“Faster, Higher, Stronger” is not only an inspirational call to start-ups and young entrepreneurs to develop and launch EO-based services in the market. It is also the reality experienced today at the interface of Earth Observation with Big Data: Higher – the volume of Earth Observation data has grown almost exponentially in the past few [...]
Pumped hydroelectric energy storage is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The energy is stored in the form of gravitational potential energy of water, pumped from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher elevation. During periods of high demand of electricity, the stored water is released through [...]
Current trends move to smarter turbines and plants. Smarter turbines are able to sense and optimize energy capture while knowing the state of the turbine’s health. For instance, the wind farm model developed by GE pairs 2-MW wind turbines with a digital twin modelling system that can assemble up to 20 turbine configurations at every [...]
Wind energy production through wind turbine functioning is being boosted by the manufacture of longer blades and taller towers. Turbines are evolving to more powerful, efficient, durable and cost-effective components. Research in important innovations will allow easier and cheaper turbine manufacturing, intelligent turbines will be created capable of collecting and interpreting real-time data, and wind [...]
Solar Water Heating Systems (SWHS) are the most widely used type of Solar Heating and Cooling Systems. These systems pass cold water through a pipe that goes into a heat exchanger. From the exchanger, solar collectors carry heat transfer fluid, which is heated from the incoming infrared radiation from the sun. Then, it is the [...]
The market of solar photovoltaics has experienced an important expansion in the last years. The costs of silicon solar cells have dropped significantly, so solar photovoltaics systems have become easily obtainable for house owners. New solutions and technologies are continuously being studied. Photo by Pixabay from Pexels Solar roofs are one of the most interesting [...]
Also known as solar thermal energy, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) has evolved to be used mainly for industrial or utility purposes, being gradually becoming an advantageous alternative to the PV. Currently, Spain and the United States are the world’s leading countries applying these technologies, with installed capacities of 2.2 gigawatts (GW) and 1.8 gigawatts (GW), [...]
For several decades, the EU has shown strong commitment to supporting Research and Innovation activities. These are funded through a wide range of instruments, most notably its framework programmes. With the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) on its way to approval, looking at past, current and future opportunities for start-ups and SMEs is worth a [...]
In December 2019, the European Commission (EC) presented the European Green Deal as their strategy and roadmap towards a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. It aims to tackle climate-environmental challenges, but also to transform the European economy and society towards sustainability and inclusiveness, protecting its natural assets as well as health and wellbeing of its citizens. [...]
