Content:

ERE – Energy, Resources and the Environment

ERE1.1 – Energy, Resources & the Environment

EGU2020-20237 | Displays | ERE1.1

EDGAR v5.0: a tool to evaluate the influence of technology incorporation and regulatory frameworks on global greenhouse gases and air pollutant emissions.

Gabriel David Oreggioni, Fabio Monforti-Ferraio, Monica Crippa, Edwin Schaaf, Diego Guizzardi, Marilena Muntean, Marlene Duerr, and Elisabetta Vignati

During the last 30 years, the global energy sector has undergone through significant transformation, delivering a considerably larger electricity output whilst attempting to reduce air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions. The international community has tackled this challenging dilemma by implementing different kind of policies and by encouraging several types of technological changes; including the partial replacement of coal and liquid fossil fuels by low carbon energy vectors (natural gas and renewable sources), the incorporation of more efficient power trains (natural gas fired combined cycles and supercritical coal fired plants) and the deployment of primary and secondary treatment processes for limiting air pollutant concentration in flue gases.
EDGAR is a unique global emission database due to its high sectorial, technological and geographical coverage; reporting greenhouse and air pollutant emission time series (1970-nowadays) in a very detailed way. Research is currently being conducted, aimed at updating the energy conversion and end of pipe processes so that the quantified emissions can better reflect the latest global and regional changes. By using EDGAR new data, it is possible to evaluate the impact of technology and regulatory frameworks on air pollutant emissions as well as to identify possible co-benefits and trade off associated with climate change mitigation policies for the energy industries.
This work is intended to study the drivers for greenhouse and air pollutant emission trends within this sector - both in large emitting developed and developing economies; by focusing on the role of  demand increase, on the penetration of non-fossil sources and specially on the incorporation of more efficient power islands, combustion and air pollutant abatement units.

How to cite: Oreggioni, G. D., Monforti-Ferraio, F., Crippa, M., Schaaf, E., Guizzardi, D., Muntean, M., Duerr, M., and Vignati, E.: EDGAR v5.0: a tool to evaluate the influence of technology incorporation and regulatory frameworks on global greenhouse gases and air pollutant emissions., EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-20237, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20237, 2020.

EGU2020-20072 | Displays | ERE1.1

Vitamin C as a green high-performance CO2 scrubber

Linda Pastero, Alessandra Marengo, Davide Bernasconi, Guido Scarafia, and Alessandro Pavese

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and a natural component of the atmosphere, essential for plant life. Natural reservoirs (oceans, soils, etc.) regulate its geochemical cycle, but the anthropic activity disturbs this balance. In order to control the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, many synergic CO2 capture and sequestration methods (Aresta and Dibenedetto, 2007; Bachu, 2008; Baker et al., 2007; García-España et al., 2004; Lively et al., 2015; Rosa et al., 2018; Stenhouse et al., 2009)coupled with the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, have been proposed.

In an early paper (Pastero et al., 2019), we proposed the ascorbic acid (vitamin C) as a high-performance and green CO2 scrubber. We hypothesized a red-ox reaction involving calcium ascorbate as the sacrificial reductant. As a result, the reduction of carbon from C(IV) to C(III) leads to the formation of oxalic acid and, in the presence of calcium as the counterion, to the precipitation of calcium oxalate. Calcium oxalate is an almost insoluble salt that doubles the capture efficiency with respect to calcium carbonate. The reaction’s performance in terms of carbon capture efficiency was evaluated under different experimental conditions. Depending on the experimental setup, the yield of the capture and sequestration reaction reaches very high values, up to 80%. The return of the system depends on the total surface exposed to the reaction, the CO2/vitamin C mixing mode, the presence of oxygen in the reaction vessel, and the stoichiometry of the solution.

The products of the reaction are limited to calcium oxalate dihydrate (weddellite), while no monohydrate (whewellite) or trihydrate (caoxite) oxalates were detected. The chemistry of the system was intentionally kept far from the stability field of the carbonates to avoid the co-precipitation of both calcium carbonate and oxalate and, accordingly, the competition between the two phases on the carbon capture process.

The technological finalization of a carbon capture system exploiting this reaction will trustfully increase further the effectiveness of the method, pointing towards the zero CO2 emission.

 

References

Aresta, M., Dibenedetto, A., 2007.  Dalt. Trans. 0, 2975. https://doi.org/10.1039/b700658f

Bachu, S., 2008.  Prog. Energy Combust. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecs.2007.10.001

Baker, J.M., Ochsner, T.E., Venterea, R.T., Griffis, T.J., 2007. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2006.05.014

García-España, E., Gaviña, P., Latorre, J., Soriano, C., Verdejo, B., 2004.  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 126, 5082–5083. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja039577h

Lively, R.P., Sharma, P., Mccool, B.A., Beaudry-Losique, J., Luo, D., Thomas, V.M., Realff, M., Chance, R.R., 2015. Biofuels, Bioprod. Biorefining 9, 72–81. https://doi.org/10.1002/bbb.1505

Pastero, L., Curetti, N., Ortenzi, M.A., Schiavoni, M., Destefanis, E., Pavese, A., 2019. Sci. Total Environ. 666, 1232–1244. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2019.02.114

Rosa, G.M. da, Morais, M.G. de, Costa, J.A.V., 2018. Bioresour. Technol. 261, 206–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2018.04.007

Stenhouse, M., Arthur, R., Zhou, W., 2009. In: Energy Procedia. pp. 1895–1902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2009.01.247

How to cite: Pastero, L., Marengo, A., Bernasconi, D., Scarafia, G., and Pavese, A.: Vitamin C as a green high-performance CO2 scrubber, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-20072, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20072, 2020.

As climate change issues arise and become a global concern, to reduce carbon emissions has become an urgent issue to respond to. Therefore, the application of renewable energy plays more and more important roles in the energy domain nowadays, which may also bring significant impacts to the low-carbon electricity market transition. With the advantages of developing renewable energy, the Taiwan government anticipates achieving the goal of reaching 20% renewable energy in electricity structure by 2025. Moreover, Taiwan has carried out the most vigorous amendment on the Electricity Act in history to open the electricity market so that more stakeholders can participate in it to propel energy transition. Since the UK is the lead in this field, it is worth investigating. This paper takes the UK as a case study to analyze its evolution in recent decades after the deregulation of its electricity market from the retail side perspective. It expects to explore how the transition drove actors to empower their roles, or even create new roles and responsibilities, and engage in the low-carbon electricity market transition pathway. This paper expects the UK case as a great reference for Taiwan, which echoes the current scenario in Taiwan with the potential to deliver further insights.

How to cite: Lu, Y.-T. and Lin, T.-L.: Low-carbon Electricity Market Transition in the UK: A Multi-level Perspective Analysis, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-17841, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-17841, 2020.

EGU2020-9246 | Displays | ERE1.1

Estimating fuel consumption of cars based on movement data and its sensitivity to car and movement specific properties

Martin Pontius, Benedikt Gräler, Albert Remke, and Arne de Wall

The transportation sector is responsible for approximately 20 percent of global CO2 emissions of which most of them are produced by road traffic. Moreover, emissions are rising and are rising faster than in other sectors. Reducing these emissions will be crucial to reach the goals of the 2016 Paris agreement. Efficient reduction strategies and their monitoring rely on broad and exact data about passenger car fuel consumption and emissions.

To encourage people to drive eco-efficiently and to collect traffic data the open Citizen Science Platform enviroCar (https://enviroCar.org) had been initiated. Data from the internal vehicle's communication bus can be sent to the enviroCar Android App via an OBD-Bluetooth adapter and the data can be anonymised and uploaded as open data to the enviroCar server. Fuel consumption - and thus also emissions - are conventionally calculated from motor-specific data like mass-air-flow. One drawback of this approach is that users need to have an OBD adapter installed to get these specific data. An easier and broader use of the app is achieved by basing the calculation of energy consumption on movement data only which can be measured by GPS sensors in many mobile phones.

We present such a purely GPS-based approach and means to assess the sensitivity of the resulting fuel consumption to parameters of the vehicle and the movement pattern. The analyzed vehicles and track patterns show a high degree of heterogeneity regarding size and weight of vehicles and driven speed, acceleration and road gradient. In total, 51 tracks from the open enviroCar server covering 7600 km within 95 hours were analyzed.

The calculation is done using simple physical laws and is very lightweight, yet the fuel consumption values are relatively precise when compared to the OBD data based approach. The differences of fuel consumption per 100 km are typically below 1 l. Only for tracks which include a significant amount of stop-and-go characteristics, the observed discrepancies exceed 1 l.

The approach can also be adapted to electric cars as it is load-based. In this case, a recuperation model has to be included and the model to calculate efficiency has to be adapted.

How to cite: Pontius, M., Gräler, B., Remke, A., and de Wall, A.: Estimating fuel consumption of cars based on movement data and its sensitivity to car and movement specific properties, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-9246, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-9246, 2020.

EGU2020-11727 | Displays | ERE1.1

ROBOMINERS - Resilient Bio-inspired Modular Robotic Miners

Balazs Bodo, Luis Lopes, Claudio Rossi, Giorgia Stasi, Stephen Henley, Vitor Correia, Tobias Pinkse, Alicja Kot-Niewiadomska, Jussi Aaltonen, Nikolaus Sifferlinger, Nelson Cristo, Norbert Zajzon, Gorazd Zibret, Janos Horvath, and Maarja Kruusma

The Horizon 2020 ROBOMINERS project (Grant No. 820971) studies the development of an innovative technology for the exploitation of small and difficult to access mineral deposits. A bio-inspired reconfigurable robot with a modular nature will be the target of the research efforts. The goal is to develop a prototype that will be able to mine under different conditions, such as underground, underwater or above water. ROBOMINERS’ innovative approach combines the creation of a new mining ecosystem with novel ideas from other sectors, particularly robotics. This covers both abandoned, currently flooded mines not accessible anymore for conventional mining techniques; or places that have formerly been explored, but whose exploitation was considered as uneconomic due to the small-size of deposits, or their difficulty to access. 

The ROBOMINERS concept follows a 5-step approach: 1) Robot parts (modules) are sent underground via a borehole; 2) Self-assemble to form a fully functional robot; 3) Robot detects the ore deposit via sensing devices; 4) Using ad-hoc production devices, it produces slurry that is pumped out; 5) Ability to re-configure on-the-job. 

Specifics include: 1) Construction of a fully functional modular robot miner prototype following a bioinspired design, capable of operating, navigating and performing selective mining; 2) Designing a mining ecosystem of expected future upstream/downstream raw materials processes via simulations, modelling and virtual prototyping; 3) Validation of all key functions of the robot-miner to a "Technology Readiness Level" of TRL4; and  4) To use the prototypes to study and advance future research challenges concerning scalability, resilience, re-configurability, self-repair, collective behavior, operation in harsh environments, selective mining, production methods, as well as for the necessary converging technologies on an overall mining ecosystem level. These specific goals will deliver a new mining concept, proven in laboratory conditions, capable of changing the scenario of mineral exploitation.

Powered by a water hydraulic drivetrain and artificial muscles, the robot will have high power density and environmentally safe operation. Situational awareness and sensing will be  provided by novel body sensors, such as artificial whiskers that will merge data in real-time with real-time production mineralogy  sensors that, together with specific production tools, will enable selective mining, optimising the rate of production and selection between different production methods. The produced mineral concentrate slurry is pumped to the surface, where it will be processed. The waste slurry could then be returned to the mine where it will backfill mined-out areas.

ROBOMINERS will deliver proof of concept for the feasibility of this technology line, which can enable the EU to have access to mineral raw materials from otherwise inaccessible or uneconomic domestic sources, decreasing European dependency on imports from third-party sources, as envisaged by the raw materials policy. Laboratory experiments will confirm the Miner’s key functions, such as modularity, configurability, selective mining ability, and resilience under a range of operating scenarios. The Prototype Miner will then be used to study and advance future research challenges concerning scalability, swarming behaviour and operation in harsh environments.

How to cite: Bodo, B., Lopes, L., Rossi, C., Stasi, G., Henley, S., Correia, V., Pinkse, T., Kot-Niewiadomska, A., Aaltonen, J., Sifferlinger, N., Cristo, N., Zajzon, N., Zibret, G., Horvath, J., and Kruusma, M.: ROBOMINERS - Resilient Bio-inspired Modular Robotic Miners, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-11727, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-11727, 2020.

EGU2020-6140 | Displays | ERE1.1

The potential of detecting flaws in an experimental dam at Älvkarleby, Sweden, using P-wave traveltime tomography

Silvia Salas-Romero, Christopher Juhlin, and Christian Bernstone

A large number of dams located in Sweden, built in the second half of 20th century, are earth embankment dams. Seepages and internal erosion represent safety issues, which are difficult to detect and predict. There are indirect methods to detect seepages, but these do not provide their location. The hydropower operator Vattenfall has initiated a research project to assess geophysical methods as a decision support and asset management tool for this type of structure. The project consists of detecting built-in flaws in the core of a 20 m long and 4 m high experimental dam using geophysical (seismic and resistivity) and temperature measurements taken at the top of and inside the dam structure for a period of approximately 18 months. The behaviour of the dam itself will be monitored by geotechnical instrumentation.

This work focuses on testing P-wave traveltime tomography for detecting defects and supporting the interpretation of P-wave reflection seismic data. Synthetic traveltime studies were performed using the dam structure, constant P-wave velocities for each material, and the seismic acquisition design. Five parallel lines of hydrophones were used, three at the top and two at the bottom of the dam. The central hydrophone line at the top of the dam coincides with the position of the seismic sources. In addition, four boreholes to 4 m depth are positioned on each side of the central hydrophone line in both edges of the dam. Within these boreholes shots and receivers were positioned at every 0.5 m depth. The initial velocity model of the dam considers that the dam is filled with water up to a height of 3.5 m. A series of defects (low velocity zones with varying size and position) were inserted. Other factors, like noise or error in the acquisition geometry, were also considered. The defects may be cavities or permeable/loose layers.

Preliminary results show, in general, that the defect position can be identified by tomography. The velocity and size of the defects, however, are not well recovered by the method. Recovery of the defects using traveltime tomography is greatly influenced by the defect position, as the seismic ray coverage is limited in some parts, such as the central lower part of the dam. In the case of a defect located closer to the top hydrophone lines or one of larger size, the anomalies are better identified. We note that the amplitudes of the anomalies are very small, which may complicate identifying defects using real data. The anomaly signatures depend on the shape of the defect, for example a cubic defect compared to a horizontal permeable layer, which could help to identify and characterize the defect. Although the primary focus lies on identifying the presence of defects, information about their dimension and type is also important.

Future work will be focused on processing repeated seismic fieldwork campaigns at the experimental dam, in order to investigate the dam integrity using time-lapse seismic measurements, including comparing the seismic data with other types of data.

How to cite: Salas-Romero, S., Juhlin, C., and Bernstone, C.: The potential of detecting flaws in an experimental dam at Älvkarleby, Sweden, using P-wave traveltime tomography, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-6140, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-6140, 2020.

EGU2020-4585 | Displays | ERE1.1

Mapping urban changes of 31 global-mega cities using VIIRS nighttime light time series

Qiming Zheng, Ke Wang, and Qihao Weng

People’s perception of ecosystem services is usually affected by a variety of interacting factors, making it difficult to identify the actual driving factors. An orthogonal experimental design can effectively identify interactions and has the potential for use in social perception studies. Based on 20,642 questionnaires on the topic of WTP (willingness to pay), the interactive forces driving people’s perceptions of ecosystem services on the Tibetan Plateau were identified using an orthogonal experimental design. The results show that 1) when interactions are not considered, management attitudes have the strongest influence on WTP, the second most influential factors are subjective cognitions, and objective indicators are ranked last. 2) The interactions has a stronger impact on WTP than some of individual factor: when interactions and observed variables are compared simultaneously, the interaction between the “importance of the Tibetan Plateau” and the “WTP for residents” has a stronger influence on WTP (451 Chinese yuan/year) than any of the individual variables except “WTP for residents” (666 CNY/year) and “knowledge of the Tibetan Plateau” (484 CNY/year). Among the interactions between pairs of variables, that between education (212 CNY/year) and income (260 CNY/year) has a greater impact on WTP (266 CNY/year) than either variable alone. 3) When the interactions are considered, subjective cognitions are the most important indicators for WTP, and management attitudes are the second most important indicators. This study provides a feasible method for the identification of interactive driving forces in analyses involving questionnaires, and the conclusions can provide guidance from the public for ecosystem management on the Tibetan Plateau.

How to cite: Zhang, R.: The application of orthogonal experimental design to identify the interactive forces driving people’s perceptions of ecosystem services, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-4447, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-4447, 2020.

With the increase of global temperature and the intensification of human activities, numerous ecological problems have occurred in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, which have seriously disturbed the sustainable development and the improvement of the carrying capacity of grassland ecosystems, and threatened the security of regional ecological environment. There is an urgent need to find a quantitative assessment method for the quantification of  the carrying capacity in grassland ecosystems, which is significantly crucial for making a sustainable development strategies of  grassland resources. In this study, we considered the ecosystem services as a limited well-beings, and took the Net Primary Production (NPP) as the core indicator for characterizing the occupation of grassland's main ecological functions to ecosystem services. Further more, the occupy threshold for environment maintenance and natural regeneration functions were calculated. The spatial distribution of the grasslands carrying capacity in Inner Mongolia was quantitatively analyzed, and the vulnerability of the "human-land system" was evaluated. The results show that: (1) The Above-ground Net Primary Production (ANPP) needed for the ecosystem function maintenance of Inner Mongolia in 2015 was at 38-401 g/m²· a, and there was a decreasing trend from northeast to southwest; (2) In 2015, the ecological carrying capacity of the grassland ecosystem in Inner Mongolia was 79.336 million sheep units, and the average carrying capacity was 1.56 sheep unit / hm² • a. However, the total economic carrying capacity was 174,571 million sheep units, and the average economic carrying capacity was 3.42 sheep unit / hm² • a, whose spatial distribution is basically consistent with the spatial distribution of ecological carrying capacity, while the actual stocking was 145,548 million sheep units. (3) The spatial distribution of the grassland carrying capacity displayed highly spatial heterogeneity in Inner Mongolia. The ecological carrying status index ranged from 0.59 to 12.06, and the economic carrying status index ranged from 0.29 to 3.68. The natural regeneration function of grasslands required the largest NPP, which greatly reduced the grassland ecological carrying capacity in Inner Mongolia. From the perspective of spatial distribution, the ecological carrying capacity of grassland in eastern Inner Mongolia is bigger than that of western region, and there was an imbalance between socioeconomic development and ecological environmental maintenance. The concentration of population in eastern Inner Mongolia is the main limiting factor affecting the ecological carrying capacity, which resulting in the supply of grassland ecological system cannot meet the practical needs of social development. The environment western characterized by the water deficient and low vegetation coverage were the main limiting factors of ecological carrying capacity in western Inner Mongolia, where the grassland function of windbreak and sand-fixation needed to take up more resources.

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How to cite: caiyun, G. and dongsheng, Z.: Analysis of grassland carrying capacity in Inner Mongolia based on ecosystem function, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-13509, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-13509, 2020.

EGU2020-3002 | Displays | ERE1.1

Spatiotemporal Change Analysis of of Water, Energy and Food Resources in Yellow River Basin

Liming Ma, Chaoqun Li, Xiaoyan Hu, Peng Wang, and Xiao Li

The Yellow River Basin is rich in land, energy, and mineral resources, which is an important energy base and major food producing area in China. However, water shortages have become a key factor restricting the development of the basin. With the economic and social development and population growth, resources demand of water, food and energy in the river basin has been further increased under the drive of national energy security and food security strategies. The conflict between resource supply and demand has become more prominent. This paper selected 9 provinces of the Yellow River Basin as the study area, and collected 16-year time series data, and quantitatively describes the temporal and spatial coordinated changes of water, energy, and food through methods such as MK test and synergetic evaluation system. The results show that in the nine provinces of the Yellow River Basin, the water supply has increased slightly, and energy and food production have increased significantly. The spatial differences of water supply and food production have little change and are relatively stable, while the change of spatial differences in energy production are more obvious with a downward trend, indicating that regionalization of energy production areas is becoming more and more obvious. According to the synergetic evaluation system, the coefficients of synergy for all of the nine provinces are gradually increasing. The evaluation coefficient of Henan is relatively high, indicating that Henan has a positive synergy of water, energy, and food resources. And the Ningxia province has the lowest evaluation coefficient. According to the results, the water energy and food system reconfiguration should be carried out for key provinces, and the allocation of water energy and food resources should be optimized to maximize the utilization of the three resources and achieve sustainable use.First of all, adjusting the energy structure among the provinces with poor synergy. For example, raw coal is still the core resource of energy consumption which is water-intensive. Reduce the investment in coal chemical industry and other high water-consumed energy industry to have a better synergy coefficient. Also, develop more clean energy, for example, hydro-power, nuclear power and wind power. Nowadays, the environment-friendly and resource-saving clean energy portion is less than 10% of the total energy consumption. The waste resources can be reuse to provide green energy. Last, high-end production technology in energy production is important to guarantee the water and energy safety. 

How to cite: Ma, L., Li, C., Hu, X., Wang, P., and Li, X.: Spatiotemporal Change Analysis of of Water, Energy and Food Resources in Yellow River Basin, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-3002, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-3002, 2020.

This research provides an overview on several areas related to produced water management including cost, treatment methods, recycling options and environmental impact. Produced water is a type of water that has been trapped in different quantities in underground formations. After extracting crude oil and during the production process, the associated water from underground formations is known as produced water. This type of water is by far the largest volume by product or waste stream associated with oil and gas production. It is likely containing high level of total dissolved solids because of its longer residence time under the ground in addition to the smaller flow rate. Moreover, many efforts have been paid globally to decrease the high salinity level in produced water by applying desalination technologies as sustainable water management solution.

Oilfield water management is one of the most challenging system and it follows a non-linear relationship between its components. We formulate and develop a mixed-integer mathematical model to a small case study related to Kuwait Oil Company for an optimal design and operations of produced water management. We show how the results allow studying the economic cost as well as environmental impact related to produced water management system.

 

 

How to cite: AlEdan, A. and Erfani, T.: Produced water management - A mathematical model to trade-off economic cost and environmental impact for infrastructure utilisation, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-20912, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20912, 2020.

Bacteria capable of simultaneous aerobic denitrification and phosphorus removal (SADPR) are promising for the establishment of novel one-stage wastewater treatment systems. Nevertheless, insights into the metabolic potentials and engineered applications of SADPR-related bacteria are limited. Firstly, comprehensive metabolic models of two efficient SADPR bacteria, Achromobacter sp. GAD3 and Agrobacterium sp. LAD9, were obtained by high-throughput genome sequencing. With succinate as the preferred carbon source, both strains employed a complete TCA cycle as the major carbon metabolism for potentials of various organic acids and complex carbon oxidation. Complete and truncated aerobic denitrification routes were confirmed in GAD3 and LAD9, respectively, facilitated by all the major components of the electron transfer chain via oxidative phosphorylation. Comparative genome analysis revealed distinctive ecological niches involved in denitrification among different phylogenetic clades within Achromobacter and Agrobacterium. Excellent phosphorus removal capacities were contributed by inorganic phosphate uptake, polyphosphate synthesis and phosphonate metabolism. Additionally, the physiology of GAD3/LAD9 is different from that displayed by most available polyphosphate accumulating organisms, and reveals both strains to be more versatile, carrying out potentials for diverse organics degradation and outstanding SADPR capacity within a single organism. Secondly, both GAD3 and LAD9 were successfully applied for bioaugmented treatment of municipal wastewater in a pilot-scale sequencing batch reactor. At an appropriate COD/N ratio of 8, the bioaugmentation system exhibited stable and excellent carbon and nutrients removal, the averaged effluent concentrations of COD, NH4+-N, TN and TP were 20.6, 0.69, 14.1 and 0.40 mg/L, respectively, which could meet the first class requirement of the National Municipal Wastewater Discharge Standards of China (COD < 50 mg/L, TN < 15 mg/L, TP < 0.5 mg/L). Clone library and real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed that the introduced bacteria greatly improved the structure of original microbial community and facilitated their aerobic nutrients removal capacities. This proposed emerging technology was shown to be an alternative technology to establish new wastewater treatment systems and upgrade or retrofit conventional systems from secondary-level to tertiary-level.

