Horizon Europe

ALICE

Buildings made from ‘living bricks’ could help meet national and international net zero targets of reducing greenhouse emissions by reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

The Active Living Infrastructure: Controlled Environment (ALICE) research consortium has created a prototype microbe-filled ‘brick’ that has the potential to revolutionise clean building design.

The brick acts as an organic fuel cell, with microbes using urine and grey water (domestic wastewater from sinks, baths, showers, washing machines and dishwashers) to generate energy which can then be turned into electricity and clean water. Together, the bricks can be used to form walls or even entire structures.

Using funding through Horizon 2020 , UK Research and Innovation and EU Innovation Awards, the consortium – comprising Newcastle University, the Bristol BioEnergy Centre of the University of the West of England and Translating Nature – designed biosensors that measure the ‘happiness’ of the microbes through their excreted electrons.

“ALICE fuses biological and digital technologies to converse with the microbes. It can tell us whether they need to be fed or warmed to generate more bioelectricity,” explained Professor Rachel Armstrong, Coordinator of the ALICE project, Newcastle University.

The brick acts as an organic fuel cell, with microbes using urine and grey water to generate energy which can be turned into electricity and clean water.

A digital overlay of the information gathered from ALICE’s conversations with the microbial life in each brick is then displayed back to the household using augmented reality. “Together it creates a living, breathing, energy-generating microbial system that can simultaneously supply power to your home and talk to you through augmented reality to tell you how productive and ‘happy’ it is,” said Professor Armstrong.

The team created a two-metre-tall installation containing 15 living bricks, which transforms the microbial data into animations on screen-based systems. This communicable display has the potential to be used in a wide range of social contexts, from art galleries to festivals. One of the ALICE objectives is to raise awareness and communicate the benefits of this type of living architecture with a wide audience.

“ALICE has the potential to permanently wean humanity off fossil- fuels,” said Professor Armstrong. “This project is part of a range of prototypes that are re-designing our buildings and reshaping the future of architecture into a two-way conversation with nature; using microbes is our way of counteracting the impacts of our increasingly hostile planetary systems. I hope this research leads to a more a sustainable future for all.”

ANB SENSORS LTD

Measuring the acidity of oceans and water networks is key to understanding how they are being affected by carbon dioxide emissions. Levels have traditionally been measured using glass electrodes – a method that has been around for around 100 years – but glass electrodes need to be recalibrated manually on a regular basis to maintain accuracy.

Now, Cambridgeshire-based company ANB Sensors Ltd has developed ‘smart sensor’ technology that enables sensors to be calibrated in-situ, significantly reducing operating costs.

“Our electrochemical sensor technology doesn’t require any manual intervention, which means it’s at least 70% cheaper to operate and maintain and can be deployed for extended periods of time for autonomous sensing,” explained ANB Sensors Ltd CEO and co-founder Nathan Lawrence. “As the accuracy of the measurement over time is no longer an issue, the sensors can be meaningfully networked into the internet of things with complete confidence in the pH readings gathered.”

In 2018, the company was awarded a €1.1 million Horizon 2020 grant, the only UK-based company to achieve this. The success was a big step forward in pushing its innovations towards commercialisation and reinforcing the company’s reputation with potential investors. “Winning the grant allowed us to expand our team from four to nine and secured the business for two more years,” said Lawrence.

Our electrochemical sensor technology doesn’t require any manual intervention, which means it’s at least 70% cheaper to operate and maintain and can be deployed for extended periods of time for autonomous sensing.

Existing pH sensors that measure acidity levels are generally large, but ANB’s technology is smaller and can fit on any vehicle. The company secured a £100,000 contract with the National Environmental Research Council to deploy its sensors on the National Oceanographic Centre’s fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles.

ANB’s technology is not restricted to monitoring oceans. The sensors can also measure pH levels in drinking water, so the company is talking to utilities and sensor manufacturers in the UK and overseas.

“The technology is also the basis for a solid-state sensor that will open up whole new markets, such as horticulture and aquaculture, as well as medical applications. Since it doesn’t use glass, it is more robust, so can be used more easily in the food and beverage industries,” explained Lawrence.

Last year, the company received venture capital investment, opening the door to commercial sales in the US and Canada, as well as China, Australia and Europe. 

GYROGEAR

Involuntary shaking of the hands, known as hand tremors, can make daily activities – such as eating, drinking and writing – difficult or even impossible. These tremors are caused by neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, which affects 10 million people globally, or essential tremor, which is at least eight times more prevalent. According to GyroGear, a company supported by Horizon 2020, hand tremors affect roughly 200 million people around the world.

Medication is not always effective at treating tremors, but GyroGear has created a device that uses mechanical gyroscopes, the GyroGlove™, which could help transform the lives of thousands of people suffering from this debilitating condition.

