Project website: https://res4live.eu/

Time period: October 2020 to September 2024

Funder: Horizon 2020 (Grant agreement ID: 101000785)

Total budget:  5,815,206.88 EUR

Short description:

RES4LIVE is a research project that incorporates a sequence of technical tasks and actions that will finally lead to a high degree of de-fossilising the livestock sector. RES4LIVE considers the combination of technologies and solutions to cover a large fraction of energy demand in livestock farms. This demand is directly associated with the:

1. livestock farm type, greatly defining the characteristics of the building and the necessary indoor thermal comfort for eliminating the heat stresses to the livestock,
2. hermal and electricity needs (and their ratio) and any seasonal variability,
3. quality and quantity of manure for biogas/biomethane production,
4. geographical location (i.e. local climatic conditions).

RES4LIVE is strongly diversified in terms of farm types and considers applications in 3 experimental farms for swine, dairy, and poultry production, as well as in 1 commercial farm for swine. All these farms are scattered in diverse locations, covering the main climatic conditions in EU (Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Greece). The assessment of the monitored data will extract valuable conclusions for expanding the use of technologies in other livestock farms, and thus provide solutions to the entire sector. All the above are achieved with the following technologies: Adaptation of key RES (Renewable Energy Solutions) technologies that cover the needs of the three selected livestock farm types, adapted and tested at operational environment. These technologies are:

• Photovoltaic/Thermal (PVT) systems for combined electricity and heat production.
• Heat Pump for heating and cooling and precise environment control of livestock buildings.
• Biomethane generation from upgraded biogas that adds high value to the biogas
• Adoption of energy efficiency solutions and measures in livestock farms, such as: Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology for exploiting the waste/excess heat of biogas plants for producing additional electricity.
  Use of ground heat/thermal storage perfectly combined with the heat pump, to improve energy efficiency in livestock buildings and mitigate their thermal needs, supported with advanced geothermal control.
• Other measures and solutions to reduce the energy demand for the on-farm consumers, such as lighting (LEDs), ventilation (variable-speed motors), and heating/cooling needs (buildings insulation).
• Standard RES technologies, such as PV panels and biogas/biomethane CHP units.
• Electrification of machinery, such as electric-driven tractors, charged by the produced PV or CHP electricity, for reducing the fossil fuel consumption of on-farm machinery.

Partners:

• GEOPONIKO PANEPISTIMION ATHINON (Coordinator)
• ALMA MATER STUDIORUM – UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA
• LEIBNIZ INSTITUT FUER AGRARTECHNIK UND BIOOEKONOMIE E V
• EIGEN VERMOGEN VAN HET INSTITUUT VOOR LANDBOUW- EN VISSERIJONDERZOEK
• UNIVERSITEIT GENT
• ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXIS
• AARHUS UNIVERSITET
• LEHR- UND VERSUCHSANSTALT FUER TIERZUCHT UND TIERHALTUNG(LVAT) EV
• G. LIGEROS & SIA OE
• PLEGMA LABS TECHNOLOGIKES LYSEIS ANONYMOS ETAIRIA
• CRMT SAS
• TERRA ENERGY
• MG SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING AB
• CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND INNOVATION (CETRI) LTD
• GOLINELLI GIULIO
• FEDERAZIONE EUROPEA DI ZOOTECNICA
• EUREC EESV