How to cite: Liu, S., Chen, Q., Liu, S., and Ni, J.: Comprehensive insights into metabolic potentials and engineered applications of two novel simultaneous aerobic denitrification and phosphorus removal bacteria, Achromobacter sp. GAD3 and Agrobacterium sp. LAD9, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-3221, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-3221, 2020.

EGU2020-19982 | Displays | ERE1.1

Beach wrack as a potential natural resource in the South-Eastern Baltic

Julia Gorbunova and Boris Chubarenko

Beach wrack (BW) – biological marine materials as algae, sea grasses and other, which are thrown from the sea to the seashore, becoming a polluter and cause of inconvenience. Problem of BW is present in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, South-Eastern Baltic. From time to time, large amounts of BW appear in various places along its seashore. However, BW can be used as an organic resource, so nuisance could be converted into resource and asset. The study on BW spatial and quantitative distribution and its potential use in the South-Eastern Baltic is carry out within the Project #R090 CONTRA of the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme and accompanied by researches of algae species composition basing on partly support of the State assignment of IO RAS (Theme No. 0149-2019-0013).

An observations of the Baltic seashore within the Kaliningrad Oblast was carried out in March-December 2019 with the aim of quantity and quality characteristic of BW emissions. The BW emissions were recorded (measured, described and geo-referenced using GPS navigation) and sampled on two model sites monthly and the alongshore survey was carried out seasonally. Monitoring of the time of residence of the BW emissions was carried out three times per day at the selected model site using a web camera. It was found that the distribution of BW was characterized by significant spatial and temporal variability. In general, large amounts of BW emissions were observed on the northern coast of the Sambian Peninsula, in contrast to the western coast and Curonian and Vistula spits. The largest accumulations of BW were local and mainly near the coastline protrusions as capes (natural) and breakwaters, slipways, bunes (man-made). The time of residence of BW storage varied greatly and was often limited to a few days. Their further transformation could be carried out in several ways - by flushing back to the sea, covering under the thickness of sand or small pebbles, and a wind-wave dispersal along the beach. BW mainly contains Radophyta algae in the early spring and autumn-winter periods, in contrast to summer, when there are also Chlorophyta and Phaeophyta.

The preliminary estimations show that the industrial use of BW is limited by the spatial and temporal irregularity of their emissions in the Kaliningrad Oblast. However, the problem of BW collection and utilization exists. A possible solution could be use of BW for coastal protection greenery as nutrients that is similar to a natural process. These experiments were initiated in the Curonian Spit National Park in 2019. In this way BW could be involved in soft engineering techniques to manage the coastline.

How to cite: Gorbunova, J. and Chubarenko, B.: Beach wrack as a potential natural resource in the South-Eastern Baltic, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-19982, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-19982, 2020.

Recently, several alkylamine hydrates have been studied in an effort to reveal the structural transitions from semi- to ‘canonical’ clathrate hydrate in the presence of secondary guest molecules. Trimethylamine (TMA) is known to form the semi-clathrate hydrate, and it has been reported that the structural transition of the TMA semi-clathrate hydrate may not occur in the presence of hydrogen gas as a secondary guest molecule. This paper reports the structural transition of trimethylamine(TMA) hydrate induced by the type of guest molecules. Powder X-ray diffraction patterns of (TMA + H2) hydrates show the formation of hexagoanl P6/mmm hydrate, but those of (TMA + CH4) hydrates indicate the formation of cubic Fd3m hydrate. Without gaseous guest molecule, the crystal structure of pure TMA hydrate is identified as hexagonal P6/mmm. Therefore, inclusion of gaseous methane in TMA hydrate can induce the structural transition from hexagonal to cubic hydrate or the formation of metastable cubic hydrate. To clearly reveal this possibility, we also check the time-dependent structural patterns of binary (TMA + CH4) hydrates from 1 to 14 days, and the results show that the structural transition of TMA hydrate from hexagonal P6/mmm to cubic Fd3m hydrate structure can occur during the methane inclusion process.

How to cite: Cha, M.: Structural Transition of Trimethylamine Hydrate by Methane or Hydrogen Inclusion, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-3806, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-3806, 2020.

ERE1.2 – GeoERA: Towards integrated European geoscience services for today’s and future generations

The IPCC and IPBES reports, the sustainable development goals of the United Nations and the societal challenges for Europe defined by Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe all emphasize the strong need for integrated and sustainable management of subsurface resources to protect society and biodiversity. The four GeoERA groundwater projects contribute to this important goal by studying the current and future quantitative and chemical status of European groundwater bodies. The quantity and quality issues related to natural processes, human activities and climate change are investigated to improve our basis for informed decision making e.g. for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The four projects provide new and important data for further development of the European Geological Data Infrastructure (EGDI) as a leading information platform for sustainable and integrated management of subsurface resources in Europe and one of the leading platforms, globally. The four projects will deliver “FAIR” (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) data easily accessible for all relevant end users via EGDI. This will improve our understanding of the subsurface and support common efforts in public-private partnerships to meet the UN sustainable development goals and to develop efficient tools for climate change impact assessment, mitigation and adaptation. Here we briefly present some main objectives and deliverables of the four groundwater projects: 1) HOVER – “Hydrogeological processes and geological settings over Europe controlling dissolved geogenic and anthropogenic elements in groundwater of relevance to human health and the status of dependent ecosystems” – studies e.g. I) geogenic (natural) groundwater quality issues affecting human health, II) polluted groundwater focusing on nitrate, pesticides and emerging contaminants that besides human health potentially affect biodiversity and the ecological status of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and III) groundwater age and travel time distributions in European aquifers, which are useful for assessment of the history, migration and fate of contaminants in the subsurface and the vulnerability of the European groundwater resources towards pollution 2) RESOURCE – “Resources of groundwater, harmonized at cross-border and Pan-European Scale” – studies I) transboundary aquifers between Poland and Lithuania; as well as Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany; II) Karst and Chalk aquifers across Europe and III) Develops a new Pan European groundwater resources map that includes information on volumes, age and quality (salinity) 3) TACTIC – “Tools for assessment of climate change impact on groundwater and adaptation strategies” – compiles and studies climate change impact assessment and adaptation tools within more than 40 pilot areas distributed across Europe and 4) VoGERA –  “Vulnerability of shallow groundwater resources to deep sub-surface energy-related activities” – studies groundwater vulnerability to energy-related activities in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and Hungary.

How to cite: Hinsby, K., Gourcy, L., Broers, H. P., Højberg, A. L., and Bianchi, M.: Integrated and sustainable management of subsurface resources - Introducing the contributions of the four GeoERA groundwater projects to the European Geological Data Infrastructure , EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-4253, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-4253, 2020.

EGU2020-17309 | Displays | ERE1.2

Minerals Inventory as a part of Mineral Intelligence for Europe

Špela Kumelj, Andrej Vihtelič, Katarina Hribernik, and Jernej Bavdek

A significant task of the Mintell4EU project is to improve the quality and spatial coverage of the European inventory of primary and secondary mineral resources. The process of refining the minerals inventory that is currently within the Minerals4EU (M4EU) database includes (a) identification of data gaps in spatial coverage, (b) setting up the quality control application to identify gaps and errors in data, (c) identification of technical errors in the process of harvesting data and (d) establishing connections with other relevant projects.

After almost 2 years, the spatial coverage of the minerals inventory is extended with data from Western Balkan countries in cooperation with the RESEERVE project and new or modified data from existing data providers are available. Besides, a Mintell4EU Quality Control Application (QCA) was developed to visually check the latest reported data from data providers. Related to this, a harvesting system for collecting and validating mineral resources data is being established and improved access to raw materials data technical routines intervening during the harvesting phase are being implemented to ensure a rigorous control of the data quality.

The subsequent task is to enable new data providers to deliver data in a harmonized way to ensure consistency in the way data is displayed. In order to achieve this in the best way possible, a workshop will be held in Ljubljana in May 2020, drawing on experiences from REESERVE and from guidelines developed by the ORAMA project.

How to cite: Kumelj, Š., Vihtelič, A., Hribernik, K., and Bavdek, J.: Minerals Inventory as a part of Mineral Intelligence for Europe, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-17309, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-17309, 2020.

EGU2020-21081 | Displays | ERE1.2

Structural framework: a new way to organise and communicate geological information

Kris Piessens, Renata Barros, Katrijn Dirix, Jef Deckers, Johan ten Veen, Timothy N. Debacker, and Fabian Jähne-Klingberg

A structural framework is a well-defined concept, being used primarily to add structural understanding to a geological model. Within GeoConnect³d, a new approach is used, i.e. the structural framework concept is modified to become the leading model, in which geological maps and models can be inserted and related to. This structural framework is being developed and implemented for two areas of interest - Roer-to-Rhine in northwest Europe and Pannonian Basin in eastern Europe - and will soon be implemented in two pilot areas, Ireland and Bavaria. The organisation of information is strongly linked to different scales of visualisation, starting from the pan-European view (1:15,000,000) with the possibility to zoom in to the scale of local geological models and maps in these four areas.

The GeoConnect³d structural framework reorganises geological information in terms of geological limits and geological units. Limits are defined as broadly planar structures that separate a given geological unit from its neighbouring units, e.g. faults (limits) that define a graben (unit), or an unconformity (limit) that defines a basin (unit). Therefore, the key relationship between these two structural framework elements is that units are defined by limits i.e. all units must be bounded by limits. It is important to note that this relationship is not necessarily mutual: not all limits have to be unit-defining.

A first test of the structural framework methodology was carried out in the Netherlands and Belgium for the Roer Valley graben, as the faults in this area were already modelled in a cross-boundary project (H3O-Roer Valley Graben). Displaying different elements according to scale of visualisation coupled with vocabulary information (definition, grouping and semantic relations between elements, etc.) following the SKOS-system proved a powerful tool to display geological information in an understandable way and improve insights in large-scale geological structures crossing national borders. Additionally, links with other GeoERA projects such as HIKE and its fault database are being successfully established. We consider the outcomes of this test promising to fulfil one of the main goals of GeoConnect³d, i.e. preparing and disclosing geological information in an understandable way for stakeholders. We also consider this as the way forward towards pan-European integration and harmonisation of geological information, where the ultimate challenge is to correlate or otherwise link information from different geological domains and of different scales.

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731166.

How to cite: Piessens, K., Barros, R., Dirix, K., Deckers, J., ten Veen, J., Debacker, T. N., and Jähne-Klingberg, F.: Structural framework: a new way to organise and communicate geological information, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-21081, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-21081, 2020.

EGU2020-3510 | Displays | ERE1.2

GeoERA MUSE – Managing Urban Shallow Geothermal Energy

Cornelia Steiner, Stasa Borovic, Alejandro García-Gil, Claus Ditlefsen, David Boon, Ignasi Herms, Camille Maurel, Estelle Petitclerc, Mitja Janza, Mikael Erlström, Maciej Klonowski, Jan Holeček, Sarah Blake, Vincent Vandeweijer, Radovan Cernak, and Boris Maljuk

The shallow subsurface comprising groundwater bodies as well as solid rock formations in the uppermost tens to hundreds of meters below surface offer significant resources for renewable heating, cooling and seasonal underground heat storage. Shallow geothermal energy (SGE) comprises the technologies to exchange heat between the subsurface and surface via closed loop or open loop heat exchangers. Although SGE just covered around 2% of the renewable heat production in the EU in 2018, its huge potential for low temperature heating and cooling supply is expected to lead to a significant market growth across Europe in the upcoming decade. Especially as SGE offers the unique possibility to supply heating, cooling and storing waste heat with one technology. SGE offers advantages especially in urban areas. It does not produce waste heat if applied for cooling, which can be considered as an important measure to mitigate urban heat islands. It consumes low amount of surface space for its installation and applying SGE is free of emissions in terms of aerosols or noise. Moreover, it can be combined with other renewables such as solar and waste heat or excess energy. In these cases, SGE acts as a seasonal heat storage.

The increasing interest in SGE in urban areas, however, puts pressure on the subsurface, especially on shallow groundwater bodies. In that context, SGE systems may compete with each other as well as with water supply and subsurface installations. In many European countries, management approaches of SGE are either lacking or follow the first come first serve approach. Integrative management approaches follow an information and decision cycle, starting and ending at collecting, processing and providing geoscientific data on subsurface conditions to stakeholders, such as authorities, investors and city planners.

GeoERA MUSE addresses integrative management approaches for the use of SGE by harmonizing concepts and testing them in 14 European cities facing different climatic, hydrogeologic and socio-economic boundary conditions. MUSE deals with mapping resources and limitations of SGE resources and displays them in modern web-based interfaces. Knowing resources and limitations referring to interference with other SGE systems or other shallow subsurface installations is the starting point for integrative management approaches, which include summation effects and abandon first come first serve. MUSE pilot areas follow the whole management cycle from creating subsurface data (e.g. subsurface temperatures, thermal rock properties), deriving resource models (amount of energy available for use), limitations of use (contaminated areas, problematic chemical composition of groundwater) and displaying the information gained at the EGDI web platform of EuroGeoSurveys. Furthermore, MUSE interacts with local stakeholders to transfer geoscientific data models into managing strategies. In that sense, the pilot areas act as role model for other urban regions in Europe. Additionally, MUSE creates joint concepts and standards to strengthen the role of Geological Survey Organisations towards a key player in managing an efficient and sustainable use of urban subsurface in general and SGE in urban areas in detail. MUSE has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731166.      

How to cite: Steiner, C., Borovic, S., García-Gil, A., Ditlefsen, C., Boon, D., Herms, I., Maurel, C., Petitclerc, E., Janza, M., Erlström, M., Klonowski, M., Holeček, J., Blake, S., Vandeweijer, V., Cernak, R., and Maljuk, B.: GeoERA MUSE – Managing Urban Shallow Geothermal Energy, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-3510, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-3510, 2020.

EGU2020-5950 | Displays | ERE1.2 | Highlight

FRAME’s (Forecasting and Assessing Europe’s Strategic Raw Materials Needs) contribution to the “European Green Deal”

Daniel P. S. de Oliveira, Maria João Ferreira, Martiya Sadeghi, Nikolaus Arvanitidis, Sophie Decrée, Håvard Gautneb, Eric Gloaguen, Tuomo Törmänen, Helge Reginiussen, Henrike Sievers, Lídia Quental Quental, and Antje Wittenberg

It is widely accepted that non-energy minerals underpin modern economies since they are essential for manufacturing and renewable energy supply. Europe shows an inevitably growing and accelerated consumption of mineral commodities. The critical question is whether supply to meet these demands is adequate. However, no one can answer this with any certainty because secure supply of mineral RM is a matter of knowing the resources and the ability to exploit them sustainably.

Europe’s strive to be become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 means implementing the “European Green Deal” by the EU Commission. Measures accompanied with an initial roadmap of key policies range from ambitiously cutting emissions, to investing in cutting-edge research and innovation, to preserving Europe’s natural environment.

This green transition is a giant societal leap. However, of the clean and carbon-reducing technologies (e.g. wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, electric and hybrid vehicles), which allow energy production from renewable resources, use significant quantities of metals [e.g. REE, PGE, Nb, Li, Co, In, Ga, V, Te, Se] that are derived or refined from minerals, and of which Europe is strongly import dependent on. The high import dependence of strategic (SRM) and critical raw materials (CRM) has a serious impact on the sustainability of the EU manufacturing industry value chains and key enabling technologies (e.g. renewable energy industry, mobility sector and AI) and significant release of CO2 emissions due to foreign ore transport. Effectively knowing Europe’s subsurface and the potential mineral supplies that can be used in these manufacturing industries can achieve this. We need to calculate the volumes of CRM and SRM metals (e.g. Co, Nb, V, Sb, PGE and REE) and minerals currently not extracted in Europe. We further need to understand how high-tech elements are mobilised, where they occur and why some are associated with specific major industrial metals. This means a renewed and robust focus on advanced exploration for new mineral deposits on land and sea.

FRAME(*)[1] addresses most of these concerns by focusing on at least four of the current objectives of the EU Commission: 1- CRM; 2- battery critical elements [graphite, Co, Li]; 3- The circular economy and; 4- the responsible sourcing of metals by combating conflict minerals.

With focused work packages, FRAME aims to broadly deliver, 1- a new assessment of the SRM and CRM in Europe; 2- an innovative predictability of where the sourcing of some of these SRM and CRM may come from to reduce dependance on external supply sources, which in some specific metals such as Nb and Ta, fosters the sustainable and responsible supply and; 3- look at case specific sites for the reuse of mineral RM. Data will be made available through a structured data platform. Hence, FRAME is making a significant contribution to aid in the “European Green Deal”, activities such as the Battery Alliance and support legal actions like the new EU "conflict minerals" regulation effective from 1/01/2021.


[1] (*) This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement Nº 731166

 

How to cite: de Oliveira, D. P. S., Ferreira, M. J., Sadeghi, M., Arvanitidis, N., Decrée, S., Gautneb, H., Gloaguen, E., Törmänen, T., Reginiussen, H., Sievers, H., Quental, L. Q., and Wittenberg, A.: FRAME’s (Forecasting and Assessing Europe’s Strategic Raw Materials Needs) contribution to the “European Green Deal” , EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-5950, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-5950, 2020.

EGU2020-13271 | Displays | ERE1.2

Critical minerals in the European seas: The project GeoERA-MINDeSEA

Javier Gonzalez, Teresa Medialdea, Henrik Schiellerup, Irene Zananiri, Pedro Ferreira, Luis Somoza, Xavier Monteys, Thomas Kuhn, Johan Nyberg, Igor Melnyk, Vitor Magalhaes, Rosario Lunar, Egidio Marino, James R. Hein, Georgy Cherkashov, and MINDeSEA team

The oceans and seas cover more than 70% of the planet, representing a promising new frontier for mineral resources exploration, and an enormous challenge for science and technology. Communities are demanding actions to address global climate change, and the necessary high- and green-technologies required for a transition from a carbon-based to green-energy-based world. The global ocean is at the core of these issues. The seabed mineral resources host the largest reserves on Earth for some critical metals like cobalt, tellurium, manganese, and the rare earth elements, critical for Industry. But seabed geology and ecosystems are widely unexplored, and new geological and environmental studies are required to address the impacts of potential mining activities. In addition, a regulatory framework for minerals extraction and marine spatial planning are necessary for seabed mining sector development.

The pan-European seas cover about 15 millions square kilometres in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans and the Mediterranean, Baltic, and Black seas, from shallow waters up to 6000 m water depth. Spanning a large diversity of environments and resource settings, including high and low temperature hydrothermal deposits, phosphorites, cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts, and manganese nodules, deep-sea deposits are particularly attractive for their polymetallic nature with high contents of rare and critical metals. Moreover, shallow-water resources, like marine placer deposits, represent another source for many critical metals and gems. The GeoERA-MINDeSEA[1]  project is compiling data and genetic models for all these deposit types based on extensive studies, carried out previously, which include geophysical surveys, dredging stations, underwater photography and ROV surveys, and mineralogical, geochemical, and isotopic studies.

The preliminary MINDeSEA results show the potential of the pan-European seas for critical metals, and the enormous gaps of information covering vast marine sectors. More than 600 mineral occurrences are reported in the MINDeSEA database. Seamounts and banks in the Macaronesia sector (Portugal and Spain) and the Arctic ridges (Norway, Denmark, Iceland) show a high potential for Fe-Mn crusts, rich in energy-critical elements like Co but also Te, REEs, and Mn. Fe-Mn crusts are accompanied by phosphorites on the seafloor of continental shelves and slopes along the western continental margins. Seafloor polymetallic sulphides and metalliferous sediments precipitating from hot hydrothermal solutions and plumes are forming today in the Azores Islands (Portugal), the Arctic (Norway, Denmark) and, the Mediterranean volcanic arcs (Italy and Greece). They are among the most important marine resources for Cu, Zn, Ag, and Au. In addition, hydrothermal deposits may contain economic grades of Co, Sn, Ba, In, Bi, Te, Ga, and Ge. Placer deposits of chemically resistant and durable minerals have been discovered on shallow-water settings (<50 m water depth on estuaries, deltas, beaches) linked to the weathering of onshore rocks and ore deposits from the Variscan Belt (UK, France, Portugal, Spain). Finally, shallow-water concretions and nodules from the Arctic, Baltic, and Black Sea represent potential targets for metals exploration and environmental studies.


[1] This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731166

 

How to cite: Gonzalez, J., Medialdea, T., Schiellerup, H., Zananiri, I., Ferreira, P., Somoza, L., Monteys, X., Kuhn, T., Nyberg, J., Melnyk, I., Magalhaes, V., Lunar, R., Marino, E., Hein, J. R., Cherkashov, G., and team, M.: Critical minerals in the European seas: The project GeoERA-MINDeSEA , EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-13271, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-13271, 2020.

EGU2020-6656 | Displays | ERE1.2 | Highlight

Utilising data and knowledge from European geological survey organisations in climate change impact assessments and adaptations

Anker Lajer Hojberg, Ida Bjørnholt Karlsson, Klaus Hinsby, Jacob Kidmose, Hélène Bessiere, Majdi Mansour, and David Pulido-Velázquez

Climate change (CC) already have widespread and significant impacts in Europe, which is expected to increase in the future. Groundwater plays a vital role for the land phase of the freshwater cycle and have the capability of buffering or enhancing the impact from extreme climate events causing droughts or floods, depending on the subsurface properties and the status of the system (dry/wet) prior to the climate event. Understanding and taking the hydrogeology into account is therefore essential in the assessment of climate change impacts.

The Geological Survey Organisations (GSOs) in Europe compile the necessary data and knowledge of the groundwater systems across Europe. The overall vision of the project “Tools for Assessment of ClimaTe change ImpacT on Groundwater and Adaptation Strategies – TACTIC” is to enhance the utilisation of these data and knowledge of the subsurface system in CC impact assessments, and the identification and analyses of potential adaptation strategies. To reach this vision, the objective of TACTIC is to contribute to the development of coherent and transparent assessments of CC impacts on groundwater and surface water, supporting improved EU policy making, and providing decision support for stakeholders and decision makers. To accomplish this, an infra-structure among European Geological Survey Organisations are developed in TACTIC to foster advancement and harmonisation of CC assessments, made up by: 1) The TACTIC Toolbox, consisting of relevant tools and methods for CC impact assessments, 2) TACTIC guidelines that will guide GSOs and other relevant stakeholders on the selection of appropriate tools and their use for producing comparable results, 3) The European Geological Data Infrastructure (EGDI) where data, reports and open-access papers will be stored  and made freely available  

The project is centred around 40 pilot studies covering a variety of CC challenges as well as different hydrogeological settings and different management systems found in Europe. The pilot activities are coordinated centrally in the project, to ensure that assessments, to the extent possible, are harmonised and can be compared across pilots. Synthesizing the experiences and results from the pilots will enable the development of a guideline and future roadmap, with the aim of 1) encouraging more GSOs to contribute in CC impact assessments 2) providing guidance to make the learning curve less steep and 3)ensuring that new assessments are comparable with assessments conducted in TACTIC.