The wearable device is based on a precision miniature gyroscope that is strapped onto the back of the hand to help stabilise hand tremors.

This intelligent wearable features a precision miniature gyroscope on the back of the hand that stabilises hand tremors.

“Just like you see in children’s toy tops, gyroscopes are spinning discs that conserve angular momentum to stay upright in any plane of motion. They are therefore able to counter any input of force in any direction swiftly and proportionately,” explained Dr Faii Ong, a former medical doctor and founder of GyroGear. “They are widely used in cutting-edge aerospace technology, but up until now the technology has not been applied to people.”

Dr Ong came up with the idea as a medical student in 2014 after seeing an elderly person on a hospital ward struggle to eat soup. Innovate UK funding through Biomedical Catalyst and Smart Proof of Concept grants enabled him to develop early lab simulators and prototypes.

In 2018, the company secured a Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Phase 2 grant of €1.86 million and accompanying tailored business support to accelerate development. It is now conducting patient trials and working with external regulators and clinicians to finalise the design and manufacture of the product.

The GyroGlove™ concept has attracted a great deal of attention from the medical world, as well as from leading charities, and the aim is for it to be released to market in 2022.

In June 2021, GyroGear closed its seed round (led by Foxconn Technology Group) having raised a total of $6.9 million.

“A device like the GyroGlove™ could offer greater independence for those living with the condition, and let people get back to doing both the things they love and everyday tasks like cooking and writing,” says Julie Dodd of the national charity Parkinson’s UK. “When the device is ready for public launch, we hope to assess and include it in our 'Tried and Tested' list of apps and devices for Parkinson’s, as we know the community will be really interested.”

ICEOTOPE

As computer chips become increasingly efficient at processing information they are also getting hotter – and there are growing environmental concerns about the amount of energy and water required to cool the large data centres supporting our mobiles, laptops and internet-enabled devices.

Sheffield-based company Iceotope has developed liquid-cooling technology that enables existing data centres and high performance computers to operate at maximum efficiency while using substantially less water, energy and space, as well as prepare for the ‘super-tech’ of the future.

“To put it into perspective, where traditional technology storage might get two servers in one tray, the technology developed by Iceotope can fit 16 into the same space,” explained Iceotope CEO, David Craig. “Where the world is using billions of gallons of water cooling data centres, Iceotope has reduced this significantly, highlighting the environmental impact that this project has had so far and could have internationally. Economically, the cooling technology is 30-50% cheaper than conventional technologies, making it a triple-treat: more efficient, environmentally friendly, and economically beneficial.”

To put it into perspective, where traditional technology storage might get two servers in one tray, the technology developed by Iceotope can fit 16 into the same space.

Based at the AMP Technology Centre in Sheffield, Iceotope started as a business that sold environmentally friendly computers in 2011. In 2014, it was invited to join the Horizon 2020 ‘ExaNeSt’ project, which developed and prototyped solutions for interconnected networks, storage and cooling. Following on from this project, further funding was awarded through the Horizon 2020 programme to develop computers capable of a billion billion calculations per second, known as Exa-Scale systems.

Iceotope is currently working as part of a consortium to deliver a super-computer system available across Europe for scientific communities, industry and the public sector. The €20 million (of which Iceotope secured €4.3 million) project also involves a planned 200kW installation of liquid-cooled computing at the Science and Technologies Facilities Council in Daresbury.

Iceotope’s technology makes it possible for computer systems to operate in places and climates where fans and air cooling isn’t suitable. “Our technology is impervious to harsh environments, humidity and dust,” said Craig. “Computing can be deployed in places it never has before, at amazingly energy-efficient levels.”

With support from Innovate UK and Knowledge Transfer Network, as well as Horizon 2020, Iceotope has built a platform for success,  increasing from 20 to 49 employees (including 22 engineers) in the last five years. It is also cementing itself as a key player on a global scale, having secured contracts with two of the top five internet giants and one top five computer supplier.

Iceotope’s founder, Peter Hopton said: “The funding from Horizon 2020 enabled Iceotope to show what a liquid-cooled data centre could be, should the electronics be designed with liquid cooling in mind. The output is a compact and dense system, with reduction in supply chain costs and waste heat capture capabilities. Commercial buildings could be heated by this digital infrastructure, which takes up no more room than their existing boilers.”

^{NOVA INNOVATION}

Harnessing energy from the tide creates a source of sustainable, predictable and clean electricity. As well as reducing the need for fossil fuels, tidal energy has the potential to boost the UK’s economy by £1.4 billion, adding 4,000 jobs and supporting coastal communities in need of economic regeneration. 

But as an emerging technology, tidal energy is currently more expensive than other renewables. So, with the aid of Horizon 2020 funding, Edinburgh-based company Nova Innovation is developing technology to reduce the cost of tidal and help make it as mainstream as wind and solar.

