{"id":1884,"date":"2021-11-26T12:56:57","date_gmt":"2021-11-26T12:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/horizon.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=1884"},"modified":"2021-11-26T12:56:57","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T12:56:57","slug":"73-solutions-to-the-climate-and-biodiversity-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1884\/73-solutions-to-the-climate-and-biodiversity-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"73 solutions to the climate and biodiversity crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Research and innovation projects are turning green challenges into opportunities to spur Europe\u2019s recovery from the coronavirus crisis.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Wildfire preparedness and resilience, large-scale restoration of freshwater ecosystems, the world\u2019s biggest electrolyser for producing green hydrogen, community-based sustainable airports and healthy food for schools \u2013 this is just the tip of the iceberg of what we can expect from the 73 projects funded by the last big call under Horizon 2020: the European Green Deal Call.<\/p>\n

Over the next four to five years, these projects, selected from amongst an unusually strong field of applications, will bring concrete solutions to the climate and biodiversity challenges the European Green Deal aims to address.<\/p>\n

At the kick-off event on 27 October 2021, five projects funded under the European Green Deal Call presented their goals and the impact they will have on the everyday life of European citizens.<\/p>\n

Take the MERLIN<\/a> project, for example, which will take restoration of rivers, lakes, wetlands and streams across Europe to the next level.<\/p>\n

\u2018By restoring ecosystems, we can enhance biodiversity as well as the attractiveness and recreational use of our natural environments; but we can also boost natural water retention and flood storage capacity,\u2019 said MERLIN project coordinator Professor Daniel Hering. \u2018In that way, restoration can directly contribute to reduced flood risks, something that is high on people\u2019s minds after the dramatic floods we witnessed this summer.\u2019<\/p>\n

The project will involve relevant economic sectors as well as local citizens and stakeholders in the whole process.<\/p>\n

\u2018For each of our 17 case studies, we will create a board of citizens and stakeholders who will help co-design the measures we will implement,\u2019 said Professor Hering. \u2019We think citizens can greatly contribute to these measures, because nobody wants to live close to a polluted stream.\u2019<\/p>\n

Bringing local citizens and communities in as part of the solution will make them aware of the benefits they stand to gain from restoration and ensure that the activities are continued beyond the four-year scope of the MERLIN project.<\/p>\n

The same approach can be applied to airports. In its ambition to make airports more sustainable \u2013 from the ground operations to aviation fuel, noise and air emissions, as well as getting to and from the airport \u2013 the STARGATE<\/a> project will involve local communities surrounding Brussels Airport in several ways. The project will, for example, develop a solar panel farm in cooperation with a local community, enabling them to co-invest and benefit from the electricity that is produced.<\/p>\n

\u2018We think that these kinds of projects are the way forward,\u2019 said Arnaud Feist, coordinator of the STARGATE project and CEO of Brussels Airport. \u2018They allow the airport to be much better integrated with the surrounding communities, so they don\u2019t only have the impact of the airport but also the benefits of having a large economic activity next door.\u2019<\/p>\n

Food and fires <\/strong><\/p>\n

Ensuring food security, nutrition and public health is a cornerstone of the European Green Deal\u2019s Farm to Fork Strategy<\/a>. \u2018But research shows that for a societal shift to sustainable healthy diets to happen, it\u2019s not going to be enough to simply increase the availability and accessibility of healthy food,\u2019 said Amalia Ochoa. She\u2019s coordinating the SchoolFood4Change<\/a> project that looks at how changing food habits in schools can lead to healthier diets in society at large.<\/p>\n

\u2018We will for example look at the places children eat in, the canteens and classrooms: are these helping them to eat better food?\u2019 Ochoa elaborated. \u2018We are also looking at how children see and understand food, so food education: do they know where it comes from, how it\u2019s been grown, who the farmers are, what the nutritional value is?\u2019<\/p>\n

The project will involve parents, teachers, school chefs, producers, farmers and caterers \u2013 basically all the actors in the food value chain. \u2018This is the only way to ensure lasting change in people\u2019s diets,\u2019 said Ochoa.<\/p>\n

Society is at the core of all initiatives. Moving on from school canteens to the vulnerable forests of Europe, the FIRE-RES<\/a> project is focusing on increasing Europe\u2019s resilience to extreme fire events.<\/p>\n

The fires that raged across Europe this summer were unprecedented in size, speed, behaviour and impact, leaving even the most modern fire suppression systems all but helpless in response.<\/p>\n

\u2018This situation is not only jeopardising communities in southern Europe \u2013 it\u2019s a common threat all across Europe,\u2019 said deputy project coordinator Andrea Duane. \u2018All regions now need new portfolios, policies and guidelines to help them control extreme wildfires.\u2019<\/p>\n

As a first step, FIRE-RES will bring together forest owners, fire fighters, and community representatives from across Europe to share their experiences from extreme fire events. This will create the foundation for building new solutions \u2013 from better training of fire fighters to awareness raising campaigns, new technology and land-management approaches \u2013 that can decrease the impacts of fires and enhance forest restoration and adaptation.<\/p>\n

Producing green hydrogen at scale<\/strong><\/p>\n

A climate-neutral Europe by 2050 is at the heart of the European Green Deal. Becoming \u2018climate neutral\u2019 means reaching a net-zero emissions balance. This can be achieved by reducing greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible, as well as compensating for any remaining emissions.<\/p>\n

While we are familiar with renewable energies such as wind and solar power, there are many new solutions for decarbonising and diversifying the EU\u2019s energy system in the making \u2013 one of them is hydrogen, green hydrogen in particular.<\/p>\n

The REFHYNE II<\/a> project will build the world\u2019s largest polymer electrolyte membrane, or PEM, electrolyser to produce green hydrogen at scale.<\/p>\n

\u2018An electrolyser is a device that you use to split water using renewable power,\u2019 explained Graham Cooley, CEO of ITM and coordinator of the REFHYNE\u00a0II project. \u2018The product that you make with an electrolyser is green hydrogen. And green hydrogen is nature\u2019s net-zero fuel.\u2019<\/p>\n

At its base near Cologne, Germany, the project will develop a green hydrogen-based sustainable aviation fuel and scale up its production to increase volume manufacturing and drive down costs.<\/p>\n

\u2018Green hydrogen is an incredibly important element in the energy transition,\u2019 said Cooley. \u2018It\u2019s been noted around the world that you can\u2019t get to net zero unless you can decarbonise the industries that use natural gas. And this is a net-zero replacement for natural gas.\u2019<\/p>\n

Taken together, the 73 projects funded under the European Green Deal Call will set Europe on a path to taking responsibility for how our activities affect the planet. They will also provide the impetus, for young and old, to restore our relationship with the natural world.<\/p>\n

The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.<\/p>\n

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See also<\/h2>\n