TACTIC is part of the Horizon 2020 ERA-NET on Applied Geoscience (GeoERA) and together with the three other GeoERA groundwater projects, TACTIC will provide new and important data for further development of the European Geological Data Infrastructure (EGDI) with publicly available data enabling the development of EU-wide decision support systems for sustainable management of subsurface resources in a changing climate.

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731166.

How to cite: Hojberg, A. L., Karlsson, I. B., Hinsby, K., Kidmose, J., Bessiere, H., Mansour, M., and Pulido-Velázquez, D.: Utilising data and knowledge from European geological survey organisations in climate change impact assessments and adaptations, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-6656, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-6656, 2020.

EGU2020-21381 | Displays | ERE1.2

The contribution of the Geological Survey of Italy to the GeoERA Programme challenges towards a geological service for Europe

Luca Guerrieri, Carlo Cipolloni, Chiara D'Ambrogi, Barbara Dessi, Pio Di Manna, Mauro Lucarini, Lucio Martarelli, and Monica Serra

The better knowledge of the subsurface is one of the challenges faced by the Geological Survey Organizations all around the world. The assessment, and sustainable use, also concurrent, of subsurface resources, requires a holistic approach that takes into account also natural hazards and environmental impacts. Such approach is particularly significant in Italy where a large part of the territory is affected by several hazards (earthquakes, landslides, floods, volcanic eruptions, ground subsidence), and the exploitation of subsurface resources has been recently a theme for a scientific and political debate to address, investigate, and manage the potential contribution  of human activities to increase natural hazards.

Exploration and knowledge, sustainable use and management, impacts, and publicly available information are key topics addressed in the GeoERA Programme by the Geological Survey of Italy (SGI) a department of ISPRA, , through the participation to eight GeoERA projects.

In the Geo-Energy Theme, the SGI contribution focuses on subsurface knowledge and database production: geological 3D model of the Po Basin subsurface as base input data for geothermal assessment of Mesozoic multilayer carbonate reservoir (HotLime); the implementation of the European Fault Database – EFD with information about faults characteristics, including 3D geometry and activity (HIKE).

As regards the Raw Materials Theme, inthe last decade, various projects aimed at implementing data and metadata on available raw materials have been fostered by the EU Commission. The projects involving SGI range from cataloguing mineral resources (MINTELL4EU) into a Database INSPIRE compliant, to the inventory of ornamental stones containing information about the physical and mechanical characteristics of the rocks (EUROLITHOS), as well as to deepen the knowledge aimed at a possible recycling/reuse of minerals from extractive wastes (FRAME) in a circular economy perspective.

In the Groundwater Theme, the main efforts of the SGI are involved on the implementation of an Italian inventory of available information on thermal-mineral water, an investigation on their geological background and the preparation of maps and web-map service (HOVER); the calculation of groundwater recharge at selected observation boreholes applying a statistical lumped model and as well using satellite data to produce spatially distributed recharge maps (TACTIC).

Finally, SGI contributes to the implementation and development of the GeoERA Information Platform that is established to support the other GeoERA projects in managing and disseminating geospatial data, reports and unstructured data, and the results of their research.

In a long term perspective, through the participation to eight GeoERA projects, the SGI has contributed to the development of a geological service for Europe built on the joint cooperation among national and regional geological surveys, that  will be the long term objective of the whole GeoERA Programme.

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731166.

How to cite: Guerrieri, L., Cipolloni, C., D'Ambrogi, C., Dessi, B., Di Manna, P., Lucarini, M., Martarelli, L., and Serra, M.: The contribution of the Geological Survey of Italy to the GeoERA Programme challenges towards a geological service for Europe, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-21381, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-21381, 2020.

EGU2020-10241 | Displays | ERE1.2

Assessing the vulnerability of shallow groundwater resources to deep subsurface energy activities (VoGERA)

Rob Ward, Koen Beerten, Willem Zaadnoordijk, Cis Slenter, Marco Bianchi, Ágnes Rotár-Szalkai, and Daniel Mallin Martin

Society is increasingly looking to the subsurface for our energy needs, be that for extracting geothermal energy, shale gas, or buffering heat, gas, or storing by-products of energy production. An increasingly crowded subsurface presents risks to groundwater relied on for water supply, since subsurface activities can introduce or release contaminants and alter subsurface properties. The VoGERA project is investigating the vulnerability of shallow groundwater from a range of subsurface energy technologies across different hydrogeological and geological settings within Europe. A suite of conceptual models compares the intrinsic vulnerability for different geological (crystalline, poorly consolidated and well consolidated sedimentary basins) and hydrogeological (basin centre and margins) conditions. They also consider the impacts of different subsurface activity types broadly categorised as those processes including injection, abstraction and a neutral fluid balance. Potential contamination pathways are being investigated at four case study sites; the Rauw Fault in Belgium, Panonian Basin in Hungary, The Peel Boundary Fault in the Netherlands and the Vale of Pickering in the UK. Geophysical, hydrological and hydrochemical data from these sites will be assessed in order to improve contamination pathway process understanding in a European setting. Findings from the case study sites will be used to evaluate the conceptual models and to develop a tool for decision makers and the public to assess the vulnerability to shallow groundwater from subsurface energy activities depending on the activity, and geological and hydrogeological conditions at a specific location. The VoGERA project is funded as part of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 GeoERA network of projects under the Groundwater theme (Grant agreement number 731166).

How to cite: Ward, R., Beerten, K., Zaadnoordijk, W., Slenter, C., Bianchi, M., Rotár-Szalkai, Á., and Mallin Martin, D.: Assessing the vulnerability of shallow groundwater resources to deep subsurface energy activities (VoGERA), EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-10241, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10241, 2020.

EGU2020-14037 | Displays | ERE1.2

GeoEra HOVER WP7 – Harmonized vulnerability to pollution mapping of the upper aquifer

Andreas Günther, Stefan Broda, Klaus Duscher, Jörg Reichling, Susanne Schomburgk, Daniel Elster, Boris Bimalyuk, Sonja Cerar, Birgitte Hansen, Caoimhe Hickey, Juuso Ikonen, Ignasi Herms, Kostas Kontodimos, David Pulido Velázquez, Diana Persa, Silvio Janetz, Melanie Witthoeft, Jurga Arustiene, Nora Gal, and Magdalena Nidental and the GEOERA HOVER WP7 TEAM

45 Geological Survey Organisations (GSOs) from 32 European countries developed an ERA-NET Co-Fund Action: Establishing the European Geological Surveys Research Area to deliver a Geological Service for Europe (GeoERA). The GeoEra project HOVER (Hydrogeological processes and Geological settings over Europe controlling dissolved geogenic and anthropogenic elements in groundwater of relevance to human health and the status of dependent ecosystems) aims to gain understanding of the controls on groundwater quality across Europe using the combined expertise and data held by member states. Objectives of the HOVER work package 7 (WP7) are i) review of existing index methods for assessing the vulnerability of the upper aquifer to pollution and selection of the methods to be applied at the pilot and pan-EU scale, ii) compilation and harmonization of input data sets required for assessing vulnerability, and iii) assessment of aquifer vulnerability to pollution (both in maps and 2-d schematic cross sections).

The selected methodology adopted in this project is DRASTIC, which will be applied in ten pilot areas and at the pan-European scale. In karst regions, however, the COP method will be applied in the pilots. This is accompanied with comparisons with the outcomes of existing national vulnerability assessments. It is anticipated to validate the resulting vulnerability maps at the pilot level using available groundwater nitrate contamination information.

How to cite: Günther, A., Broda, S., Duscher, K., Reichling, J., Schomburgk, S., Elster, D., Bimalyuk, B., Cerar, S., Hansen, B., Hickey, C., Ikonen, J., Herms, I., Kontodimos, K., Velázquez, D. P., Persa, D., Janetz, S., Witthoeft, M., Arustiene, J., Gal, N., and Nidental, M. and the GEOERA HOVER WP7 TEAM: GeoEra HOVER WP7 – Harmonized vulnerability to pollution mapping of the upper aquifer, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-14037, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-14037, 2020.

EGU2020-4861 | Displays | ERE1.2

A pan-European GIS focused on gas hydrates: a research base-line in geohazards and geological storage of CO2

Ricardo Leon, Christopher Rochelle, André Burnol, Carmen Julia Gimenez-Moreno, Tove Nielsen, John Hopper, Isabel Reguera, Pilar Mata, Margaret Stewart, and Silvia Cervel

Abstract

A pan-European GIS focused on hydrate has been developed within the frame of the GARAH project (GeoERA - GeoE.171.002) in order to assess gas hydrate information gaps in the European margins. A data-collection exercise from public sources (MIGRATE and PERGAMON COST actions ES1405 and ES0902, SeaDataNet, NOAA, etc) and European Geological Surveys (BGS, BRGM, IGME, GEUS, etc) has supplied a total of 835 information layers. All this information has been structured in four groups ((i) Geological & Geochemical evidences/indicators, (ii) Geophysical indicators, (iii) Fluid flow seabed indicators and (iv) Oceanographic variables & Geological constrains) where tables and geospatial features have been designed and harmonized following the standards of INSPIRE directives.

This GIS-database has been conceived as a first step or base-line for future gas hydrate related research. The next step as part of 'Work Package 3' of the GARAH project will be the identification of critical knowledge gaps and the definition of specific areas of interest which would benefit from further research. Theses potential future projects could be related to improving the European model of the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ), assess potential geohazards and risks, assess the abundance of sediment-hosted gas hydrates, and evaluate the role of CO2-rich hydrates for the geological storage of CO2.

 

Acknowledgment

GARAH project. GeoERA - GeoE.171.002

 

How to cite: Leon, R., Rochelle, C., Burnol, A., Gimenez-Moreno, C. J., Nielsen, T., Hopper, J., Reguera, I., Mata, P., Stewart, M., and Cervel, S.: A pan-European GIS focused on gas hydrates: a research base-line in geohazards and geological storage of CO2, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-4861, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-4861, 2020.

EGU2020-1558 | Displays | ERE1.2

Unconventional hydrocarbon resource plays in the North Sea Basin, Northwestern Europe

Niels Schovsbo, Stefan Ladage, Anders Mathiesen, Susanne Nelskamp, Margaret A. Stewart, and Peter Britze

In 2017 the geological surveys contributed to the European wide project ‘EU Unconventional Oil and Gas Assessment’ (EUOGA). The goal of EUOGA was to assess all potentially prospective shale formations from the main onshore basins in Europe and included contributions of twenty-one European geological surveys and the assessment covered 82 geological formations from 38 basins (Zijp et al. 2017).

To extend the assessment to offshore basins the geological surveys of Denmark (GEUS), Germany (BGR), the Northlands (TNO) and United Kingdom (BGS) are working together on the Geological Analysis and Resource Assessment of selected Hydrocarbon systems (GARAH) project that aims at assessing the conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resource in the North Sea Basin. Within the basin more than 10 shale layers have been recognised as holding potential resources. These shales include the offshore equivalent of the Cambrian Alum Shale, The Carboniferous Bowland shale and the Jurassic Wealden and Kimmeridge shales that onshore have been a target for hydrocarbon exploration within the European Union member states. Each shale layer will be characterized using thirty systematic parameters such as areal distribution, structural setting, average net to gross ratio of the shale reservoir, average Total Organic Carbon content (TOC) and average mineralogical composition.

This is a part of an ongoing EU Horizon 2020 GeoERA project (The GARAH, H2020 grant #731166 lead by GEUS).

References

Zijp, M., Nelskamp, S., Schovsbo, N.H., Tougaard, L. & Bocin-Dumitriu, A. 2017: Resource estimation of eighty-two European shale formations. Proceedings of the 5th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, Austin, Texas, USA, 24–26 July, 2017. https://doi.org/10.15530/urtec-2017-2686270

How to cite: Schovsbo, N., Ladage, S., Mathiesen, A., Nelskamp, S., Stewart, M. A., and Britze, P.: Unconventional hydrocarbon resource plays in the North Sea Basin, Northwestern Europe, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-1558, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-1558, 2020.

EGU2020-20918 | Displays | ERE1.2

Overview of conventional hydrocarbon resources in the North Sea Basin – harmonization of assessments, cross-border play mapping and new concepts

Susanne Nelskamp, Margaret Steward, Niels Schovsbo, Stefan Ladage, Stefan Peeters, and Peter Britze

A cross-border assessment study looking at selected hydrocarbon systems is conducted as part of the EU Horizon 2020 GeoERA project (GARAH H2020 grant #731166 lead by GEUS). Within this project the geological surveys of the Netherlands (TNO), Germany (BGR), the United Kingdom (BGS) and Denmark (GEUS) are working together to create an overview of hydrocarbon resources and potential plays in the North Sea Basin. The project will harmonize the available resource assessments, and take a closer look at the play systems and potential new concepts. The focus of the work is on resolving border issues and identifying play concepts that are successful in one country but are underexplored in others. Potential risk factors related to subsurface exploration and production as well as options for multiple use of the subsurface will also be included in the overview. The results of the project will be published in report and GIS format and made available to legislators as well as the public.

Other parts of the project include the assessment of unconventional hydrocarbon plays (see Schovsbo et al. this conference), detailed basin and petroleum system modelling of a case study area in the Danish-German-Dutch offshore area (Lutz et al. this conference) and a pan-European database for gas hydrates (Léon et al. this conference).

How to cite: Nelskamp, S., Steward, M., Schovsbo, N., Ladage, S., Peeters, S., and Britze, P.: Overview of conventional hydrocarbon resources in the North Sea Basin – harmonization of assessments, cross-border play mapping and new concepts, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-20918, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20918, 2020.

EGU2020-6873 | Displays | ERE1.2

3D basin and petroleum system modelling in the North Sea Central Graben - a Dutch, German, Danish cross-border study

Rüdiger Lutz, Jashar Arfai, Susanne Nelskamp, Anders Mathiesen, Niels Hemmingsen Schovsbo, Stefan Ladage, Peter Britze, and Margaret Stewart

A Geological Analysis and Resource Assessment of selected Hydrocarbon Systems (GARAH) is carried out as part of the overarching GeoERA project. Here, we report first results of a 3D basin and petroleum system model developed in a cross-border area of the Dutch, Danish and German North Sea Central Graben area. This pilot study reconstructs the thermal history, maturity and petroleum generation of potential Lower, Middle and Upper Jurassic source rocks. The 3D pilot study incorporates new aggregated and combined layers from the three countries. Results of the study feed back into the 3DGEO-EU project of GeoERA.

Eight key horizons covering the whole German Central Graben and parts of the Dutch and Danish North Sea Central Graben were selected for building the stratigraphic and geological framework of the 3D basin and petroleum system model. The model includes depth and thickness maps of important stratigraphic units as well as the main salt structures. Petrophysical parameters, generalized facies information and organic geochemical data from well reports are assigned to the different key geological layers. The model is further calibrated with temperature and maturity data from wells of the three countries and from publications. The time span from the Late Permian to the Present is represented by the model including the most important erosional phases related to large-scale tectonic events during the Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. Additionally, salt movement through time expressed as diapirs and pillows is considered within the 3D basin and petroleum system model.

This is a part of an ongoing EU Horizon 2020 GeoERA project (The GARAH, H2020 grant #731166 lead by GEUS).

How to cite: Lutz, R., Arfai, J., Nelskamp, S., Mathiesen, A., Schovsbo, N. H., Ladage, S., Britze, P., and Stewart, M.: 3D basin and petroleum system modelling in the North Sea Central Graben - a Dutch, German, Danish cross-border study, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-6873, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-6873, 2020.

EGU2020-15823 | Displays | ERE1.2

Investigating geological processes and their links with geological structures through geomanifestations

Renata Barros, Kris Piessens, Helga Ferket, Nina Rman, and Éva Kun

GeoConnect³d introduced the concept of geomanifestations to define any distinct local expression of ongoing or past geological processes. These manifestations, or anomalies, often point to specific geologic conditions and, therefore, can be important sources of information to improve geological understanding of an area. Examples include seismicity, gas seeps, local compositional differences in groundwater and springs, thermal anomalies, mineral occurrences, jumps in hydraulic head, overpressured zones and geomorphological features. Geomanifestations are an addition to the structural framework model also being developed in GeoConnect³d, aiming to show where and how processes and structures may be linked.

Data on geomanifestations are being collected in three areas: the Roer-to-Rhine area of interest in northwest Europe, and the Mura-Zala Basin and Battonya High within the Pannonian Basin area of interest in Eastern Europe. A first assessment of available data showed that groundwater-related geomanifestations in the form of anomalies in chemical composition (enrichment in elements such as Fe, or hydrocarbon gases and CO2,) or temperature (thermal water springs, geothermal anomaly in wells) are mappable in all areas. These geomanifestations point to special geological features in each area, such as proximity to magmatic reservoirs, presence of deep-rooted faults and considerable differences in the subsurface relief (trough–high system of the basement) among others. These anomalies at times define spatial patterns, which might or not be represented in the structural framework model, thus demonstrating whether they can be explained by the current geological understanding embedded in the structural framework. With this first test, we conclude that data on groundwater-related geomanifestations add to the robustness of the structural framework model. Further investigations with other types of geomanifestations are foreseen.

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731166.

How to cite: Barros, R., Piessens, K., Ferket, H., Rman, N., and Kun, É.: Investigating geological processes and their links with geological structures through geomanifestations, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-15823, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-15823, 2020.

EGU2020-9579 | Displays | ERE1.2

The BSI indicator: preventing thermal interferences between groundwater heat pump systems

Alejandro García-Gil, Miguel Ángel Marazuela, Miguel Mejías Moreno, Enric Vázquez-Suñè, Eduardo Garrido Schneider, and José Ángel Sánchez-Navarro

Shallow geothermal systems are the most efficient and clean technology for the air-conditioning of buildings and constitutes an emergent renewable energy resource in the worldwide market. Undisturbed systems are capable of efficiently exchanging heat with the subsurface and transferring it to human infrastructures, providing the basis for the successful decarbonisation of heating and cooling demands of cities. Unmanaged intensive use of groundwater for thermal purposes as a shallow geothermal energy (SGE) resource in urban environments threatens the resources´ renewability and the systems´ performance, due to the thermal interferences created by a biased energy demand throughout the year. To ensure sustainability, scientifically-based criteria are required to prevent potential thermal interferences between geothermal systems. In this work, a management indicator (balanced sustainability index, BSI) applicable to groundwater heat pump systems is defined to assign a quantitative value of sustainability to each system, based on their intrinsic potential to produce thermal interference. The BSI indicator relies on the net heat balance transferred to the terrain throughout the year and the maximum seasonal thermal load associated. To define this indicator, 75 heating-cooling scenarios based in 23 real systems were established to cover all possible different operational conditions. The scenarios were simulated in a standard numerical model, adopted as a reference framework, and thermal impacts were evaluated. Two polynomial regression models were used for the interpolation of thermal impacts, thus allowing the direct calculation of the sustainability indicator developed as a function of heating-cooling ratios and maximum seasonal thermal loads. The BSI indicator could provide authorities and technicians with scientifically-based criteria to establish geothermal monitoring programs, which are critical to maintain the implementation rates and renewability of these systems in the cities.

How to cite: García-Gil, A., Marazuela, M. Á., Mejías Moreno, M., Vázquez-Suñè, E., Garrido Schneider, E., and Sánchez-Navarro, J. Á.: The BSI indicator: preventing thermal interferences between groundwater heat pump systems, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-9579, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-9579, 2020.

EGU2020-7947 | Displays | ERE1.2

Mineral resources - crucial components of a vital and wealthy society

Antje Wittenberg, Daniel P. S. de Oliveira, Javier González Sanz, Lisbeth Flindt Jørgensen, David Whitehead, and Tom Heldal

Changes in our world mean that Europe is facing many pressing demographic and geographic challenges. A growing, aging population coupled with changes in population density are causing environmental stresses to our ecosystem that when coupled with climate change create challenges in sustainable food production and the use of natural raw materials. At the same time, the Fridays For Future Movement is calling out loudly for Future and Climate Justice, CO2-neutrality, resource efficiency and (almost) closed material loops. These issues are already expressed by the 17 UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) and widely shared through the Paris Agreement. The European Union and the National Governments have launched many frameworks and action plans such as the European Green Deal to achieve a carbon-neutral economy and clean mobility for example. Certainly, any of those transformations and any infrastructure developments will require sustainably produced mineral raw materials to deliver key enabling technologies and to meet the needs of the Industry 4.0 society. Moreover, improvements in buildings such as energy efficiency through insulation technologies, other infrastructure developments and the Europe’s cultural heritage preservation add to the increasing demand in mineral resources.

The demand for ever increasing volumes of mineral resources cannot be met exclusively by recycling and thermodynamics does not allow for fully closed material loops. Hence, a sustainable supply of raw materials will always require accessibility to mineral deposits and productive mines while the effects of competing land-use issues and NIMBY activism are increasing too.

The realisation of a low-carbon society and a self-concept of reliable sourcing increasingly require short feed strokes and local sourcing. A good understanding of mineral systems, mining sites, and remaining resources of historical sites will stay of utmost importance. The four GeoERA Raw Materials projects* EuroLITHOS, FRAME, MINDeSEA and Mintell4EU share expertise, information and focus on European on-shore and off-shore resources.

EuroLITHOS gives specific attention to ornamental stone resources for which Europe has a long tradition in mining, processing and usage.

FRAME designed to research the Strategic and Critical Raw Materials (SCRM) in Europe to gain new insights into reserves and resources taking into account new technologies and developments.

MINDeSEA focuses on exploration and investigation of SCRM from seafloor mineral deposits in European waters. Identifying areas for responsible resourcing and information on management and Marine Spatial Planning in European Seas are in its core of action.

Mintell4EU focuses on harmonizing data, utilizes the UNFC, providing spatial data and thematic maps. Updated electronic Minerals Yearbook and Europe’s Minerals Inventory are among the products.

Foresight and forecasting of the raw material supply potential of Europe will become more reliable through increased data quality and harmonization. Workshops and training courses will add to ensure an improvement of the European Raw Materials Knowledge Base. GeoERA Raw Materials projects create valuable, accessible and public data, and information for policy-makers and end-users of geological data and minerals information in Europe.

 

[*] This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731166

How to cite: Wittenberg, A., de Oliveira, D. P. S., González Sanz, J., Flindt Jørgensen, L., Whitehead, D., and Heldal, T.: Mineral resources - crucial components of a vital and wealthy society, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-7947, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-7947, 2020.