The tidal-energy specialist is leading a consortium of eight blue-chip industrial and academic partners in the Horizon 2020-funded project Enabling Future Arrays in Tidal (EnFAIT). It will demonstrate the complete lifecycle of the world’s first offshore tidal array – from development through to operation and decommissioning – over five years to show it can compete with other forms of renewable energy.

Founded in 2010, Nova Innovation designs, builds, deploys and operates tidal turbines and develops tidal energy projects. In 2016 it created the world’s first offshore tidal array with three turbines in Shetland. As well as adding another three turbines to the tidal array, making it the largest in the world, the EnFAIT project will reposition the turbines to explore the optimum layout. 

“The project is exploring the effects that array layout has on efficiency and cost of energy in a real-world environment – a world first,” explained Gavin McPherson, Head of Policy and Research at Nova Innovation.

The project is exploring the effects that array layout has on efficiency and cost of energy in a real-world environment – a world first.

EnFAIT aims to bring down the cost of energy by 40% while increasing the reliability and availability of the turbines and building confidence in potential investors. Economic successes have already been reported, with a 15% reduction in the cost of energy and a supply chain that has expanded from four to 14 European countries. This includes more than 60 Scottish companies, demonstrating the potential of tidal energy to boost regional economic growth.

“By utilising a site that is already in operation, the project has been able to generate results from day one,” said McPherson. “Lessons have been learned from the existing three devices to optimise device designs, manufacturing process and operational procedures, with a focus on minimising the cost of energy.”

In 2020 the company deployed the fourth device in the array – an upgraded version of its existing 100kW turbine. Designed in the Horizon 2020-funded D2T2 project, the Nova M100D turbine cuts the cost of energy by 30% by boosting device reliability and efficiency. Two further M100D devices will be deployed in Shetland over the next year, as will the first turbine in a 15-turbine array being developed by the company in Nova Scotia, Canada.

In addition, the company is further developing tidal energy technology using artificial intelligence (AI). In May 2019, it took the lead in the Horizon ELEMENT programme, which aims to maintain Europe’s global leadership in marine energy by using the latest AI technology developed for the wind energy sector to further reduce the cost of tidal power.

PROMETHEAN PARTICLES

Controlling or limiting carbon dioxide emissions produced by industry plays a crucial role in meeting the UK government’s target of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

Nottingham-based company Promethean Particles is developing nanomaterials that could capture and store C0₂ at a fraction of the cost of current systems.

“Currently, power plants that capture CO₂ use an old process where flue gases are passed through organic amines in water, binding the CO₂ to the amines. Unfortunately, this inefficient capture process consumes around 30% of the total power generated by the plant,” explained James Stephenson, Chief Executive Officer at Promethean Particles.

The company is working with a consortium on the Horizon 2020-funded CARMOF Project, which looks at the need for innovative, cost-effective solutions to CO₂ capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) within the industrial ecosystem.

Originally established in 2007 as a spin-out from the University of Nottingham’s Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Promethean Particles specialises in the cost-effective scale production of inorganic nanoparticles and metal organic frameworks (MOFs).

“MOFs are a group of compounds that have extremely large surface areas and the ability to selectively adsorb and store gases,” said Stephenson. “A sample of MOFs powder that you can hold in your hand has the same surface area as an office block. This, and other fascinating properties, means MOFs can be used for gas storage and capture or chemical filtration.”

A sample of metal organic frameworks powder that you can hold in your hand has the same surface area as an office block.

The company had found that although MOFs were being commercially advertised, they were generally not available at the scale necessary for application development, let alone industrial carbon capture. Compounding this was their prohibitive expense. “There has been a tremendous amount of research and development on MOFs over the last 30 years,” said Stephenson. “Unfortunately, much of the focus has been on novelty and not economic viability, ultimately constraining the incredible potential of these materials to make an impact on the world’s decarbonisation efforts. We want to change that.”

By working with members of the CARMOF Project, Promethean aims to produce MOFs that can be 3D-printed at a lower cost and converted into membranes for use in larger adsorbing units.

“Our Nottingham site is home to the world’s largest continuous multi-material nanoparticle manufacturing plant, meaning we can produce at a larger scale for maximum impact,” said Stephenson. “Over the last few years, we’ve continued to develop MOFs, ensuring the properties and performance are comparable or better than those already on the market, but at significantly lower cost. We believe that our pioneering technology can deliver significant environmental benefits for both the planet and its people.”

Promethean Particles plans to launch a cost-effective MOF product line for use in carbon capture and other selective adsorption processes. The line would include MOFs at gram-scale for researchers, kilogram-scale to facilitate increased application development and tonne-scale for industrial production and implementation. Promethean believes that this will promote the uptake of the technology while creating revenue and jobs for the company.