairy thermal process. The project will also review EU policies and regulations, communicate with EU policy makers and provide them with guidelines for achieving climate neutrality in the food supply chain. The consortium is composed of 28 partners (9 EU countries, UK, Norway and Turkey) with extensive knowledge and proven expertise in the food industry, cold chain management and advanced refrigeration processes.

 

As the Lead of two Work Packages (Carbon Emission Baseline and Predictions; Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation), the IIR’s role is to:

  • Undertake and support assessments of GHG emissions for the food chain by establishing a baseline for 1990 to help forecast GHG emissions for 2030 and 2050.
  • Develop and implement the ENOUGH communication and dissemination strategy
  • Develop the ENOUGH website and communication supports
  • Organise and facilitate ENOUGH workshops at IIR conferences, co-sponsored conferences and other events
  • Facilitate the publication of academic papers in the International Journal of Refrigeration (IJR) and other high impact journals
  • Disseminate ENOUGH news through the IIR’s digital communication and social media channels
  • Promote ENOUGH at trade exhibitions, international meetings and conferences
  • Create and disseminate final outcomes of the project.