EGU2020-7025 | Displays | ERE1.2

Lithium, Cobalt and Graphite occurrences in Europe, Results from GeoEra FRAME project wp 5

Håvard Gautneb, Eric Gloaguen, and Tuomo Törmänen

The H2020 GeoERAFRAME project (www.frame.lneg.pt) consists of a partnership of 11 European geological surveys. Geographical and geological information was collected including the genetic type of the different commodities. In the EU, data show that there are 1195 registered occurrences, prospects or deposits of Li, Co and graphite, of these only 17 are active. The data classify the occurrences according to their genetic type, occurrence type and production status. The data have been supplied from geological surveys national databases and in this compilation, we regard all Co deposits with a mean Co >100ppm as potential occurrences for Co. For the other commodities, Li bearing minerals or graphite must be identified or explored for to be included.
Even if our compilation has shown that the different national resource databases contain data of variable quality, with a lot of shortcomings, inconsistences and errors, the overall quality is good enough to assess the EU potential.

The Lithium deposits can be group into the following types: i) High grade Li deposits including Li-rich LCT pegmatites, rare metal granites and atypical stratiform deposits such as Jadar. The distribution of lithium in Europe shows a strong clustering highlighting the Li potential of the Variscan belt of south and central Europe. Representative examples are Sepeda pegmatites (103 000t Li2O – grade 1.0%) or Beauvoir rare-metal granite (325 260t Li2O – grade 0.78%). Medium-grade Li deposits are represented by hydrothermal deposits such as greisens and Li-bearing quartz veins associated to some peraluminous rare metal granites (Cinovec 2 715 010 Li2O – grade 0.42%).

Cobalt is a common minor constituent in a number of different ore types. In Europe, most of the known Co-bearing deposits and showings are clustering in the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden and Norway). In the Nordic countries, the deposits mostly represent magmatic Ni-Cu and Fe-Ti-V deposits and VMS deposits, whereas elsewhere in Europe genetic types are more varied from sediment-hosted, to lateritic and 5-element vein types, among others. The only active mines producing cobalt are located in Finland. Kevitsa mine in northern Finland is a large low-grade Ni-Cu-PGE deposit, which produced 591 t of Co in 2018. Kylylahti mine is a small-sized Outokumpu-type Cu-Zn-Ni-Co deposit, which produced 278 t of Co in 2018. Terrafame is a large, low-grade black-shale hosted Zn-Ni-Cu-Co mine that produces Co as by product to Ni and Zn.

Graphite is a common mineral in rocks throughout Europe. However, find economically interesting deposits are rare. The bulk of the graphite occurrences occur in Archean or Proterozoic rocks of Fennoscandia and Ukraine. In addition, a number of amorphous graphite occurrences are found in Phanerozoic rocks in Austria. There are also a large number of showings where the genetic type is unknown. Active mines are situated in Ukraine, Austria and Norway. The graphite bearing rocks are typically organic rich para-gneiss often associated with carbonates and iron formations. The graphite content varies from 2-3% up to over 40%. The Trælen deposit in Norway is the world’s richest graphite deposit in current production with an average ore grade of 31%.

How to cite: Gautneb, H., Gloaguen, E., and Törmänen, T.: Lithium, Cobalt and Graphite occurrences in Europe, Results from GeoEra FRAME project wp 5, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-7025, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-7025, 2020.

EGU2020-7931 | Displays | ERE1.2

Prospectivity mapping of niobium and tantalum in Europe; a part of the GEOERA- FRAME project

Martiya Sadeghi, Guillaume Bertrand, Helge Reginiussen, Nikolas Arvanitidis, Erik Jonsson, and Daniel P.S. de Oliveira

The prime aim of work package (WP) 3 in the FRAME project is to produce a map of Strategic and Critical Raw Materials (SCRM) for Europe, including the so-called energy and conflict minerals. In cooperation with other FRAME WPs, there was a consensus on the methodology used for the identification and selection process of the Strategic and Critical Raw Materials (SCRM) to be included in the metallogenetic map, linked mainly to information collected from existing databases (DB), such as Minerals4EU (M4EU) and European Geological Data Infrastructure (EGDI). 

One main objective of WP3 is the predictive targeting based on GIS exploration tools and prospectivity assessments at continental scale. Two types of prospectivity mapping have been produced in this WP3 based on different knowledge and data-driven methods. The first method applies the latest developments in “data driven” mineral prospectivity that allows mapping at continental scale, such as the “Cell Based Association" (CBA) one method developed by BRGM. CBA is an alternative to GIS-supported prospectivity methods. It has been developed to better manage uncertainties related to cartographic data which are highly significant at continental scale. The second method is using the hybrid fuzzy weights-of-evidence (WofE) model for mineral potential mapping.

SCRM may be recovered either as primary commodities or as by-products. Carbonatite-related deposits are the primary sources of many CRM such as REEs, niobium (Nb) and tantalum (Ta). Granitic pegmatite deposits are currently the principal source of Ta. Compilation of Nb and Ta occurrences/deposits in Europe is currently going on within FRAME WP6 (see separate presentation by Reginiussen et al., this conference). The data has been used for the spatial analysis and prospectivity mapping related to geology and geotectonic and metallogenic setting at European scale.

The results of our prospectivity mapping highlight several Nb and Ta mineral potential areas related to evolved granite to leucogranite bodies mostly in Scandinavia, Spain, France and Portugal, e.g Morille-Martinamor district, Fontão and Penouta where previous exploration activities on those elements were carried out in past. The late Neoproterozoic to early Cambrian Schist-Greywacke Complex (SGC) of the Variscan belt, in Central Iberian Zone, is also indicated as favourable area for Nb and Ta. Pegmatites in the Campo Mineiro De Lagares in the CIZ are another area of interest. Pegmatites in central Iberian zone is another area of interest, as is the case for Campo Mineiro De Lagares. The late Neoproterozoic to early Cambrian Schist-Greywacke Complex (SGC) of the Variscan belt, in Central Iberian Zone, is also indicated as favourable area for Nb and Ta. . In Sweden, the pegmatites of the Varuträskt area, close to Skellefteå, dated to c. 1.8-1.77 Ga, are clearly highlighted in the prospectivity maps. The areas related to Fennoscandian carbonatites appear also to be strongly favourable as Nb and Ta mineral potential targets. In the northern, central and southern parts of Sweden, high to moderately favourable areas are related to the numerous individual and granitic pegmatite dykes of Proterozoic age.

How to cite: Sadeghi, M., Bertrand, G., Reginiussen, H., Arvanitidis, N., Jonsson, E., and de Oliveira, D. P. S.: Prospectivity mapping of niobium and tantalum in Europe; a part of the GEOERA- FRAME project , EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-7931, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-7931, 2020.

EGU2020-10228 | Displays | ERE1.2

FRAME: towards conflict-free Nb-Ta for the European Union

Helge Reginiussen, Erik Jonsson, Susana María Timón Sánchez, Alejandro Díez Montes, Klemen Teran, Rute Salgueiro, Augusto Filipe, Carlos Inverno, and Daniel P.S. de Oliveira

The GeoERA FRAME project focuses on several of the main raw material-related objectives of the EU Commission. FRAME work package 6 (WP6), targets so-called conflict minerals, chiefly those mined to extract niobium (Nb) and tantalum (Ta).  These chemically related critical metals are essential components in a range of applications and products including electronics, steel alloys and superalloys widely required by the European industry. Today, significant amounts of Ta and associated Nb are sourced as conflict minerals from the central African region, not least the DRC (Congo-Kinshasa).

A main objective of FRAME WP6 is to do a survey of the European distribution of these metals and their deposits, thus enhancing their exploration interest and potential to help enable ethical and indigenous production for the EU.

While WP6 compiles data on Nb-Ta mineralisations from the whole of Europe, the main focus is put on the Swedish part of the Fennoscandian Shield and the Iberian Variscan Massif.

The Nb-Ta mineralisations of the Iberian Peninsula belong to the southwestern extension of the European Variscan Belt. From both an economic and a metallogenetic point of view, the most interesting Nb-Ta deposits in Spain are those in which mineralisation occurs as disseminations throughout small leucogranite bodies, as is the case for the deposits Golpejas, El Trasquilón, Fontao, Penouta and in some occurrences of the Morille-Martinamor district. These have been exploited previously for Sn, Ta-Nb, and/or W. Penouta, which is the biggest known Ta-deposit in Spain, was mined intermittently between 1906-1985. The mine has recently started re-processing old tailings. Most Nb-Ta mineralisations in the Fennoscandian Shield are hosted by LCT-type (lithium-cesium-tantalum-enriched) granitic pegmatites that occur mainly in regions featuring abundant Palaeoproterozoic low to low- medium-grade metasedimentary rocks and associated S-type granites. Some of these have been studied during different earlier exploration campaigns. NYF-type (niobium-yttrium-fluorine-enriched) granitic pegmatites occur as individual dykes and fields throughout the Proterozoic bedrock of Sweden. Research in WP6 will focus on a few selected Swedish deposits and occurrences including Järkvissle and Bergby in central Sweden, as well as Stripåsen, Utö and other rare-element pegmatites in the Bergslagen province. Emphasis during the start of the project was to identify key areas and mineralisations within these two regions that can be studied in detail.

Based on available information in the databases and archives of the partner surveys, a list of Nb-Ta occurrences and deposits has been produced. Ultimately, at the end of the project, a report on the distribution and systematics of Nb-Ta mineralisations in Europe will also be produced. Prospective regions and their character of mineralisation will be summarized together with the overall European potential, in order to develop recommendations for future exploration. Furthermore, a discussion of conditions of Nb-Ta production in central Africa with the aim to suggest improvement to these issues will be made. The potential of intra-European production of Nb-Ta to decrease the present near-total dependence on imports will also be assessed. As another outcome, an Inspire-compatible pan-European dataset of Nb-Ta mineralisations will be provided to the GeoERA information platform.

How to cite: Reginiussen, H., Jonsson, E., Timón Sánchez, S. M., Díez Montes, A., Teran, K., Salgueiro, R., Filipe, A., Inverno, C., and de Oliveira, D. P. S.: FRAME: towards conflict-free Nb-Ta for the European Union , EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-10228, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10228, 2020.

EGU2020-16935 | Displays | ERE1.2

Mintell4EU – Mineral Intelligence for Europe – a GeoERA project to improve and sustain the European raw materials knowledge base.

David Whitehead, Lisbeth Flindt Jørgensen, Mikael Pedersen, Teresa Brown, Špela Kumelj, Kari Aslaksen Aasly, and Ulrich Clain

There is a need for comprehensive, up-to-date, reliable and harmonised cross-border information on raw materials to improve resource efficiency across Europe. The Mintell4EU project builds on the achievements of previous projects such as Minerals4EU, ProSUM and Minventory to deliver data on the spatial distribution, production, trade, resource potential and levels of exploration activity to support decision making in government and industry.

The project has four principle components. The first component involves updating production, trade and exploration statistical data within the electronic European minerals yearbook. The second component includes extending the spatial coverage and improvement of spatial data quality within the Minerals4EU database. The third component will demonstrate how the application of the United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC) will provide a tool that can be used to more accurately assess European mineral inventories. The final component involves consolidating the electronic European minerals yearbook into the Minerals4EU database used for external systems such as the European Geological Data Infrastructure (EGDI) and the Joint Research Center’s Raw Materials Information System (RMIS). Another important goal of the project is to create a sustainable platform for raw materials.

The project works in collaboration with other GeoERA projects within the theme of raw materials such as FRAME and the GeoERA Information Platform Project (GIP-P). This collaboration is critical in ensuring data harmonisation across projects, regions and focus areas. Improvements in the quality and availability of data that are available through the web portal on the project home page https://geoera.eu/projects/mintell4eu7/ have already been achieved. Work will continue on improving the availability and relevance of raw material data throughout the remainder of the project. This will lead to improved foresight of the raw material supply situation and potential of Europe within the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731166

How to cite: Whitehead, D., Flindt Jørgensen, L., Pedersen, M., Brown, T., Kumelj, Š., Aslaksen Aasly, K., and Clain, U.: Mintell4EU – Mineral Intelligence for Europe – a GeoERA project to improve and sustain the European raw materials knowledge base., EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-16935, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-16935, 2020.

EGU2020-20781 | Displays | ERE1.2

Atlas of European ornamental stone resources

Tom Heldal, Jorge Carvalho, Željko Dedić, and Kostas Laskarides

Ornamental stone is today a raw material produced with great skills all over Europe, SME's and larger enterprises exploiting the vast diversity of European ornamental stone resources. Today's European stone industry is not only large and important but also highly dispersed throughout Europe, making a backbone industry for particularly rural areas. In Italy alone, there are more than 1000 stone quarrying enterprises and the sector in total employed more than 50 000 in 2011. Ornamental stone has contributed significantly in shaping our rural and urban landscapes, through its use in our built heritage from different historical periods. Yet, the actual use of local and regional stone resources in Europe is under threat due to sterilization of resources by urbanisation, infrastructure development and other land uses. Consequently, important resources are “unknowingly” lost for future production, and so are vital geological knowledge and skills for producing them. Loss of such resources will not only make it more difficult to maintain and restore our architectural heritage, but also prevent the use of traditional materials in the future.

The motivation behind the EuroLithos project, as a part of the GeoERA partnership, was to reverse this gradual process of loss, by providing a European scale knowledge base for ornamental stone resources; their spatial occurrence and distribution, their technical properties and quality, as well as providing guidelines for how to assess economic and non-economic values.

A major challenge in the project is to collect data from many national repositories and display them in a harmonised way. The spatial extent of ornamental stone resources can basically be measured by the spatial distribution of the geological units containing the valuable quarries and future resources of same quality. Another challenge is how to link geological units with ornamental stone commodities of the INSPIRE standard, and a third is how to collect and display technical information about ornamental stone and how to link that to the spatial data. So far, EuroLithos has provided agreement among 15 partners in 14 countries on how to meet these challenges, and guidelines on how to deliver data according to this agreement. Ongoing, 12 case studies across Europe covering different aspects of resource valorisation are currently running. Eurolithos will be running until July 2021, and more results can be viewed at www.eurolithos.org.

How to cite: Heldal, T., Carvalho, J., Dedić, Ž., and Laskarides, K.: Atlas of European ornamental stone resources, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-20781, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20781, 2020.

EGU2020-22091 | Displays | ERE1.2

Hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts from European seas: source of potentially economic cobalt mining.

Egidio Marino, Javier González, Teresa Medialdea, Luis Somoza, Rosario Lunar, Pedro Ferreira, Thomas Kuhn, James R. Hein, Vitor Magalhaes, and Iker Blasco

The world increasing demand of electric vehicles (EVs) that use lithium-ion batteries (LIB), in which cobalt is one of the essential elements, focused the attention on its demand that is calculated will increase of 7-13% annually until 2030. The actual production of cobalt, usually extract as by-product of nickel and copper mine, is reduced to almost 20 countries between which the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the bigger producer with 55% of the world production. In Europe cobalt is produced only in Finland that actually provides 2.300 tonnes, the 2% of the world production. In this way several projects have been promoted by European Union, with the Raw Material Initiative, in order to find and evaluate the sustainable production of important materials in Europe.

MINDeSEA[1] project is part of the GeoERA and represent the collaboration of 12 national geological institution partners, to characterize marine deposits and their contents in Critical Raw Materials (CRM) and to generate a comprehensive cartography and metallogenic models of them. The first preliminary map produced in 2019 represents the localization and evaluation of cobalt rich deposits in the oceans within the EEZ and ECS of the European countries.  Cobalt deposits are represented essentially by hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts located essentially in the Macaronesian area of the north east Atlantic Ocean (in the Portugal and Spain), submarine plateaus, as the Galicia Bank (in the north west Spanish) and in the Arctic Ocean ridges (Norway and Iceland). The report differentiates between occurrences (<0.05 wt. %) and deposits (>0.05 wt. %), with the possibility of more than 200 Mt resources per potential deposit.

Detailed mineralogical, geochemical and metallogenic studies are being developed in crusts from the Macaronesia. Fe-Mn crusts absorb dissolved elements in seawaters on the surface of the fresh precipitated oxy-hydroxides during their slow growth through millions of years. Several elements are concentrated in Fe-Mn crusts and between them cobalt is one of the most enriched trace metals (average 0.6 wt. %) accompanied by other strategic and critical metals such as nickel, copper, tellurium, molybdenum and rare earth elements plus yttrium (REY) (respectively 3000, 500, 150, 500 and 3500 µg/g). Micro Raman and micro X-Ray diffraction can be used to differentiate the mineralogy in laminae of less than 20 microns. On the other hand, electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), are useful in order to quantify contents of CRM in the different mineral phases. These are innovative techniques in order to identify critical-elements bearing minerals and thus choose the metallurgic method for a more efficient and sustainable extraction of the interesting elements.

The evaluation of a seamount as a future mine site has to take into account all these mineralogical and chemical features as well as a proper knowledge of the seamount (morpho-structure, geology, oceanography, ecosystems) and the Fe-Mn crust thickness and extension


[1] This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731166

How to cite: Marino, E., González, J., Medialdea, T., Somoza, L., Lunar, R., Ferreira, P., Kuhn, T., Hein, J. R., Magalhaes, V., and Blasco, I.: Hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts from European seas: source of potentially economic cobalt mining., EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-22091, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-22091, 2020.

ERE1.4 – The Environment and Smart Circular Economy and Cities: A New Geo management Approach

EGU2020-12854 | Displays | ERE1.4

Potential of nature-based solutions for creating resourceful circular cities

Günter Langergraber and Natasa Atanasova

The COST Action Circular City (CA17133; "Implementing nature-based solutions for creating a resourceful circular city") aims to establish a network testing the hypothesis that a circular flow system that implements nature-based solutions (NBS) for managing nutrients and resources within the urban biosphere will lead to a resilient, sustainable and healthy urban environment. To date, most NBS are implemented serving only one single purpose. Adopting the concept of circular economy by combining different types of services and returning resources to the city, would increase the benefits gained for urban areas.

The Action's main output will be a guideline on combined NBS and circular economy possibilities within the urban environment. The work to achieve this will be carried out in five working groups (WGs):

  • WG1 "Built environment" investigates the NBS - circular economy aspect on building and settlement level with the main focus on vegetated building materials and resources to be obtained from the corresponding NBS.
  • WG2 "Sustainable urban water utilization" considers the implementation of a save and functional water cycle within the urban biosphere, defines available resources within the water flow, performs risk assessment on urban water and evaluates NBS for storm water management and waste water treatment.
  • WG3 "Resource recovery" aims to transform implemented NBS for mitigation or treatment purposes to sources for a variety of resources to be harvested, used, reused and recycled.
  • WG4 "Urban Farming" facilitates the implementation of urban farming with main purpose of food production within a city, but additionally paying close attention to other resources available from urban farming, usually considered waste.
  • Last but not least, WG5 "Transformation tools" coordinates and leads the interdisciplinary activities between the WGs with the main aim to facilitate implementation of NBS in circular cities by 1) investigate performance-based assessment tools, 2) developing simplified tools and information for stakeholders, and 3) establish public relations strategies and approaches.

The contribution will present the results already achieved by the WGs by summarizing main results from the review papers each WG has produced.

How to cite: Langergraber, G. and Atanasova, N.: Potential of nature-based solutions for creating resourceful circular cities, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-12854, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-12854, 2020.

EGU2020-9171 | Displays | ERE1.4 | Highlight

A missing link - site resource inventories for the circular city

Gösta Baganz, Daniela Baganz, Georg Staaks, and Werner Kloas

The concept of the circular city (CC) can be employed to mitigate the impact of the Food-Water-Energy Nexus on the environment at the local as well as the global level. The CC is based on circular economy (CE) ideas, where one of the key elements is coupling: unused and/or waste output of CE-entities can be used as input to other CE-entities. Due to the nature of some CE-entities, they need to be located in the proximity of other suitable CE-entities within the build environment.

Policies and strategies on the level of the EU, city, or district deliver an orientation; zoning law and building codes sets the legal frame when integrating a CE undertaking into the urban fabric. Based on the requirements of a planned CE-entity with a known configuration at a given location, comprehensive information is needed (1) on the infrastructure available, (2) where other usable CE-entities are situated, and (3) which qualities and respective quantities they offer. This may be, to name few, separate sewerage equipped buildings able to deliver grey water or facilities with excess heat on the output side; or entities which accept organic waste as input, e.g. biogas plants.

A site resource inventory using different data would unveil urban sources available on a given site to support business location decisions. One data source for a site resource inventory is the geodata infrastructure maintained by the authorities, e.g. the Berlin Geodata Portal. Information is centrally collected and published; but that comes with some restrictions: a rather fixed information structure, low update rate, and no means for user conducted error corrections. A further data source is volunteered geographic information as provided by OpenSteetMap (OSM), where every user can add and change content. OSM relies heavily on tags which describe specific features of map elements, but the standard tags of OSM are of only little use for the CC. Recently an ongoing project on OSM improve the semantic granularity by the introduction of specific CE-tags. This CE-project puts the main focus on locations. But there is further need for extending the range of the tags to enable CC siting by supporting attributes of CE-entities with regard to their material flows. 

The CC food sector and likewise urban agriculture (UA) bears potential towards sustainability if resource efficient food production technologies are used as CE-entities such as aquaponics, the coupled production of fish and vegetables.

Agriculture In the rural environment often uses single-story buildings which are inappropriate in urban contexts where low land consumption is required. On the next level, the roofs, there is much unused space available but competing claims are made, such as green roofs, recreation, housing, thermal and photovoltaic solar use as well as UA solutions like greenhouses. Urban aquaponics as a CE-entity is used exemplarily to propose OSM tags which can evolve to a CE tagging system - thus manifesting a new geodata management approach for a circular city.

How to cite: Baganz, G., Baganz, D., Staaks, G., and Kloas, W.: A missing link - site resource inventories for the circular city, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-9171, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-9171, 2020.

EGU2020-1834 | Displays | ERE1.4

Closing urban resource cycles through nature-inspired systems

Maria Wirth and Johannes Kisser

The present-day urban system is characterised by a one-directional flow of resources from the rural environment into cities. Cities are centres of human and economic activity, but also of resource use and waste. Therefore, they play both a critical and promising role to support the transition to a circular economy, by keeping incoming products, materials and resources in use. This requires a redesign of biological and technical material cycles in a way that their value can be maintained at the highest possible level for as long as possible, while at the same time natural systems are restored. How can we rethink urban infrastructures to transform cities from resource sinks into circular resource transformation hubs? And how can nature-inspired systems help us to create circular cities?

alchemia-nova is developing integrated, regenerative systems to close water, nutrient, material and energy cycles in cities, centred around buildings as multifunctional service providers. They include building-integrated nature-based solutions for small-scale on-site wastewater treatment, combined with organic solids management to platform chemicals, biogas and nutrients. This approach can enable the efficient valorisation of the high resource potential of urban nutrient flows, with near zero-energy and chemical input. This way, they provide a more efficient, robust and resilient alternative to the predominant chemical and energy-intensive end-of-pipe approaches to circular cities. Water and nutrients can be safely reused in urban and peri-urban agriculture, renewable energy produced on site, biomass and other solid waste further processed to secondary materials, while also gaining the multifunctional benefits of urban greening. These systems are being demonstrated through the EU H2020 HOUSEFUL project in Austria and Spain, complimented by demonstration sites in Greece (EU H2020 HYDROUSA project), thus ensuring their applicability in highly industrialised infrastructure and temperate climatic conditions, as well as in less developed communal infrastructure and Mediterranean arid climatic conditions. HOUSEFUL’s integrated management approach includes circular materials management along the entire housing value chain, e.g. to enable local sourcing of building materials. Together, the robust, low-maintenance technologies and circular materials management contribute to the creation of distributed resource transformation hubs across cities, where value is maintained, and secondary resources captured and recirculated where they occur, creating more efficient and more resilient circular cities, and a wider circular economy.

The research conducted in preparation of this presentation as well as the participation at NGU 2020 is funded by the EU-funded HOUSEFUL project (Grant Agreement number 776708).

HOUSEFUL online: http://houseful.eu/solutions/searching-local-building-material/

How to cite: Wirth, M. and Kisser, J.: Closing urban resource cycles through nature-inspired systems, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-1834, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-1834, 2020.

EGU2020-787 | Displays | ERE1.4 | Highlight

Towards Eco-circular economy worldwide

Sergiu Șișcan

Nowadays the global ecological crisis continues aggravating. The environmental issues are on agenda, getting increased public attention (e.g. protests caused by waste problems and climate change all around the world). Depleting resources, trash mountains, garbage islands, toxic emissions etc. require change of economy model from linear (resource extraction-production-usage-throwing away) to the circular one (recycled resource-production-usage-recycling). More than that, multiple waste use as well as resources reuse may bring to business and economy billions of dollars.

The very idea of recycle is practiced in the world since long ago. However, it has been done by few resources (collection of waste paper, scrub metal, glass bottles etc.) without shaping an economic system as a whole.

Another problematic issue is that the recycling does not always means to be ecological. The mode of recycling in countries with low eco-standards results in heavy pollution (e.g. e-waste “recycling” by fire at open air in Africa, India leads to emission of toxins; ship recycling in Bangladesh leads to polluted beaches and water). Methods of recycling in developing countries often are primitive and may be dangerous. Sometimes, entrepreneurs from developed countries are responsible for such state of affairs. They send legally or illegally part of wastes for that primitive recycling in developing countries. It is important to have awareness of the fact that everything is interdependent. If one part of the Earth is full of toxins and harmful fumes, its other part is inevitably affected over time. It is necessary to carry out recycling in all countries establishing strict environmental laws worldwide, and to make it based on smart technologies.

Circular economy in its narrowest sense is an economy that simply processes waste.
A serious change in business models, public mentality and government policies is necessary to get to environmentally friendly economy. It aims at lengthening the use cycle of goods (e.g. clothes, mobile phones) and minimizing the personal waste of every citizen. The EU household’s food waste was estimated to be 47 million tons (EU FUSIONS, 2016). “More than 30% of clothes in Europeans’ wardrobes have not been used for at least a year. Once discarded, over half the garments are not recycled but end up in mixed household waste and are sent to incinerators or landfill” (EPRS, 2019). YouGov Omnibus research: a third (34%) of respondents of Singapore have thrown away an item of clothing after wearing it just once. (YouGov, 2017).

Thus, effective circular economy is not just about re-processing and saving resources but, first, emphasizes its focus on greening environment and reducing waste as it is, becoming an eco-circular economy. Secondly, it calls forth measures at not only national or regional level, but also proceeding from “Earth is our common home”, worldwide.

How to cite: Șișcan, S.: Towards Eco-circular economy worldwide, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-787, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-787, 2020.

EGU2020-3855 | Displays | ERE1.4

Rethinking the production and consumption on the transition

Heikki Ruohomaa, Vesa Salminen, and Tapani Pöykkä

Abstract. The new opportunities offered by technologies have caused societies to break through towards the fourth industrial transformation. It will change the whole society and its structures alongside the business and the transition process is still speeding. The world is also facing big megatrends like global warming, urbanization, digitalization, new revolutionary technologies.

Like the industrial revolutions before, the whole paradigm of society is changing, and it will happen also in the fourth industrial revolution, so there is a need to think how we should take a step towards to the new paradigm, so that we could be able to response to future challenges on sustainable way.

The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) technologies like sensor, IoT-platforms, artificial intelligence etc., give new possibilities to develop new, more efficient, more sustainable and more customer driven supply chain, prolong the lifetime of products and create new services and business models and this way reduce the use of materials of energy. There is also an argument to rethink the source of raw material, and in which extent the cities itself could be seen the source of needed materials and energy, by using new technology.

The move towards new ICT based technologies will happen unexpected fast, including exponential growth of data. That is the reason, why it is essential to understand the challenges of change and have a strategic view, identify the key elements and see the new opportunities in all levels of society development.

Circular Economy has been very much a hot topic in many discussions, but there has been quite little discussion about reengineering the value chains and production based on circular economy principles by using the new opportunities on 4IR technologies not only in production but also in creating service, which change the need/thinking of ownership and build new business models. In addition to this, the elements to improve business environment by local or national authorities and legislators.

Finland has is as a goal to develop to one of the leading countries in circular economy, In Finland, Forssa region is considered to be one of the most advanced region in bio-based circular economy.

In this article has been described the development of regional industrial symbiosis in order to have competitive of business and future development.

How to cite: Ruohomaa, H., Salminen, V., and Pöykkä, T.: Rethinking the production and consumption on the transition, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-3855, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-3855, 2020.

Klaus Wagner, Sigrid Egartner, Heidelinde Grüneis, Karin Heinschink, Julia Niedermayr

Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research

Dietrichgasse 27, 1030 Vienna, Austria

Tel: +43 1 71100 637426, Contact: klaus.wagner@bab.gv.at, www.bab.gv.at

 

“Living Lab Research Concept in Rural Areas” (LIVERUR) is an EU-H2020 programme funded project, running from 2018 to 2021. The LIVERUR consortium consists of 23 partners from 13 countries, coordinated by Universida Catolica de Murcia (Spain), see https://liverur.eu.

 

The project aims at modernising small and medium rural businesses in the EU and its neighbouring countries by introducing the Rural Living Lab research methodology. It will identify, analyse and test various specific rural business model approaches. It drafts a new Regional Circular Living Lab Business Model Concept (RAIN) - integrating living lab-, circular economy- and multi-actor approaches as well as open innovation, ecologic, economic and social sustainability with support of innovative ICT solutions. The RAIN concept helps enterprises and organisations to design their sustainable, innovative and contemporary business models.

 

Based on theoretical and empirical analyses the RAIN concept is structured according to three different layers:

  • The Core Elements describe the business model with respect to the topics vision/business idea, people, resources, implementation/development, management/organization, financial aspects, product/service/process, research/innovation, marketing/distribution;
  • In order to enrich the business model the so called RAIN Principles (Ecologic, economic and social sustainability, circular economy, open innovation, stakeholder involvement, openness, ICT) should be taken into consideration in each Core Element;
  • Last but not least, external influences on the project or activity – the Real Life Setting – has to be reflected and included in the business model (environment and climate, economic and societal context, legal and institutional framework, technical and social infrastructure, food security and safety).

 

In LIVERUR 20 projects in 13 pilot regions will be developed based on the RAIN concept. The topics are widespread but all are of high importance in rural regions, e.g. regional food sovereignty, utilization of organic waste, local online-marketing, agriculture-tourism cooperation, sustainable milk-production, energy-production.

 

The contribution will focus on the development and description of the RAIN concept and its steps of application.

 

LIVERUR has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 773757

How to cite: Wagner, K.: RAIN - A Living Lab Concept for Circular Economy, Cooperation and Innovation in Rural Regions, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-1297, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-1297, 2020.

EGU2020-20788 | Displays | ERE1.4

Transdisciplinary research towards transsectoral implementation

Martin Regelsberger, Astrid Allesch, Benedikt Becsi, Verena Germann, Georg Gratzer, Astrid Gühnemann, Laura Hundscheid, Annemarie Körfgen, Christian Kozina, Helmuth Kreiner, Thomas Lindenthal, Maximilian Manderscheid, Sophia-Marie Rammler, Marco Scherz, Ingeborg Schwarzl, Werner Toth, and Harald Vacik

Research is ever deepening its knowledge in a multitude of fields. Such research contributes in great depth to identifying and understanding problems (e.g. in the field of climate change). However, when it comes to societal implementation, it may ultimately lead to zero knowledge at infinite depth, as it has been ironically put. To tackle sustainability, respectively to achieve the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) set by the UN, science has to come together and work in transdisciplinary teams. Scientists are poorly prepared for such an exercise and standard procedures of scientific work, sharing and publication of results in specialised conferences and journals do not help.

In view of this problem, the Austrian Alliance of Sustainable Universities and research centres has created a project, UniNEtZ (Universities and Sustainable Development Goals), to jointly address the issues raised by the SDGs and develop suggestions for policies in a multidisciplinary approach. In order to facilitate this for the scientists involved, UniNEtZ is preparing collaborative measures and methods to address the issue of cooperation between disciplines to guarantee that all important interactions among SDGs are considered and addressed in equal detail. It is expected that changes in the way science and scientists are used to work together are necessary to achieve that. The developed concepts will be published in a handbook for UniNEtZ,

In a next step, the  handbook also hints at the need for municipal, regional, and national administrations to transition towards a kind of governance, that enables implementation of policies towards the SDGs. Current hierarchically organised structures don’t seem ideal for the kind of transsectoral cooperation that will be needed to implement the expected measures.

The contribution presents the findings of this work on cooperative research and governance structures.

Keywords: SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals, transdisciplinary research, transsectoral implementation

How to cite: Regelsberger, M., Allesch, A., Becsi, B., Germann, V., Gratzer, G., Gühnemann, A., Hundscheid, L., Körfgen, A., Kozina, C., Kreiner, H., Lindenthal, T., Manderscheid, M., Rammler, S.-M., Scherz, M., Schwarzl, I., Toth, W., and Vacik, H.: Transdisciplinary research towards transsectoral implementation, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-20788, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20788, 2020.

EGU2020-6097 | Displays | ERE1.4

Transdisciplinary assessments for circular city design: identifying systemic water-energy-food nexus hotspots in metropolitan Barcelona

Cristina Madrid-Lopez, Angelica Mendoza-Beltran, Roc Padro Caminal, Tarik Serrano Tovar, Joan Marull, and Gara Villalba

Green spaces are known to provide a number of benefits to urban areas. In order to make green spaces more accessible to people in urban regions, the EU has launched some important initiatives that place green infrastructure (GI) development as a top priority in urban planning, contributing to the paradigm of making more sustainable and smarter cities for everyone.  However, some GI development might bring unexpected impacts that are observable only with a systemic analysis. For instance, an increased surface of green rooftops might serve as a source of local food production and reduce the need of the buildings’ air conditioning at the expense of increased water and fertilizer use. Despite this shift of focus in urban planning priorities, few studies assess tradeoffs between water, energy and food metabolism of different GI alternatives. An important reason for this gap is that current methods for the analysis of the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus in the urban metabolism lack a transdisciplinary approach.

To fill that gap, we propose using two system analysis methods: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Multi-Scale Integrated Assessment of SocioEcosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM), to assess the WEF nexus in an urban region in the context of GI. Furthermore, the WEF flows are georeferenced to understand their impact on the urban landscape.  Based on this georeferenced analysis of land use and land use change, we 1) complete an inventory of functions associated to different land uses with their related inputs and outputs, 2) study function-related environmental pressures with LCA, and 3) assess the systemic impacts of relevant functions over domestic and alien ecosystems and WEF supply systems.

We develop this innovative approach using the municipality of Sant Climent de Llobregat, in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), as a case study. Sant Climent covers 1.6% of the AMB surface and is currently undergoing a GI restructuring process focused on recovering formal agricultural land (currently lost to forest)  for highly profitable cherry production. We provide a systemic study that informs about the resource demand and environmental impacts these changes may imply. Data is compiled in collaboration with regional research centers, from local utility companies, planning offices of different towns, statistical yearbooks for Catalonia and Spain, and LCA databases. The work is an on-going collaboration with the AMB government as it develops the Urban Development Plant (PDU) that will set the land use related urbanism policy guidelines from 2021 on. We present a diagnose of the current state of the WEF metabolism in Sant Climent. We identify geographically explicit hotspots, where competition of the resources and unexpected domestic or alien environmental impacts arise.  These hotspots are compared against land to be transformed to highlight the best and worst areas for transformation. We expect that in a later stage, these results will feed a scenario assessment of the systemic impacts of the proposed actions of the new PDU.

This work is part of the research developed in the ERC Project URBAG: Integrated System Analysis of Urban Vegetation and Agriculture.

How to cite: Madrid-Lopez, C., Mendoza-Beltran, A., Padro Caminal, R., Serrano Tovar, T., Marull, J., and Villalba, G.: Transdisciplinary assessments for circular city design: identifying systemic water-energy-food nexus hotspots in metropolitan Barcelona, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-6097, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-6097, 2020.

EGU2020-17956 | Displays | ERE1.4

The Role of Multi-scale Approach in Planning and Design of Circular Cities: Mapping the Nexus Between Urban and Natural

Jelena Ristic Trajkovic, Verica Krstic, and Aleksandra Milovanovic

The focus of this research is how a multi-scale approach in geospatial information and mapping can contribute to the planning and design of more connected, inclusive, healthy, climate-friendly, and multi-functional circular urban environments. The research addresses the relation between socio-ecological and economic aspects of city development on different spatial levels as a key challenge of European cities. This requires a multidisciplinary and integrative approach to produce effective strategic scenarios of urban development. This methodology is focused on multi-scale analyzes of environmental relationships and provides a flexible framework for improvement of the planning and design of circular cities. Through these advantages, the applied methodology can allow for more flexible identification and improvement of nexus between urban and natural.

One of the basic problems for achieving circularity in urban development is the discontinuous and unplanned urbanization. Such developmental characteristics of cities, as well as the increasing need for nature and biodiversity in cities, necessitated the search for new ecological approaches and principles for their implementation in the process of spatial planning and urban design.  The central research question in the context of sustainable spatial development has become how to ensure multiple balances in-between social, cultural and economic versus ecological systems.

In order to improve the existing circularity and built-natural relations, it is necessary to develop a more complex mapping system which involves planning systems of smaller-scale natural-ecological units integrated into the existing urban structure and connecting them with linear natural-ecological elements. In this sense, the multi-scale methodology is not only reflected in the evaluation of the current situation but also can be used as a tool for testing the variant development opportunities toward circular cities.

The applicability of the developed methodology has been tested within the spatial framework of Belgrade, while the result is a series of critical maps illustrating the nexus between urban and natural in the city.

Acknowledgment: This research was realized as a part of the project “Research and systematization of housing development in Serbia in the context of globalization and European integrations for the purpose of improving housing quality and standards” (TR36034) financed by the Ministry of Education and financed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia and COST Action CA17133 - Implementing nature-based solutions for creating a resourceful circular city.

How to cite: Ristic Trajkovic, J., Krstic, V., and Milovanovic, A.: The Role of Multi-scale Approach in Planning and Design of Circular Cities: Mapping the Nexus Between Urban and Natural, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-17956, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-17956, 2020.

EGU2020-10290 | Displays | ERE1.4

Improving The Municipal Solid Waste Management Plan Of The Municipality Of Nemocón (Colombia)

Camilo Andrés Vargas Terranova and Javier Rodrigo Ilarri

IMPROVING THE MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF NEMOCÓN (COLOMBIA)

CAMILO-ANDRÉS VARGAS-TERRANOVA(1) and JAVIER RODRIGO-ILARRI(2)

(1)Universidad de La Salle, Bogotá, Colombia (cvterranova@unisalle.edu.co)

(2)Instituto de Ingeniería del Agua y del Medio Ambiente (IIAMA), Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain (jrodrigo@upv.es)

 

ABSTRACT

The municipality of Nemocón (Colombia) located 45 km from Bogotá generates 810.3 t/year of municipal solid waste (MSW). Despite the Colombian national legal requirements, Nemocón Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) shows important deficiencies in the waste management system, especially concerning the final destination of waste.

During 2019 a set of activities have been performed in the town as an initial response to these needs with the participation of the community and local authorities. First, the design of the waste collection routes was analyzed and improved. Two routes were designed, supported by compacting vehicles with an average time of 3 hours (80 km per route) and 3 routes per week each. Besides, two shorter routes were designed for the collection of recyclable waste, supported by hand-drawn vehicles, with operating times of 6 hours (8-10 km per route) and daily routes.

With the support of students from the University of La Salle and the donation of an abandoned building, a Classification and Use Station (CUS) was implemented to strengthen the management of such recyclable waste. The CUS was provided with personal protection elements to improve their condition as managers of minor routes and the preliminary treatment of waste in the CUS, for later sale to wholesalers external managers.

Finally, a tax system was designed to finance the operation of the CUS (2500-2800 Euros/month) and promote greater separation volumes in the midterm, based on an adjustment to the normal payment made by the users for the service of waste collection and management. This system took into account the different types of users (commercial, industrial, residential and official), local socioeconomic scale and national economic variables. The increased rate varies between 1 and 1.5% for all users in the first year of increase.

How to cite: Vargas Terranova, C. A. and Rodrigo Ilarri, J.: Improving The Municipal Solid Waste Management Plan Of The Municipality Of Nemocón (Colombia), EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-10290, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10290, 2020.

EGU2020-10745 | Displays | ERE1.4

Methodological analysis for decision-making regarding solid waste management in megacities

Johanna Solano, David Orjuela Yepes, and Javier Rodrigo-Ilarri

Pronosticar la generación de residuos sólidos se ha convertido en un tema fundamental para dimensionar los elementos técnicos (generación, recolección, transporte, transferencia, uso y disposición final) y políticos (legislación, grupos de interés, sostenibilidad financiera) con respecto a la gestión integral de residuos sólidos en megaciudades. Para poder hacer este tipo de predicciones, es necesario diseñar modelos matemáticos que permitan el análisis de cada variable asociada con esta gestión, teniendo en cuenta las particularidades y necesidades locales de gestión de residuos.

Se pueden incluir varios modelos en cada etapa de la gestión integral de residuos sólidos urbanos. Actualmente, existen modelos que utilizan inteligencia artificial para pronosticar la generación de residuos sólidos urbanos, diseñar rutas de recolección y seleccionar el tipo de disposición final. Sin embargo, es necesario integrar estos modelos que respondan al contexto de cada población. Para lograr esto, es necesario conocer las características de cada ciudad, así como las diferentes variables implícitas dentro del proceso para desarrollar metodologías concretas, que se convierten en herramientas útiles para las administraciones municipales. Sin embargo, las metodologías existentes no incluyen un análisis de los impactos asociados con cada etapa del proceso de gestión de residuos, como criterio para seleccionar las mejores estrategias de gestión. 

Therefore, this methodological proposal includes a stage to evaluate the possible impacts caused by the selected alternative, for which a life cycle analysis is proposed as a tool to determine possible environmental, economic and social impacts. This analysis will be carried out by gathering the corresponding information, as well as using specific software to obtain the data that feeds the model for subsequent decision-making.

Esta propuesta introduce diferentes tipos de modelos en cada etapa del proceso para obtener resultados integrales y más precisos con respecto a las necesidades de una megaciudad. La propuesta se basa en variables y datos reales de acuerdo con las particularidades de las ciudades, para minimizar los posibles errores en la toma de decisiones. Al introducir herramientas cuantitativas para analizar la gestión de residuos sólidos urbanos, la metodología propuesta omite posibles evaluaciones cualitativas o basadas en la percepción, lo que lleva a que los resultados obtenidos sean cada vez más realistas, ya que tienen en cuenta las necesidades reales de cada población.

How to cite: Solano, J., Orjuela Yepes, D., and Rodrigo-Ilarri, J.: Methodological analysis for decision-making regarding solid waste management in megacities, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-10745, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10745, 2020.

EGU2020-10191 | Displays | ERE1.4

The removal of As(V) ions by lime-modified fly ash and reuse of the exhausted adsorbent as an additive for construction material

Milica Karanac, Maja Đolić, Vladimir Pavićević, and Aleksandar Marinković

Coal thermal power plants (TPP) actively generate numerous solid combustion by-products, including fly ash and bottom ash. These TPP by-products have already found use in a variety of civil engineering applications, such as a substitute for sand and gravel in structures, as well as a binding component in certain types of cement (generally, concrete and masonry). Furthermore, such by-products have become a subject of increasing interest in environmental engineering as a low-cost and effective adsorbent for the removal of organic pollutants and heavy metals from wastewaters.

In order to minimize the impact of material cost, novel solutions for the development of a high capacity and long-term adsorbent have provided a high performance adsorbent for practical applications. This study is focused on the use of modified fly ash (MFA) activated by lime (Ca(OH)2) as an effective and low-cost adsorbent for the removal of As(V) ions. The adsorption capacity of the MFA adsorbent was found to be 35.40 mg g-1, while the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters indicated a spontaneous and endothermic process. Due to the low desorption potential of the exhausted adsorbent (MFA/As(V), their effective further material reuse was established to be feasible. The reuse of the exhausted adsorbent was obtained through pozzolanic MFA particles and Ca(OH)2, thereby formulating a construction material of a cementitious calcium-silicate hydrate. The toxicity leaching test (TCLP) and mechanical properties of the new construction material containing exhausted MFA (CM-MFA/As(V)) confirm its safe use in the laboratory as well as its semi-industrial application.

The specific objectives of this study have been: (i) to improve the adsorption performance of the MFA; (ii) to evaluate the material’s equilibrium, as well as the process’ kinetic and thermodynamic aspects, including  estimating its limiting step; and (iii) to investigate the possible reuse of the exhausted adsorbent in the production of construction materials. The kinetic data were successfully fitted by a pseudo-second-order equation and the Weber-Morris model. The metal-desorption experiments performed on the exhausted FA and MFA indicate a low recovery of the selected pollutants.

The major outcome of this study, indicates that double-valorization of fly ash opens new directions for waste management toward reuse in effective practical applications; i.e., for actual water –purification systems, as well as in the production of construction material.

How to cite: Karanac, M., Đolić, M., Pavićević, V., and Marinković, A.: The removal of As(V) ions by lime-modified fly ash and reuse of the exhausted adsorbent as an additive for construction material, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-10191, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10191, 2020.

EGU2020-493 | Displays | ERE1.4

Lignin microspheres as a nature-based material for effective nickel(II) and cadmium(II) ions removal

Tijana Stanišić, Ana Popović, Jelena Rusmirović, Maja Đolić, Mirjana Ristić, Aleksandra Perić-Grujić, and Aleksandar Marinković

Sustainable development and the circular economy are becoming the new imperative of industrial growth, as the world faces the depletion of natural resources and consequences of climate change. The utilization of waste streams through the concept of ‘new added value’ gives life to the production of materials and their environmental application. Therefore, the development of novel, eco-friendly, nature-based adsorbents that possess high degradable and recyclable potential is on the forefront of research. The modifications of wood derivates, such as cellulose and lignin, are widely applied as natural polymers due to their economic feasibility, ecological similarity and adsorption capabilities.

The subject of this study is the adsorption of nickel(II) and cadmium(II) ions from aqueous solutions using 5.0 mass % of alginate lignin microspheres (A-LMS). Due to their toxicity, persistence, high solubility and mobility, such heavy metals are widely dispersed throughout environmental media (chiefly, aquatic bodies), leading to ecological and public health problems. The raw lignin used as a source material in the study originates from the waste stream of the lumber industry. The porous microspheres are of a radius of 50 to 950 microns and a surface area of 36.9 m2 g-1 were synthesized via inverse suspension copolymerization of the kraft lignin with a poly(ethylene imine) grafting-agent and an epichlorohydrin cross-linker. The structural and surface characteristics were confirmed via Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The textural properties of the synthesized A-LMS were determined according to the Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) method of analyzing nitrogen adsorption. The adsorption batch and column testing were carried out by varying the reaction time, temperature, adsorbent mass, at predefined pH values of the initial solutions. The maximum adsorption capacity of the A-LMS for nickel (II) ions was 89.286 mg g-1 at a temperature of 318 K, while for the adsorption of cadmium(II) ions it was 96.154 mg g-1 at a temperature of 308 K. The kinetic data followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, while the Weber-Morris model indicated intra-particle diffusion as a rate limiting step. The thermodynamic parameters for the A-LMS further confirm that the adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic.

The study indicates the high potential of by-products or waste products from heavy industry to be repurposed for environmental engineering applications by which they may serve a benefit as opposed to being a detrimental risk. Such is the case here with lignin-natural polymers taken from the lumber industry, which themselves may be reutilized for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (project no. 172007). The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by COST-European Cooperation in Science and Technology, to the Cost Action CA17133: Circular City.

How to cite: Stanišić, T., Popović, A., Rusmirović, J., Đolić, M., Ristić, M., Perić-Grujić, A., and Marinković, A.: Lignin microspheres as a nature-based material for effective nickel(II) and cadmium(II) ions removal, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-493, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-493, 2020.

EGU2020-4223 | Displays | ERE1.4

How to meaningfully engage key stakeholders in smart circular economy

Gergana Majercakova and Sabina Bokal

As an alternative to the traditional linear economy, the circular economy could help tackle the climate emergency, decrease resource scarcity and increase business sustainability. Implementing it successfully, maintaining sustainability and facilitating real systemic change means an effective coordination among all stakeholders is needed.

Meaningful engagement of stakeholders will help achieve a shared understanding of the concept, the new approaches and their implementation at all levels. Mobilizing different stakeholders is always a challenge and requires careful planning in order to demonstrate that the stakeholders’ input and engagement is valued, and participatory processes are in place.

The presentation will provide insights into the different stakeholder groups, their interests and methods that could be employed to reach effective engagement. It will also outline approaches, actions and tools that should help circular economy drivers develop a plan for stakeholder engagement based on clear understanding of stakeholders’ needs.

Apart from the general insights on the role of stakeholders in circular economy projects, the presentation will also provide practical knowledge on mapping and profiling stakeholders, stakeholder engagement strategy development, engagement tools and evaluation methods. Specific needs for improvement of stakeholder engagement practices into Circular economy projects will be tackled and discussed as well.

How to cite: Majercakova, G. and Bokal, S.: How to meaningfully engage key stakeholders in smart circular economy , EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-4223, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-4223, 2020.

The welfare of the Republic of Moldova much depends on the use of its natural resources. However, the pace at which the natural resources are exploited exceeds the ability of the environment to regenerate them. Land resources are the main natural wealth of the country. The conservation and increase of effective fertility of the soils becomes the basic task of the owners of agricultural lands. The methods of the conventional agriculture do not work anymore to make the sector competitive at regional and global markets. New concepts and technologies of Green and Circular economy are of more perspective. They also are more effective under the continuous unbalanced extraction of natural resources which causes environmental damage.

The case of Moldova reflects the global trends. Some international studies have shown that the global consumption of materials per capita has doubled, while the consumption of primary energy has tripled in the last hundred years. In other words, each of us consumes three times as much energy and twice as much material as our predecessors consumed in 1900. Moreover, nowadays there are 7.2 billion consumers compared to 1.6 billion in 1900.

At the same time, the requirements for quality standards in Green economy are very high and rigid as well as  “the annual financing demand to green the global economy has been estimated to be in range 1.05 USD to 2.59 USD trillion” (UNEP, 2011). That is why the Circular ecological economy is seen as more viable solution for world, regional and national economies. ”Ecological economy” generally refers to an economy in which all the choices regarding production and consumption are made taking into account the welfare of the society and the global health of the environment. ”Circular economy” implies a system of production and consumption that generates as little loss as possible.

The EU Circular economy Package and CE Stakeholder Platform are a good start for regional economy as well as that of Republic of Moldova as its Associate Member. The beneficial solution for improving the environment of the country consists in redesigning products, production and consumption processes by minimizing waste and transforming that unused part into a resource.

How to cite: Cojocaru, O. and Siscan, Z.: The circular ecological economy - a beneficial environment in light of the use of natural resources in the Republic of Moldova, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-58, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-58, 2020.

EGU2020-18282 | Displays | ERE1.4

The superiority of circular economy solutions in the main sectors of an innovative and prospering economy – a case study from Iceland

David C. Finger, Halldór G. Svavarsson, Bryndís Björnsdóttir, Guðrún A. Sævarsdóttir, and Lea Lea Böhme

Circular economy solutions reuse and upcycle waste streams in order to minimize the use of resources and mitigate the creation of waste and emissions. Accordingly, circular economy solutions are an essential tool to tackle the imminent challenges of depleting resources and the emerging environmental crisis. In this presentation, we explore the circular solutions for resource recovery in waste streams in a country with one of the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Human Development Index (HDI) in Europe, Iceland. The economy of Iceland is mainly based on renewable energy, fishery, farming, metallurgy, and tourism. To assess the benefits of circular economy solutions we examine four relevant case studies from the following industrial sectors in Iceland: i) a geothermal energy plant, ii) fisheries, iii) domestic waste processing and iv) aluminium production. By describing the processes, the opportunities and the market potential of the circular economy solutions in the four case studies we identify the superiority of circular recovery of resources in a modern society. The results reveal that the recovery of resources reduces the environmental impacts, increases the economic output and enhances the resilience of the local economy. While our results are based on the examples in Iceland the described processes of resource recovery can be applied in any other country with similar resources. We conclude that the presented circular solutions could lead to a more sustainable world while preserving vital resources for the next generations.

How to cite: Finger, D. C., Svavarsson, H. G., Björnsdóttir, B., Sævarsdóttir, G. A., and Lea Böhme, L.: The superiority of circular economy solutions in the main sectors of an innovative and prospering economy – a case study from Iceland, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-18282, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-18282, 2020.

EGU2020-1816 | Displays | ERE1.4

Emission of primary microplastics in mainland China: Invisible but not Negligible

Teng Wang, Baojie Li, and Xinqing Zou

Emission of primary microplastics in mainland China: Invisible but not Negligible

 

Teng Wang 1,3, Baojie Li 2,3* , Xinqing Zou3*

1 College of Oceanography, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098

2 School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044

3 School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023

  

Abstract:

Primary microplastics are mostly produced as part of the daily plastic product use. The emission process is often invisible but poses potential ecological hazards. Thus, primary microplastics deserve public attention. Due to China's huge population base and its rapid economic development, primary microplastics emissions are of both regional and global significance. This study is the first to establish the emission inventory of primary microplastics in mainland China. It was estimated that the primary microplastic waste from mainland China amounts to 737.29 Gg, and one-sixth of this amount entered the aquatic environment in 2015. The highest proportion of this waste was attributable to tire dust and synthetic fiber, accounting for 53.91% and 28.77% of the total respectively, in mainland China. The primary microplastics emissions mainly depend on the population, followed by the level of economic development. It was roughly estimated that 538 g of microplastics is produced by each person in China. At the grid scale, the spatial difference in the total primary microplastics emissions in mainland China primarily depends on the population density distribution and transportation network. We studied the entire life cycle of several sources of microplastics, from production to discharge into the aquatic environment. We suggested different control measures under different nodes. Increasing microplastics treatment in sewage treatment plants should be a short-term viable way to achieve some measure of reduction in their entry to the environment in mainland China. Our research can not only raise public awareness about primary microplastics, but can also guide the development of environmental policies to reduce plastic pollution.

 

Keywords: Primary microplastics; Emission inventory; Mainland China; Sewage treatment plants

How to cite: Wang, T., Li, B., and Zou, X.: Emission of primary microplastics in mainland China: Invisible but not Negligible, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-1816, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-1816, 2020.

ERE2.1 – Energy Meteorology

EGU2020-8452 | Displays | ERE2.1

Local microclimatic impacts of utility scale photovoltaic solar parks

Alona Armstrong, Rebecca R Hernandez, George A Blackburn, Gemma Davies, Merryn Hunt, James D Whyatt, and Li Guoqing

Solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity has risen exponentially, with the majority deployed as ground-mounted solar parks, across the world. Deployments are projected to continue, leading to further land use change with implications for the hosting environment, including perturbations in ecological processes that underpin the supply of natural capital and ecosystem services. Whilst alterations to within solar park climate of magnitudes known to effect ecosystems processes have been quantified, the spatial extent remains unclear. In this study, we use remote sensing and field data to provide evidence of a solar park land surface temperature (LST) cool island. Specifically, we quantify a LST cooling of up to 2.3 ℃ outside the solar park boundary, with the effect declining rapidly with distance from the solar park but extending up to 730 m away. The magnitude of cooling observed is sufficient to alter ecosystem processes, including greenhouse gas emissions with implications for the carbon intensity of the electricity produced. Consequently, we need to better understand the local climatic impacts of solar parks and associated cascading impacts on ecosystem function to establish the broader environmental co-benefits and costs of this rapidly growing means of low carbon electricity production.

How to cite: Armstrong, A., Hernandez, R. R., Blackburn, G. A., Davies, G., Hunt, M., Whyatt, J. D., and Guoqing, L.: Local microclimatic impacts of utility scale photovoltaic solar parks , EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-8452, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-8452, 2020.

EGU2020-18797 | Displays | ERE2.1

Impact of weather regimes on wind power variability in western Europe

Ricardo García-Herrera, Jose M. Garrido-Perez, Carlos Ordóñez, David Barriopedro, and Daniel Paredes

We have examined the applicability of a new set of 8 tailored weather regimes (WRs) to reproduce wind power variability in Western Europe. These WRs have been defined using a substantially smaller domain than those traditionally used to derive WRs for the North Atlantic-European sector, in order to maximize the large-scale circulation signal on wind power in the region of study. Wind power is characterized here by wind capacity factors (CFs) from a meteorological reanalysis dataset and from high-resolution data simulated by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. We first show that WRs capture effectively year-round onshore wind power production variability across Europe, especially over northwestern / central Europe and Iberia. Since the influence of the large-scale circulation on wind energy production is regionally dependent, we have then examined the high-resolution CF data interpolated to the location of more than 100 wind farms in two regions with different orography and climatological features, the UK and the Iberian Peninsula.

The use of WRs allows discriminating situations with varied wind speed distributions and power production in both regions. In addition, the use of their monthly frequencies of occurrence as predictors in a multi-linear regression model allows explaining up to two thirds of the month-to-month CF variability for most seasons and sub-regions. These results outperform those previously reported based on Euro-Atlantic modes of atmospheric circulation. The improvement achieved by the spatial adaptation of WRs to a relatively small domain seems to compensate for the reduction in explained variance that may occur when using yearly as compared to monthly or seasonal WR classifications. In addition, our annual WR classification has the advantage that it allows applying a consistent group of WRs to reproduce day-to-day wind speed variability during extreme events regardless of the time of the year. As an illustration, we have applied these WRs to two recent periods such as the wind energy deficit of summer 2018 in the UK and the surplus of March 2018 in Iberia, which can be explained consistently by the different combinations of WRs.

How to cite: García-Herrera, R., Garrido-Perez, J. M., Ordóñez, C., Barriopedro, D., and Paredes, D.: Impact of weather regimes on wind power variability in western Europe, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-18797, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-18797, 2020.

EGU2020-20614 | Displays | ERE2.1

Impact of blocking on low wind events and its representation by high-resolution GCMs: An energy perspective

Paula Gonzalez, David Brayshaw, and Reinhard Schiemann

With higher penetration of renewable energies and the effort to decarbonize power production there is a strong interest in the objective characterization of wind resource. Over Europe, wind power accounts for around 17% of total power capacity and almost 30% of renewable capacity and is the overall second largest form of generation capacity after gas. 

In addition to the description of mean capacity factors, there is a need to characterize extremes. Low wind events and persistent low wind events (LWE) are of particular interest because during these the energy system needs to rely on ‘backup’ sources such as gas, coal and nuclear. Over the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe, these are often linked to the occurrence of blocking (e.g., Brayshaw et al. 2012, Cannon et al. 2015, Grams et al. 2017), which is the initial focus of this study. Additionally, blocking events have an impact on near-surface temperatures over Europe, which implies an effect in weather-dependent energy demand. 

This study focuses on the impacts of blocking conditions on low wind events and their persistence, and the representation of these effects on the high-resolution (around 25km) global PRIMAVERA models. Our results confirm that blocking events over Europe have a significant impact on the occurrence and duration of low wind speeds at the country level, which is of relevance to the energy sector. In addition to becoming more frequent, LWE are also more persistent under blocking conditions over large areas of Europe. Both effects are in general captured by most of the PRIMAVERA GCMs analysed here, revealing that when the models do get the blocking events, the basic dynamical connection with wind anomalies is present. Nonetheless, the fact that the simulated weather conditions have deficiencies introduces biases in the properties of the events and their joint occurrence.  

The errors in the models depend on the statistic, the country and the resolution, but some consistent bias patterns can be observed at times (e.g., North-South dipolar structures). No robust improvements in the representation of these effects were observed in the high-resolution versions of the PRIMAVERA models, nor where the highest resolution runs consistently outperforming coarser simulations.  

Blocking impacts to the energy systems are not only limited to wind power generation, since these large-scale anomalies also have an impact on near-surface temperature and therefore on electricity demand. These effects are also addressed here.

How to cite: Gonzalez, P., Brayshaw, D., and Schiemann, R.: Impact of blocking on low wind events and its representation by high-resolution GCMs: An energy perspective , EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-20614, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20614, 2020.

EGU2020-19846 | Displays | ERE2.1

The European wind from observational and simulated databases

Elena García-Bustamante, Jorge Navarro, Jesús Fidel González-Rouco, E. Etor Lucio- Eceiza, Cristina Rojas-Labanda, and Ana Palomares

The New European Wind Atlas (https://map.neweuropeanwindatlas.eu) is developed based on the simulated wind field over Europe from a mesoscale model coupled to a microscale component through a statistical downscaling approach. The simulation that provides mesoscale inputs within the model chain has been decided upon a careful sensitivity analysis of potential model configurations. In order to accomplish model resolutions of 3 km over Europe, the broader European domain is partitioned into a set of 10 partially overlapping tiles. The wind field is simulated with the WRF model over these tiles and finally blended into a single domain. The wind outputs from a reference simulation is evaluated on the basis of its comparison with an observational database specifically compiled and quality controlled for the purpose of validating the wind atlas over the complete European domain. The observational database includes surface wind observations at ca. 4000 sites as well as 16 masts datasets. The observational dataset of surface wind (WISED) is informative about the spatial and temporal variability of the wind climatology, punctuated with singular masts that provide information of wind velocities at height. The validation of the mesoscale simulation aims at investigating the ability of the high-resolution simulation to reproduce the observed intra-annual variability of daily wind within the entire domain.

Observed and simulated winds are higher at the British, North Sea and Baltic shores and lowlands. Correlations are typically over 0.8. Surface wind variability tends to be overestimated in the northern coasts and underestimated elsewhere and inland. Mast wind variability tends to be overestimated except for some southern sites. Seasonal differences seem minor in these respects. Biases and RMSE can help identifying if systematic errors in specific tiles take place.

Therefore, performing model simulations of a high horizontal resolution over the broader European domain is possible. We can learn about the variability of surface and height wind both from observations and model simulations. Model observations are not perfect, but observations also present uncertainties. Good quality wind data, both at the surface and in masts are a requisite for robust evaluation of models. European wide features of wind variability can be recognized both in observations and simulations.

How to cite: García-Bustamante, E., Navarro, J., González-Rouco, J. F., Lucio- Eceiza, E. E., Rojas-Labanda, C., and Palomares, A.: The European wind from observational and simulated databases, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-19846, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-19846, 2020.

EGU2020-10087 | Displays | ERE2.1

Offshore wind farm far field - Results of the project WIPAFF

Andreas Platis, Jens Bange, Konrad Bärfuss, Beatriz Canadillas, Marie Hundhausen, Bughsin Djath, Astrid Lampert, Johannes Schulz-Stellenfleth, Simon Siedersleben, Thomas Neumann, and Stefan Emeis

Wind farm far wakes are of particular interest for offshore installations, as turbulence intensity, which is the main driver for wake dissipation, is much lower over the ocean than over land. Therefore, wakes behind offshore wind turbines and wind parks are expected to be much longer than behind onshore parks. 

In situ measurements of the far wakes were missing before the initiation of the research project WIPAFF (WInd PArk Far Fields) in 2015. The main results of which are reported here. WIPAFF has been funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and ran from November 2015 to April 2019.  The main goal of WIPAFF was to perform a large number of in situ measurements from aircraft operations at hub height behind wind parks in the German Bight (North Sea), to evaluate further SAR images and to update and validate existing meso-scale and industrial models on the basis of the observations to enable a holistic coverage of the downstream wakes.
 
A  unique  dataset  from  airborne in situ data,  remote sensing  by  laser  scanner  and  SAR  gained  during  the WIPAFF  project  proves  that  wakes  up to  several  tens of kilometers exist downstream of offshore wind farms during stable conditions, while under neutral/unstable conditions, the wake length amounts to 15 km or less. Turbulence occurs at the lateral boundaries of the wakes, due to shear between the reduced wind speed inside the wake and the undisturbed flow. Data also indicates that a denser wind park layout increases the wake length additionally due to a higher initial wind speed deficit. The recovery of the decelerated flow in the wake can be modeled as a first order approximation by an exponential function. The project could also reveal that wind-farm parameterizations in the numerical meso-scale WRF model show a feasible agreement with the observations. 

How to cite: Platis, A., Bange, J., Bärfuss, K., Canadillas, B., Hundhausen, M., Djath, B., Lampert, A., Schulz-Stellenfleth, J., Siedersleben, S., Neumann, T., and Emeis, S.: Offshore wind farm far field - Results of the project WIPAFF, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-10087, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10087, 2020.

EGU2020-1646 | Displays | ERE2.1

Estimation of the offshore extreme winds at 100m over JiangSu province based on spectral correction and numerical simulation

Rui Chang, Rong Zhu, Yizhou Yin, Wentong Ma, and Daquan Zhang

Offshore wind power is seen as a large renewable energy resource due to the high and continuous wind speeds over the ocean.However, as wind farms expand in scale, wind turbines increasingly remove kinetic energy from the atmospheric flow, reducing wind speeds and expected electricity yields.Here we show that this removal effect of large wind farms and the drop in yields can be estimated in a relatively simple way by considering the kinetic energy budget of the lower atmosphere, which we refer to as the KEBA approach.We first show that KEBA can reproduce the estimated, climatological yields of wind farms of different sizes and locations using previously published numerical model simulations with an explicit wind farm representation.  We then show the relevance of these reductions by evaluating the contribution of offshore wind energy in specific scenarios of Germany’s energy transition in the year 2050.Our estimates suggest that due to reduced wind speeds, mean capacity factors of wind farms are reduced to 33 - 39%, which is notably less than capacity factors above 50% that are commonly assumed in energy scenarios.This reduction is explained by KEBA by the depletion of the horizontal flow of kinetic energy by the wind farms and the low vertical renewal rate, which limits large-scale wind energy potentials to less than 1 W m-2 of surface area.We conclude that wind speed reductions are likely to play a substantial role in the further expansion of offshore wind energy and need to be considered in the planning process.These reduced yields can be estimated by a comparatively simple approach based on budgeting the kinetic energy of the atmosphere surrounding the wind farms.

How to cite: Kleidon, A. and Miller, L.: Estimating offshore wind power potentials that account for the kinetic energy removal by wind turbines: the Kinetic Energy Budget of the Atmosphere (KEBA) approach, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-4988, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-4988, 2020.

EGU2020-10152 | Displays | ERE2.1

Forecasting sub-resolution temporal variability of irradiance

Frank Kreuwel and Chiel van Heerwaarden

Variability of solar irradiance is an important factor concerning large-scale integration of solar photovoltaics (PV) systems onto the electricity grid. Calculations of irradiance are computationally expensive, leaving operational meso-scale forecasting models struggling to achieve accurate results. Moreover, such models deliver outputs at a temporal resolution in the order of hours, whereas from a grid-integration point of view, minute-to-minute variability is a major concern. In previous work, we found that absolute power peaks in the order of seconds are up to 18% higher compared to 15-minute resolution for irradiance and even upwards of 22% higher for household PV systems. Moreover, these maximum peaks in output power are solely observed under mixed-cloud conditions, for which alse the greatest variability is found. In this work we present a machine-learning model which can forecast sub-resolution variability of irradiance, based on standard meso-scale outputs of the HARMONIE model of the The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI). For training and validation, irradiance measurements obtained at a 1-second interval are used of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) site of Cabauw. A tree-based model was employed, for which the optimum members were constructed using extreme gradient boosting. In this work, we explore the dominant features of the model and link the machine-learned-relations to meteorological processes and dynamics. This research was executed in collaboration with the Distribution Grid Operator Alliander.

How to cite: Kreuwel, F. and van Heerwaarden, C.: Forecasting sub-resolution temporal variability of irradiance, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-10152, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10152, 2020.

EGU2020-7187 | Displays | ERE2.1

Front detection using wind park data and NWP

Franz Feldtkeller, Annekatrin Kirsch, Greta Denisenko, and Markus Abel

The precise forecasting of ramps in production of windparks is a problem that is not satifsfactorily solved. This is of particular interest because ramps contribute to a major part to the forecasting error in power production, in particular for offshore wind parks.

Since ramps are often due to fronts passing a location, we developed a method for the correction of front speed and -direction using a combination of wind park meteorological measurements and numerical weather prediction (NWP). On one hand we use conventional methods like the Canny algorithm for NWP data, on the other hand, we use data from a collection of wind parks to determine a passing front. By the front speed, and the relative location of wind parks, the front speed is computed and a correction can  be applied to downstream wind parks.

The results can be  validated and a corresponding error measure can be computed on the basis of measured and numerical data. Our method shall be implemented into a proprietary forecast system with the goal of an automatized detection and correction mechanism.

How to cite: Feldtkeller, F., Kirsch, A., Denisenko, G., and Abel, M.: Front detection using wind park data and NWP, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-7187, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-7187, 2020.

EGU2020-13790 | Displays | ERE2.1

Short-term photovoltaic generation forecasting using multiple heterogenous sources of data based on an analog approach.

Kevin Bellinguer, Robin Girard, Guillaume Bontron, and Georges Kariniotakis

Abstract

Over the past years, environmental concerns have played a key role in the development of renewable energy sources (RES). In Europe, the installed capacity of photovoltaic (PV) has increased from around 10 GW in 2008 to nearly 119 GW in 2018 [1]. Due to this high penetration rate and the intermittent nature of RES, several challenges appear related to the economic and secure operation of a power system. To overcome these challenges, it is necessary to develop reliable forecasts of RES, and namely of PV production, for the next hours to days to adjust production planning, while intra-hourly forecasts may contribute to optimize operation of storage units coupled to RES plants.

The aim of this paper is to present a novel spatio-temporal (ST) spot forecasting approach able to use multiple heterogeneous sources of data as inputs to forecast short-term PV production (i.e. from 15 minutes up to a day ahead).

First, we consider measured production data from nearby power plants as input to forecast the output of a specific PV plant. These data permit to exploit the correlation between the production data of spatially distributed PV sites. The classical ST approach in the literature, based only on this source of data [2], permits to improve predictability for the next few minutes up to 6 hours ahead.

Then, we extend the model by the use of satellite images (i.e. global horizontal irradiance (GHI)) which provide meaningful spatial information at a larger extent.

Finally, we consider Numerical Weather Predictions (NWPs) as input, which permit to extend the applicability of the model to day-ahead lead times, so that, overall, the resulting model covers efficiently horizons ranging from a few minutes to day ahead.

The spatio-temporal relationships being dependent on the particular meteorological situation of the day at hand, we apply an analog ensemble approach, to condition the learning process with historical observations corresponding to similar meteorological situation. We used the analogue approach to select a subset of similar historical situations over which a dynamical calibration of the forecasted model is done, as it was for example suggested by [3,4]. In our paper we extend the analogs ensemble approach by considering geographically distributed observations of the physical variables of interest (as suggested by [4] for hydrological issues) rather than only those at the level of the PV plant.

The performance of the proposed ST model with heterogeneous inputs is compared with reference models and advanced ones such as the Random Forest model. Historical production data collected from 9 PV plants of CNR are considered. The power units, located in the South-East France, exhibit relevant spatial correlations which make them suitable for the proposed ST model.

 

References

  • [1] IRENA - https://www.irena.org/Statistics/Download-Data
  • [2] Agoua, Girard, Kariniotakis. Short-Term Spatio-Temporal Forecasting of Photovoltaic Power Production. IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy , IEEE, 2018, 9 (2), pp. 538 - 546. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSTE.2017.2747765
  • [3] Alessandrini, Delle Monache, Sperati, Cervone. An analog ensemble for short-term probabilistic solar power forecast. Applied Energy, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.08.011
  • [4] Bellier, Bontron, Zin. Using meteorological analogues for reordering postprocessed precipitation ensembles in hydrological forecasting. Water Resources Research, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017wr021245

How to cite: Bellinguer, K., Girard, R., Bontron, G., and Kariniotakis, G.: Short-term photovoltaic generation forecasting using multiple heterogenous sources of data based on an analog approach., EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-13790, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-13790, 2020.

EGU2020-21753 | Displays | ERE2.1

Towards a seamless approach for photovoltaïc forecasting

Thomas Carriere and Georges Kariniotakis

Trading of photovoltaic (PV) energy generation involves several decision making processes at different times with different objectives. For example, a PV power plant coupled with a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) has to provide bids in the day-ahead electricity market, but can also provide ancillary services. On the delivery day, it can also participate in intra-day trading sessions, and must decide which quantity to charge or discharge from the BESS in real-time. These successive decision-making processes all require forecasts of the energy production level for different forecast horizons. Besides, such decisions are generally not taken for a single plant at a single location but for a collection of several geographically distributed plants.

However, the models and the inputs used for the different forecast horizons are often different. In situ measurements are more accurate for very-short term forecasts (real-time to one hour ahead forecasts), satellite data is used for short-term forecasts (up to 6 hours ahead), and Numerical Weather Predictions (NWP) are used for long-term forecasts (day-ahead and longer). Models also vary, with auto-regressive approaches being commonly used for very-short term forecasts, while longer forecast horizons use a wide range of machine learning models. PV producers have thus to develop and maintain numerous forecasting models for the different decision-making processes they are involved in, usually fitted for each power plant. This increases further the complexity of the decision-making processes.

In this work we propose a forecasting model that can use all the inputs mentioned before, and weights them according to the forecasting horizon. It can thus operate from very short-term to day-ahead forecast horizons with state-of-the-art performance. It can also directly provide probabilistic forecasts for an aggregation of power plants, thus allowing having a single forecasting model for managing a virtual power plant. The model follows the “lazy learning” paradigm, where generalization from the training set is only computed when a forecast is requested. Thus, the model is resilient to changes in the neighborhood of the plant (surrounding environment, partial outage, soiling, etc.). The model is based on the Analog Ensemble (AnEn) method. However it is structurally expanded to allow the method to use an arbitrary large number of inputs. Each input is then weighted depending on the forecast horizon, which allows dynamically selecting the most relevant inputs depending on the horizon.

The model is evaluated for short-term and day-ahead forecasts, and compared with a Quantile Regression Forest (QRF) and Bayesian Automatic Relevance Determination (ARD) for day-ahead forecasts, and a linear Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model for short term forecasts. Results show that the AnEn model is competitive with the QRF and ARD models in day-ahead forecasting, while requiring less computational resources and without a need for regular retraining. It is also better than the ARIMA model for short-term forecasting. An evaluation conditional to the the weather variability allow to assess the model performance in the best and worst condition.

How to cite: Carriere, T. and Kariniotakis, G.: Towards a seamless approach for photovoltaïc forecasting, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-21753, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-21753, 2020.

EGU2020-19081 | Displays | ERE2.1

Forecast trajectories for the production of a renewable virtual power plant able to provide ancillary services

Simon Camal, Andrea Michiorri, and Georges Kariniotakis

The aggregation of multiple renewable plants located in distinct climate zones, using different energy sources, enables to reduce the production uncertainty when compared to the production of a single plant. Such aggregations, controlled by a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) system, are good candidates for the provision of ancillary services. Stochastic optimization models are available to optimize biddings on ancillary services and energy markets (see for instance [1]). These models require trajectories of the renewable VPP production that anticipate production uncertainty and reproduce correctly the temporal correlations observed in the production signal. This is particularly important in ancillary services markets, where a reserve bid must be guaranteed over a production duration or validity period during which power fluctuations are significant (e.g. lasting currently 24 hours on the European common market for Frequency Containment Reserve, with a foreseen evolution to 4 hours by July 2020 [2]). 
Production trajectories may be obtained by coupling probabilistic forecasts and a model of temporal dependencies between forecast horizons [3] and possibly spatial dependencies in the case of a multivariate forecast at the scale of a region or a portfolio [4]. In the case of a renewable VPP, the aggregated production is primarily of interest. In this work, we propose a methodology to generate trajectories of aggregated production from probabilistic forecasts obtained with decision-tree based models or neural networks. A copula models the dependency between forecast horizons and the space defined by the plants contained in the aggregation. The model is tested in a day-ahead forecasting configuration on a 54 MW VPP comprising 15 plants with 3 different energy sources (Photovoltaics, Wind, Hydro). The comparison of trajectories generated from a direct forecast of the aggregated production and from forecasts at lower levels of the aggregation shows that the latter solution reproduces with more accuracy the temporal variability of the aggregated production over the whole horizon range, especially when Photovoltaics dominates the production capacities in the aggregation (15 % improvement of the Variogram Score).
 [1]: Soares, T., & Pinson, P. (2017). Renewable energy sources offering flexibility through electricity markets. Technical University of Denmark.
[2]: ENTSO-E. (2018). TSO’s proposal for the establishment of common and harmonised rules and processes for the exchange and procurement of Balancing Capacity for Frequency Containment Reserves (FCR) TSOs’ proposal for the establishment of common and harmonised rules and pro-c, (October), 1–9.
[3]: Pinson, P., Madsen, H., Nielsen, H. A., Papaefthymiou, G., & Klöckl, B. (2009). From probabilistic forecasts to statistical scenarios of short-term wind power production. Wind Energy, 12(1), 51–62. 
[4]: Golestaneh, F., Gooi, H. B., & Pinson, P. (2016). Generation and evaluation of space–time trajectories of photovoltaic power. Applied Energy, 176, 80–91. 

How to cite: Camal, S., Michiorri, A., and Kariniotakis, G.: Forecast trajectories for the production of a renewable virtual power plant able to provide ancillary services, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-19081, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-19081, 2020.

EGU2020-3641 | Displays | ERE2.1

Stochastic optimal scheduling of hydropower compensation for wind and photovoltaic power output considering multiple uncertainties

Weifeng Liu, Chao Wang, Xiaohui Lei, Ping-an Zhong, and Qingwen Lu

Multiple uncertainties, including from the uncertainty of a single power (wind power or photovoltaic power) output forecasting to the uncertainty of the combined power output of wind and photovoltaic forecasting to the power shortage after hydropower compensation for wind and photovoltaic power output, exist in the wind-photovoltaic-hydropower system. Furthermore, as the forecast is updated, the above uncertainty will evolve accordingly. Revealing the evolution of multiple uncertainties is of great significance for the hydropower compensation for the combined power output of wind and photovoltaic. We use a generalized martingale model of forecast evolution to describe the uncertainty of a single power output. We then superimpose the single power output to obtain the combined power output of wind and photovoltaic. we establish a stochastic programming with recourse model for optimal scheduling of the hydropower compensation for wind and photovoltaic power output. The results indicate that the uncertainty of the combined power output of wind and photovoltaic forecasting is less than that of wind power output forecasting, and greater than that of photovoltaic power output forecasting. After hydropower compensates for combined power output of wind and photovoltaic, compared with the uncertainty of combined wind and photovoltaic power output forecasting, the uncertainty of power shortage is greatly reduced by 90%, which has significant benefits. And with the dynamic update of the forecast, the uncertainty of the single power output forecast, the uncertainty of the combined power output forecast, and the uncertainty of the power shortage will decrease accordingly.

How to cite: Liu, W., Wang, C., Lei, X., Zhong, P., and Lu, Q.: Stochastic optimal scheduling of hydropower compensation for wind and photovoltaic power output considering multiple uncertainties, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-3641, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-3641, 2020.

EGU2020-9093 | Displays | ERE2.1

Future wind energy resources in the North Sea as predicted by CMIP6 models

Andrea N. Hahmann, Alfredo Peña, Sara C. Pryor, and Graziela Luzia

Net carbon dioxide emissions have to be brought down to zero in the coming decades to hold the rise in global temperature in this century below the 2°C from pre-industrial levels. This target implies a fundamental transformation of the global energy system that will have to rely heavily on renewable energy sources. Among these, the harvesting of electricity from the wind plays an important role. Yet, climate change itself can impact the supply of renewable energy. Therefore, national climate mitigation plans need to make informed decisions regarding any changes to future extractable wind resources to consider the possible risks.

In this work, we explore the changes in wind climatology over the North Sea in the different shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP) emission scenarios as identified by the output of a selection of CMIP6 simulations. Many northern European countries rely on the wind resources of the North Sea for climate mitigation. As a first step, however, we validate various aspects of the wind speed and direction and their variability in the historical CMIP6 simulations as compared to multiple long-term reanalyses. The work also includes calculations of annual energy production for existing and planned wind farms in the North Sea and how these could change in the coming decades.

How to cite: Hahmann, A. N., Peña, A., Pryor, S. C., and Luzia, G.: Future wind energy resources in the North Sea as predicted by CMIP6 models, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-9093, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-9093, 2020.

EGU2020-7184 | Displays | ERE2.1

Kraken – a scientific and commercial data meta-platform for wind energy resources

Annekatrin Kirsch, Franz Feldtkeller, and Markus Abel

Several international and national initiatives allow access to data from wind measurements, e. g. NREL wind prospector or the international wind atlases. But there is no adequate platform for combined commercial and scientific needs.

Kraken realizes open data concepts for scientific access combined with corresponding licenses for commercial use. To this end, we offer all users to provide links and a possibility for direct upload of wind-related data. Information on data provenance and usability concepts should be provided.

This way, we can collect and provide data of different quality (possibly not to scientific standards) and for different use cases. Scientifically, this may allow access to, e. g., wind park data which would otherwise not be accessible. Commercially, an access to the enormous data bases is possible at one place, a problem that often is underestimated.

On the long run, automatized intelligent analysis of the data will be implemented and the corresponding reports may be published, depending on the licenses related to the underlying data. The whole project is intended to be community-based and extensible to all kind of renewable energy data.

In a first attempt, a website has been launched with limited functionality, now we are trying to involve as many as possible data sources. In addition, we welcome the open implementation of analyses as already offered by other sites (site characterization, feature engineering, improved weather parameterization).

How to cite: Kirsch, A., Feldtkeller, F., and Abel, M.: Kraken – a scientific and commercial data meta-platform for wind energy resources, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-7184, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-7184, 2020.

EGU2020-21386 | Displays | ERE2.1

Environmental criteria for site selection of wind power projects in South Korea

Jong-Yoon Park and Young-Joon Lee

Wind energy represents the leading source of renewable energy in many developed countries. South Korea has recently introduced large-scale programs to promote the transition from fossil fuels and nuclear power to renewable energy as a source of power. The Korean government has set an energy policy goal to increase the ratio of renewable energy to 20% by 2030. To this end, it is necessary to supply renewable energy facilities with a total capacity of 48.7GW including 30.8GW of photovoltaic power generation and 16.5GW of wind power generation by the target year. Accordingly, we should plan now for the regulation of the location to meet this developing need. However, in South Korea, forests cover 63% of the country's land area so that there is a limit to find a location for the installation of large-scale power generation facilities without occupying forest lands. For example, it is mainly located in forests or farmlands where land costs are relatively low, resulting in a decrease in forest resources and negative impacts on ecosystems and landscapes. Renewable energyexpansion planning should ensure that environmental criteria, of the type outlined in this study, are given appropriate considerations in onshore wind power project site selection. Many of the more problematic wind power sites are best left mountainous forest under the natural conditions, because the environmental or related social impacts are likely to be unacceptably high. Obviously, no plans are likely to be more environmentally desirable in those cases. The alternatives for onshore wind power siting considered the environmental criteria to achieve the goal of wind energy will be suggested.

How to cite: Park, J.-Y. and Lee, Y.-J.: Environmental criteria for site selection of wind power projects in South Korea, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-21386, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-21386, 2020.

EGU2020-14253 | Displays | ERE2.1

IEA Wind Task 36 Forecasting

Gregor Giebel, Will Shaw, Helmut Frank, Pierre Pinson, Caroline Draxl, John Zack, Corinna Möhrlen, Georges Kariniotakis, and Ricardo Bessa

Wind power forecasts have been used operatively for over 20 years. Despite this fact, there are still several possibilities to improve the forecasts, both from the weather prediction side and from the usage of the forecasts. The International Energy Agency (IEA) Wind Task on Wind Power Forecasting organises international collaboration, among national weather centres with an interest and/or large projects on wind forecast improvements (NOAA, DWD, UK MetOffice, ...), forecast vendors and forecast users.
Collaboration is open to IEA Wind member states, 12 countries are already therein.

The Task is divided in three work packages: Firstly, a collaboration on the improvement of the scientific basis for the wind predictions themselves. This includes numerical weather prediction model physics, but also widely distributed information on accessible datasets. Secondly, we will be aiming at an international pre-standard (an IEA Recommended Practice) on benchmarking and comparing wind power forecasts, including probabilistic forecasts. This WP will also organise benchmarks for NWP models. Thirdly, we will be engaging end users aiming at dissemination of the best practice in the usage of wind power predictions.

The main result is the IEA Recommended Practice for Selecting Renewable Power Forecasting Solutions. This document in three parts (Forecast solution selection process, and Designing and executing forecasting benchmarks and trials, and their Evaluation) takes its outset from the recurrent problem at forecast user companies of how to choose a forecast vendor. The first report describes how to tackle the general situation, while the second report specifically describes how to set up a forecasting trial so that the result is what the client intended. Many of the pitfalls which we have seen over the years, are avoided.

Other results include a paper on possible uses of uncertainty forecasts, an assessment of the uncertainty chain within the forecasts, and meteorological data on an information portal for wind power forecasting. This meteorological data is used for a benchmark exercise, to be announced at the conference. The poster will present the latest developments from the Task, and announce the next activities.

How to cite: Giebel, G., Shaw, W., Frank, H., Pinson, P., Draxl, C., Zack, J., Möhrlen, C., Kariniotakis, G., and Bessa, R.: IEA Wind Task 36 Forecasting, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-14253, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-14253, 2020.

EGU2020-20205 | Displays | ERE2.1

Smart4RES: Towards next generation forecasting tools of renewable energy production

George Kariniotakis, Simon Camal, Ricardo Bessa, Pierre Pinson, Gregor Giebel, Quentin Libois, Raphaël Legrand, Matthias Lange, Stefan Wilbert, Bijan Nouri, Alexandre Neto, Remco Verzijlbergh, Ganesh Sauba, George Sideratos, Efrosyni Korka, and Stephanie Petit

The aim of this paper is to present the objectives, research directions and first highlight results of the Smart4RES project, which was launched in November 2019, under the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme. Smart4RES is a research project that aims to bring substantial performance improvements to the whole model and value chain in renewable energy (RES) forecasting, with particular emphasis placed on optimizing synergies with storage and to support power system operation and participation in electricity markets. For that, it concentrates on a number of disruptive proposals to support ambitious objectives for the future of renewable energy forecasting. This is thought of in a context with steady increase in the quantity of data being collected and computational capabilities. And, this comes in combination with recent advances in data science and approaches to meteorological forecasting. Smart4RES concentrates on novel developments towards very high-resolution and dedicated weather forecasting solutions. It makes optimal use of varied and distributed sources of data e.g. remote sensing (sky imagers, satellites, etc), power and meteorological measurements, as well as high-resolution weather forecasts, to yield high-quality and seamless approaches to renewable energy forecasting. The project accommodates the fact that all these sources of data are distributed geographically and in terms of ownership, with current restrictions preventing sharing. Novel alternative approaches are to be developed and evaluated to reach optimal forecast accuracy in that context, including distributed and privacy-preserving learning and forecasting methods, as well as the advent of platform-enabled data-markets, with associated pricing strategies. Smart4RES places a strong emphasis on maximizing the value from the use of forecasts in applications through advanced decision making and optimization approaches. This also goes through approaches to streamline the definition of new forecasting products balancing the complexity of forecast information and the need of forecast users. Focus is on developing models for applications involving storage, the provision of ancillary services, as well as market participation.

How to cite: Kariniotakis, G., Camal, S., Bessa, R., Pinson, P., Giebel, G., Libois, Q., Legrand, R., Lange, M., Wilbert, S., Nouri, B., Neto, A., Verzijlbergh, R., Sauba, G., Sideratos, G., Korka, E., and Petit, S.: Smart4RES: Towards next generation forecasting tools of renewable energy production, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-20205, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20205, 2020.

EGU2020-12262 | Displays | ERE2.1

State of the art of Seasonal and Subseasonal Wind and Wind Power Forecasting for the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary islands

Juan A. Añel, Susana Bayo-Besteiro, Michael García-Rodríguez, and Xavier Labandeira

Renewable energy plays a key role to play in the transition towards a low-carbon society and many countries have been investing in R&D and deployment of renewables over the last few decades. Despite its importance, relatively little attention has been focused on the crucial impact of weather and climate on energy demand and supply, or on the seasonal forecast generation or operational planning of renewable technologies. In particular, to improve the operation and longer-term planning of renewables it is essential to consider seasonal and subseasonal weather forecasting. Unfortunately, reports that focus on these issues are not common in the scientific literature.
Here we present a systematic review of the seasonal forecasting of wind and wind power for the Iberian peninsula and the Canary Islands, a region leading the world in the development of renewable energies (particularly wind), and thus an important illustration in global terms. To this end, we consider the scientific literature published over the last eleven years (2008-2018). An initial search of this literature produced 8355 documents, but our review suggests that only around 0.3% are actually relevant to our purposes. The results show that the teleconnection patterns (NAO, EA, and SCAND) and the stratosphere are important sources of predictability in the Iberian Peninsula and that GloSea5 is an effective model for seasonal wind forecasting for the region. We conclude that the existing literature in this crucial area is very limited, which points to the need for increased research efforts. Moreover, the approach and methods developed here could be applied to other areas for which systematic reviews might be either useful or necessary.

How to cite: Añel, J. A., Bayo-Besteiro, S., García-Rodríguez, M., and Labandeira, X.: State of the art of Seasonal and Subseasonal Wind and Wind Power Forecasting for the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary islands, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-12262, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-12262, 2020.

EGU2020-12818 | Displays | ERE2.1

Probabilistic and Point Solar Forecasting Using Attention Based Dilated Convolutional Neural Network

Moumita Saha, Bhalchandra Naik, and Claire Monteleoni

Climate change is evident at present with threatening effects as intense hurricanes, rising sea level, increase number of droughts, and shifting weather patterns. Burning of fossil fuels and anthropogenic activities increase the greenhouse gases concentration in atmosphere, which is a major cause behind the climate change. Renewable energy as solar is a good source for combating the causes of climate change by producing clean energy.  

The efficient integration of solar energy into electrical grids requires an accurate prediction of solar irradiance. The solar irradiance is the flux of radiant energy received per unit area of the earth from the sun. Existing techniques use basic stochastic (such Gaussian model, hidden Markov model, etc.) and ensemble neural network models for solar forecasting. However, recent literature reflects the potential of deep-learning models over the statistical model.

In this paper, we propose a deep-learning-based one-dimensional, multi-quantile convolution neural network for predicting the solar irradiance. The network employs dilation in its convolution kernel, which helps capturing the long-term dependencies between instances of the input climatic variables. Additionally, we also incorporate the attention mechanism between the input and learned representation from the convolution, which allows attending to the temporal instance of features for improved prediction. We perform both short-term (three hours ahead) and long-term (twenty-four hours ahead) solar irradiance prediction. We exhaustively present the forecast for all four seasons (spring, summer, fall, and winter) as well as for the whole year. We provide a point solar forecast along with forecast at different quantiles. Quantile forecast provides a range of estimates with varying confidence intervals, which allows better interpretation as compared to point forecast. This notion of confidence associated with each quantile makes the forecasting probabilistic.

In order to validate our approach, we consider two cities (Boulder and Fort Peck) from the SURFAD network and examine twenty climatic features as input to our model.  Additionally, we learned embedded reduced input dimension using an autoencoder. The proposed architecture is trained with all the input features and reduced features, independently. We observe the prediction error for Boulder is higher than Fort Peck, which can be due to the volatile weather of Boulder. The proposed model forecasts the solar irradiance for winter with a higher accuracy as compared to spring, summer, or fall. We observe the correlation coefficients as 0.90 (Boulder) and 0.92 (Fort Peck) between the actual and predicted solar irradiance.  The long-term forecast shows average improvements of 37.1% and 33.1% in root mean square error (RMSE) over existing numerical weather prediction model for Boulder and Fort Peck, respectively. Similarly, the short-term forecast shows improvements of 33.7% and 34.2% for the respective cities.

How to cite: Saha, M., Naik, B., and Monteleoni, C.: Probabilistic and Point Solar Forecasting Using Attention Based Dilated Convolutional Neural Network, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-12818, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-12818, 2020.

EGU2020-16810 | Displays | ERE2.1

Statistical Post-Processing with Standardized Anomalies and Variable Selection for Wind Farm Forecasts

Markus Dabernig, Alexander Kann, and Irene Schicker

Numerical weather predictions are often too coarse to represent single turbines in a wind park and post-processing of the individual turbines is necessary. However, individual post-processing can lead to inconsistencies in forecasts for a wind farm. Using standardized anomalies allows to forecast all turbines simultaneously. Therefore, a climatological mean is subtracted from observations/predictions and then divided by a climatological spread which eliminates any site-specific characteristics.

Additionally, different sources of input can be used, such as variables from a global model, a mesoscale model or observations to improve forecasts. However, to prevent overfitting a variable selection method is needed to determine the most important predictors. The combination of standardized anomalies and a variable selection method provides a convenient method for good forecasts of wind farms.

How to cite: Dabernig, M., Kann, A., and Schicker, I.: Statistical Post-Processing with Standardized Anomalies and Variable Selection for Wind Farm Forecasts , EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-16810, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-16810, 2020.

EGU2020-3034 | Displays | ERE2.1

A simple gust estimation algorithm and machine learning based nowcasting for wind turbines

Irene Schicker and Petrina Papazek

Wind gusts and high wind speeds need to be considered in wind power industry and power grid management as they affect construction, material, siting and maintenance of turbines and power lines. Furthermore, gusts are an important information source on turbulence conditions in the atmosphere at the respective sites.
Often, the wind farm operators only provide basic data of the turbines such as average wind speed, direction, power and temperature. However, they require forecasts of gusts, too. Thus, a simple gust estimation algorithm based on the average wind speed was developed. The algorithm is tested at different mast measurement sites and WFIP2 data and applied to selected wind turbines. Results show that the algorithm is skillful enough to be used as a first guess gust estimation for single turbines and is, thus, used for nowcasting.
For nowcasting for the first two hours with a temporal fequency of ten minutes solely observations are used. A high-frequency wind speed and gust nowcasting ensemble based on different machine learning methodologies, including an ensemble for every method, was developd. Used are boosting, random forest, linear regression, a simple monte carlo method and a feed forward neural network. Results show that perturbing the observations provides a good forecasting spread for at least some of the methods. However, for other methods the spread is reduced significantly. Most of the used methods are able to provide good forecastst. However, hyperparameter tuning for the lightGBM boosting algorithm and the neural network is still needed.

How to cite: Schicker, I. and Papazek, P.: A simple gust estimation algorithm and machine learning based nowcasting for wind turbines, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-3034, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-3034, 2020.

EGU2020-7178 | Displays | ERE2.1

Mesoscale resolving high-resolution simulation of wind farms in COSMO-CLM 5

Naveed Akhtar and Burkhardt Rockel

The rapid development of offshore wind farms has raised concerns about the local environment and ecosystem. Wind farms influence the local meteorology by extracting kinetic energy from the wind field and by generating a large wake. The North Sea is one of the main regions of the world where the growth of offshore wind farms is rapidly increasing. In this study, we analyze the impact of large-scale offshore wind farms in the North Sea on local meteorology using regional climate model COSMO-CLM. For this purpose, the parametrization for wind turbine driven by Fitch et al. (2012) and Blahak et al. (2010), previously implemented in COSMO-CLM v 4.8 at KU-Leuven (Chatterjee et al. 2016), has been implemented in the latest version 5 of COSMO-CLM. Here we present the first results of COSMO-CLM long-term simulations with and without wind farms using mesoscale resolving high-resolution horizontal atmospheric grid spacing (~ 2 km).

How to cite: Akhtar, N. and Rockel, B.: Mesoscale resolving high-resolution simulation of wind farms in COSMO-CLM 5, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-7178, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-7178, 2020.

The purpose of this study is to develop an ensemble-based data assimilation method to accurately predict wind speed in wind farm and provide it for the use of wind energy intelligent forecasting platform. As Taiwan government aimed to increase the share of renewable energy generation to 20% by 2025, among them, the uncertain wind energy output will cause electricity company has to reserve a considerable reserve capacity when dispatching power, and it is usually high cost natural gas power generation. In view of this, we will develop wind energy intelligent forecasting platform with an error of 10% within 72 hours and expect to save hundred millions of dollars of unnecessary natural gas generators investment. Once the wind energy can be predicted more accurately, the electricity company can fully utilize the robustness and economy of smart grid supply. Therefore, the mastery of the change of wind speed is one of the key factors that can reduce the minimum error of wind energy intelligent forecasting.

There are many uncertainties in the numerical meteorological models, including errors in the initial conditions or defects in the model, which may affect the accuracy of the prediction. Since the deterministic prediction cannot fully grasp the uncertainty in the prediction process, so it is difficult to obtain all possible wind field changes. The development of ensemble-based data assimilation prediction is to make up for the weakness of deterministic prediction. With the prediction of 20 wind fields as ensemble members, it is expected to include the uncertainty of prediction, quantify the uncertainty, and integrate the wind speed observations of wind farms as well to provide the optimal prediction of wind speed for the next 72 hours. The results show that the prediction error of wind speed within 72 hours is 6% under different weather conditions (excluding typhoons), which proves that the accuracy of wind speed prediction by combining data assimilation technology and ensemble approach is better.

How to cite: Fan, Y.-M.: Ensemble-Based Data Assimilation for Wind Forecasting – Application to Wind Farm, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-18144, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-18144, 2020.

The operation cost for wind parks make up a major fraction of the park’s overall lifetime cost. To facilitate an optimal wind park operation and maintenance, we present a decision support system that automatically scans the stream of telemetry sensor data generated from the turbines. By learning decision boundaries and normal reference operating states using machine learning algorithms, the decision support system can detect anomalous operating behaviour in individual wind turbines and diagnose the involved turbine sub-systems. Operating personal can be alerted if a normal operating state boundary is exceeded. We demonstrate the successful detection and diagnosis of anomalous power production for a case study of a German onshore wind park for turbines of 3 MW rated power.

How to cite: Meyer, A.: Machine-learning based wind turbine operating state detection and diagnosis, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-6532, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-6532, 2020.

With the rapid development of social economy, China's energy demand has been growing at an alarming rate. The annual cumulative power generation is about  6.8 trillion kilowatts hour in 2017, and 70% of them is provided by fossil fuel resources, so it is important to promote the use of renewable and clean energy, such as solar power generation technology. The advantages of using solar panel roof in urban areas include reduction of the need of land use in the crowed city and less dependence on fossil fuels. However, there is need to understand impacts of solar roof on local climate, on energy supply during heatwaves, and associated economic benefits in China. This study selected a heatwave event in Jiangsu province, China to simulate the impact of solar panel roof on local thermal environment and energy supply. During that time, the cooling energy consumption reached more than half of the total electricity consumption. A new heat transfer scheme of solar panel roof was introduced into WRF/BEP/BEM model, which include layers (glass protective panel, solar panel, bottom plate) and was divided into two types for heat transfer calculation: bracket and non-bracket. The results showed that the urban average 2-m daytime temperature decreased by 0.3℃ in non-bracket case which is better than that of bracket case, while its cooling effect on nighttime temperature was small. For the bracket case, its cooling effect on daytime and nighttime air temperature were equal (0.2oC). Both solar panel roofs can reduce indoor daytime air temperature with the maximum cooling effect around 11:00 local time for non-bracket roof and 14:00 for bracket roof. However, bracket roof increased nighttime indoor air temperature and air-conditioning energy consumption. Solar panel roofs also reduce daytime turbulent kinetic energy and constrain the development of boundary layer. Results also show that with solar photoelectric conversion efficiency being 0.14, the photovoltaic power generation can meet 84.1%, 61.3% and 35.9% of the cooling energy consumption for high-density, low-density residential areas and commercial areas, respectively, during this heatwave event.

How to cite: Wang, Y., Chen, F., Hao, X., and Wang, F.: The influence of solar panel roof on urban thermal environment and cooling energy demand during a heat wave event in 2017, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-1437, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-1437, 2020.

EGU2020-13349 | Displays | ERE2.1

The Potential Impact of Solar Photovoltaic Installation on Local Circulation and Convection in Taipei

Po-Shen Chang, Jen-Ping Chen, and Cheng-I Hsieh

This study investigates the potential impact of rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) installation on local convection in urban area. Rooftop solar PV system is a space-efficient option to deploy renewable energies in the crowded urban area. However, as the installation scale increases, unintentional impact on local climate may emerge. In particular, PV array deployment can change the surface radiative balance and thus enhance or reduce the urban heat island effect. The urban heat island effect has been hypothesized to influence afternoon thunderstorm activity in the tropical island, Taiwan. Therefore, temperature change due to PV installation may also alter the local circulation and convection. This research takes the Taipei City, which is a metropolitan area in northern Taiwan, for a case study. Citywide rooftop solar PV installation experiments are conducted by using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model coupled with urban canopy model. Different PV conversion efficiency scenarios, including currently and future technology levels, are simulated to evaluate the potential impact on local circulation and convection.

How to cite: Chang, P.-S., Chen, J.-P., and Hsieh, C.-I.: The Potential Impact of Solar Photovoltaic Installation on Local Circulation and Convection in Taipei, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-13349, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-13349, 2020.

The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model fitted with the Fitch et al. (2012) scheme for parameterization of the effect of wind energy extraction is used to study the effects of very large wind farms on regional weather. Two real data cases have been run in a high spatial resolution (grid size 500 m). Both cases are characterized by a convective westerly flow. The inner model domain covers the North Sea and Denmark. The largest windfarm consists of 200.000 wind turbines each with a capacity of 8MW. The model is run for up to 12 hours with and without the wind farm. The impact on the regional weather of these very large wind farms are studied and presented. Furthermore, the effect of horizontal spacing between wind turbines is investigated. Significant impact on the regional weather from the very large wind farms was found. Horizontal wind speed changes occur up to 3500m above the surface. The precipitation pattern is greatly affected by the very large wind farms due to the enhanced mixing in the boundary layer. Increased precipitation occurs at the front? within the wind farm, thus leaving the airmass relatively dry downstream when it reaches the Danish coast, resulting in a decrease in precipitation here compared to the control run. The formation of a small low level jet is found above the very large wind farm. Furthermore, wake effects from individual wind turbines decrease the total power production. The wind speed in the real data cases are well above the speed of maximum power production of the wind turbines. Yet most of the 200.000 wind turbines are producing only 1MW due the wake effects. A simulation run with a wind farm of 50.000 8MW wind turbines was also run. This windfarm covers the same area as the previous one, but horizontal distance between wind turbines are 1000m instead of 500m. This configuration was found to produce a similar amount of power as the 200.000 configuration. However, the atmospheric impact on regional weather is smaller but still large with 50.000 wind turbines.

How to cite: Jacobsen, S. and Walløe Hansen, A.: A study of the impact of very large wind farms on regional weather using the WRF model in high resolution, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-16884, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-16884, 2020.

Storm Xaver impacted the northern Europe on 5-6 December 2013.  It developed southeast of Greenland and passed north of Scotland and across southern Norway on a trajectory that led to a cold air outbreak across the North Sea and intense convection activity in northern Europe.  Strong sustained north winds led to a high storm surge that impacted all countries bordering the North Sea.  Storm Xaver was a century scale event with certain locations around the North Sea reporting their highest ever water levels since the start of modern records.  Media reports from the time of the storm chronicle the scale of the disruptions, including many cancelled flights, interrupted rail networks, closed bridges and roads, coastal building collapses, and power blackouts across northern Europe.  Much of this was due to the strong winds, but coastal storm surge flooding was important in the UK, and it led to interrupted port operations around the North Sea.

The storm was important for energy infrastructure and particularly for wind energy infrastructure.  In the northern North Sea, petroleum platforms were evacuated and operations closed ahead of the storm as a precautionary measure.  A number of onshore wind turbines were badly damaged by high winds and lightning strikes in the UK and Germany.  Over the North Sea, wind speeds exceeded the turbine shutdown threshold of 25 m/s for an extended period of time, with economic impacts from the loss of power generation.   In the German Bight, the FINO1 offshore wind energy research platform was damaged at the 15 m level by large waves.  This was the third report of storm damage to this platform after Storm Britta in 2006 and Storm Tilo in 2007.  Researchers have highlighted the need to reassess  the design criteria for offshore wind turbines based on these kinds of extreme meteorological events.  For the offshore wind industry, an important element of energy meteorology is to characterize both the evolving wind and wave fields during severe storms as both elements contribute to turbine loads and potential damage.

The present conference contribution presents a literature review of the major events during Storm Xaver and impacts on energy infrastructure.  Tide gauge records are reanalyzed to trace the progress of the storm surge wave around the North Sea.  A spectral analysis is used to separate the long period storm surge component, diurnal/semidiurnal tide, and short period components in the original water level record.  The short period component of the tide gauge record is important as it may be linked with infragravity waves that have been implicated in certain cases of offshore infrastructure damage in addition to coastal erosion.  Discussion is made of offshore wave records during the storm.  Storm Xaver is compared with two damaging offshore storms in 2006 and 2007.

How to cite: Kettle, A.: Storm Xaver over Europe in December 2013 and its energy meteorological impacts, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-6029, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-6029, 2020.

EGU2020-13916 | Displays | ERE2.1

Quality of wind characteristics in recent wind atlases over the North Sea

Peter C. Kalverla, Albert A. M. Holtslag, Reinder J. Ronda, and Gert-Jan Steeneveld

Many wind energy applications rely on engineering models that simulate the interaction between the wind and the turbine(s). These models often represent the wind in an idealised fashion, which introduces uncertainties that translate into financial risk for investors.

Over the past four years, we investigated these uncertainties by re-evaluating common assumptions about the (offshore) wind field, studying the physics that govern winds in coastal areas, evaluating the representation of offshore winds in weather models, and proposing alternative methods to represent the offshore wind climate in engineering models.

Uncertainties in the wind climate were studied through a number of ‘anomalous wind events’. An important and illustrative example is the low-level jet, which can substantially impact power production and wind loads on the turbine. We found that low-level jets occur often over the North Sea. Moreover, numerical weather prediction models struggle to adequately represent this phenomenon. A climatology based only on observations is also biased, because the observations are limited in time and space. Thus, we combined field observations with output of reanalysis products to obtain a reliable climatology.

At the 2020 general assembly, we will present a new evaluation of three recent wind atlases over the North Sea: ERA5, The New European Wind Atlas (NEWA), and the Dutch Offshore Wind Atals (DOWA). With virtually no bias, DOWA outperforms the other datasets in terms of the mean wind profile and also in the representation of wind shear. The high resolution offered by DOWA (2.5 km) and NEWA (3 km) leads to substantial improvements in the frequency and the level of detail with which low-level jets are captured. However, the timing of the events is a bit off in NEWA. By contrast, DOWA was produced using continuous three-hourly data-assimilation updates, which imposes a much stronger constraint on the simulations. Consequently, the timing of low-level jets in DOWA is much better represented. This makes for a low-level jet climatology with unprecedented accuracy and detail, facilitating resource assessment and future studies on the characteristics of the offshore wind climate.

How to cite: Kalverla, P. C., Holtslag, A. A. M., Ronda, R. J., and Steeneveld, G.-J.: Quality of wind characteristics in recent wind atlases over the North Sea, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-13916, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-13916, 2020.

A large-eddy simulation (LES) model, coupled with a dynamic actuator-disk model, is used to investigate the turbine power production and the turbine wake distribution in large wind farms where the streamwise turbine spacing of 7, 9, 12, 15, and 18 rotor diameters are considered. Two incoming flow conditions, three wind turbine arrangements, as well as the five turbine spacings are involved in this study, which leads to a total of 30 LES wind farm scenarios. The two incoming flow conditions have the same mean velocity of 9 m s-1 but different turbulence intensity levels (i.e., 7% and 11%) at the hub height level. The considered turbine arrangements are the perfectly-aligned, laterally-staggered, and vertically-staggered layouts. The simulated results show that the turbine power production has a significant improvement by increasing the streamwise turbine spacing. With increasing the streamwise turbine spacing from 7 to 18 rotor diameters, the overall averaged power outputs are raised by about 27% in the staggered wind farms and about 38% in the aligned wind farms. The wind farm scenarios with the turbine spacing of 12d or greater in a large wind farm can lead to an increasing trend in the power production from the downstream turbines in the high-turbulence inflow condition, or also avoids the degradation of the power output on the turbines with the low-turbulence inflow condition. The flow adjustment above the wind farm results in the generation of the internal boundary layer (IBL), which grows up vertically along with the wake-wise direction. The growth of the IBL is found to be affected by the changes in the inflow condition and the turbine spacing. The IBL depth above the wind farms is found to be influenced by the turbine spacing, whereas the IBL depth in the downstream wake region of the wind farms shows a rapid increase under the high-turbulence inflow condition.

How to cite: Wu, Y.-T. and Tsao, Y.-H.: Power Output Efficiency in Large Wind Farms with Different Streamwise Turbine Spacing, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-4484, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-4484, 2020.

EGU2020-18585 | Displays | ERE2.1

Satellite based estimation of atmospheric wakes downstream offhore windparks using a new objective filter technique

Johannes Schulz-Stellenfleth, Bughsin Djath, and Verena Haid

The large number of already existing and planned offshore wind parks in the German Bight leads to challenging requirements with regard to reliable information on various processes in the atmosphere and the ocean. In particular wind shadowing effects play a major role for the optimal planning and operation of wind park installations. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites have proved their capability of giving a 2D view of the wakes generated behind wind farms at a  high spatial resolution. However, the estimation of wind speed deficits from SAR data is still a challenge, because undisturbed reference wind fields are usually not available at the exact location of the wake. A common approach is therefore to identify some reference areas on SAR scenes outside the wake region, which naturally leads to errors in the deficit computations. 
In this study a new filter approach for the deficit estimation is proposed, which allows to derive error bars for the deficits. The filter is based on a 2D convolution operation with a filter kernel, which has a shape depending on the wind park geometry and the wind direction. The errors depend on spectral properties of the background wind fields, which are estimated from SAR data as well. In this context the stability of the atmospheric boundary layer is shown to play a major role. Examples are shown using data acquired by the SENTINEL-1A/B satellites. The approach is seen as a contribution to make SAR based deficit computations more objective and automised, which is essential for the application of the method to larger data sets and to make wake analysis done in different regions more comparable.

How to cite: Schulz-Stellenfleth, J., Djath, B., and Haid, V.: Satellite based estimation of atmospheric wakes downstream offhore windparks using a new objective filter technique , EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-18585, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-18585, 2020.

EGU2020-12654 | Displays | ERE2.1

Layout optimization for a large offshore wind farm using Genetic Algorithm

K Narender Reddy and S Baidya Roy

Wind Farm Layout Optimization Problem (WFLOP) is an important issue to be addressed when installing a large wind farm. Many studies have focused on the WFLOP but only for a limited number of turbines (10 – 100 turbines) and idealized wind speed distributions. In this study, we apply the Genetic Algorithm (GA) to solve the WFLOP for large wind farms using real wind data.

The study site is the Palk Strait located between India and Sri Lanka. This site is considered to be one of the two potential hotspots of offshore wind in India. An interesting feature of the site is that the winds here are dominated by two major monsoons: southwesterly summer monsoon (June-September) and northeasterly winter monsoon (November to January). As a consequence, the wind directions do not drastically change, unlike other sites which can have winds distributed over 360o. This allowed us to design a wind farm with a 5D X 3D spacing, where 5D is in the dominant wind direction and 3D is in the transverse direction (D- rotor diameter of the turbine - 150 m in this study).

Jensen wake model is used to calculate the wake losses. The optimization of the layout using GA involves building a population of layouts at each generation. This population consists of, the best layouts of the previous generation, crossovers or offspring from the best layouts of the previous generation and few mutated layouts. The best layout at each generation is assessed using the fitness or objective functions that consist of annual power production by the layout, cost incurred by layout per unit power produced, and the efficiency of the layout. GA mimics the natural selection process observed in nature, which can be summarised as survival of the fittest. At each generation, the layouts performing the best would enter the next generation where a new population is created from the best performing layouts.

GA is used to produce 3 different optimal layouts as described below. Results show that:

A ~5GW layout – has 738 turbines, producing 2.37 GW of power at an efficiency of 0.79

Layout along the coast – has 1091 turbines, producing 3.665 GW of power at an efficiency of 0.82.

Layout for the total area – has 2612 turbines, producing 7.82 GW of power at an efficiency of 0.74.

Thus, placing the turbines along the coast is more efficient as it makes the maximum use of the available wind energy and it would be cost-effective as well by placing the turbines closer to the shores.

Wind energy is growing at an unprecedented rate in India. Easily accessible terrestrial resources are almost saturated and offshore is the new frontier. This study can play an important role in the offshore expansion of renewables in India.

How to cite: Reddy, K. N. and Roy, S. B.: Layout optimization for a large offshore wind farm using Genetic Algorithm, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-12654, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-12654, 2020.

EGU2020-14412 | Displays | ERE2.1

Climatological Analysis of the Potential of Solar and Wind Energy in Germany

Jaqueline Drücke, Michael Borsche, Paul James, Frank Kaspar, Uwe Pfeifroth, Bodo Ahrens, and Jörg Trentmann

Renewable energies, like solar and wind energy, play an important role in current and future energy supply in Germany and Europe. The renewable energy production highly depends on weather, which leads to an increasing impact of the meteorological fluctuations on energy production.

Here, climatological datasets with high spatial and temporal resolution are used to simulate the electrical energy production from photovoltaic (PV) installations and wind turbines. For the solar radiation the CM SAF SARAH 2.1 dataset is used, which includes global and direct radiation with a temporal resolution of 30 minutes and a grid spacing of 0.05°. The data is available from 1983 to 2017. The regional reanalysis COSMO-REA6 provides hourly wind speed data from 1995 to 2015 with a spatial resolution of 6km. Based on these datasets capacity factors are calculated for PV and wind energy for Germany. Using the spatial distribution of solar panels and wind turbines as well as electrical power generation data from 2015 the simulated capacity factors were converted into (potential) hourly power generation in Germany from 1995 to 2015. 

The main aim of this study is to identify weather regimes where renewable energy production from solar and wind was comparable low. Due to high power production from solar radiation, which exhibits a comparable low variability and high predictability, in summer, all low production events occur in winter. During winter, wind power is the main contributor to renewable energy production. On the basis of the hourly time series of simulated power production the weather regimes that are associated with multiple days of low renewable energy production are identified and analysed. European regions are identified that exhibit comparably high potential renewable power production for those weather regimes with low energy production in Germany.  

How to cite: Drücke, J., Borsche, M., James, P., Kaspar, F., Pfeifroth, U., Ahrens, B., and Trentmann, J.: Climatological Analysis of the Potential of Solar and Wind Energy in Germany, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-14412, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-14412, 2020.

EGU2020-18130 | Displays | ERE2.1

Wind energy potential assessment in western Mediterranean

Platon Patlakas, Christos Stathopoulos, Ariadni Gavriil, George Galanis, and George Kallos

Wind energy investments have met a quick growth during the last decades due to the stricter climate policies, the need for energy independence and the higher profits coming from the smaller costs of such applications. Moreover the evolution of technology leads to the characterization of more areas as suitable for energy applications. Offshore wind farms are a nice example of how to build bigger, more efficient and resistant in extreme conditions wind power plants.

The present work is focused on the determination of the suitability of an offshore marine area for the development of wind farm structures. More specifically the region of interest is the marine area on the south of France including the Gulf of Leon. For the needs of the study a 10-year database, produced employing state of the art atmospheric and wave models, is utilized. The wind and wave parameters used, have a spatial resolution of 6 km and a frequency of one hour.

Wind speed and power probability distribution characteristics are discussed in different heights throughout the domain. Particular locations are selected for a more comprehensive analysis. At the same time extreme wind and wave conditions and their 50-years return period are analyzed and used to define the safety level of the wind farms structural characteristics. The outcome could lead to a review of the area suitability for wind farm development, providing a new tool for technical/research teams and decision makers.

How to cite: Patlakas, P., Stathopoulos, C., Gavriil, A., Galanis, G., and Kallos, G.: Wind energy potential assessment in western Mediterranean, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-18130, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-18130, 2020.