After a whole year of virtual meetings, the RES4LIVE Consortium met for its first time in person. Our 3rd Consortium Meeting took place between the 4th and 5th of November 2021 and was organized by CERTH (Greece) in the premises of the Agricultural University of Athens, complying with the COVID-19 guidelines. Because of the hybrid nature of the meeting, virtual attendees were also able to interact with the in-person ones.
Thanos Balafoutis (CERTH/iBO, Greece) opened and moderated the meeting, while over 45 participants from the 17 RES4LIVE Partners and Advisory Board, from industry and research organizations, attended it. Project coordinator Dimitris Manolakos (AUA, Greece) presented the current stage of RES4LIVE and gave the floor to Work Package (WP) Leaders to present the state-of-the-art technology, share preliminary results and provide major achievements of each WP.
The progress of adapting innovative Renewable Energy Sources (RES) technologies to livestock farm’s needs (WP1) was examined. The most recent designs of the biogas to biomethane upgrading system, the adapted farm tractor for biomethane use, as well as the modular heat pump and the of the PVT system were thoroughly discussed. The identification of RES technologies and Energy Efficiency measures (WP2) has been steadily developing, and a representative collection of both was introduced. The plans for the simulations, results analysis, and integration schemes to be performed were also presented. Next, the results of the submitted deliverables of WP3 (“Report on the analysis of energy demand/ consumption and RES availability in typical livestock farms”, and “Thermal comfort assessment of livestock and impact on production”) were presented. Of great interest will be the scheduled installation of sensors in the pilot farms and the ongoing simulation platform and control strategies. Finally, the developments of cluster-related activities, as well as the agenda regarding the workshops planning were presented (WP6). Lively discussions on the issues raised followed each presentation, which continued during the dinner held after the first day’s meetings were concluded.
The second day began with the review of WP4 progress, which acts as reference point for the whole project. The state-of-the-art preparation of pilot farms for the implementation and testing of the RES4LIVE proposed solutions was presented for the Greek, Italian, Belgian and German farms, through up-to-date plans and on-site photos. Special mention of the challenges in each farm was made to avoid possible setbacks. The preparatory work towards the multi-level assessment of WP5 was presented next. The data – proactively collected during the last months – was reviewed in collaboration with the pilot farms, and its evaluation will begin shortly. In the field of communication, dissemination of the results to come (WP7), the presentation, and the following discussion were focused on one hand on the continued expansion of our social media presence and on the other on delving more into the project’s exploitation strategy. Finally, an overview of the work done from the managerial – technical and financial – perspective (WP8) and the necessary actions to be taken for the efficient continuance of the project was given by the project coordination team. The presentation was concluded with a positive general evaluation of the project and all participants were thanked for the efficient collaboration and the work done so far.
The 4th RES4LIVE Consortium Meeting was concluded with a visit to AUA’s experimental poultry farm for egg production, where some of the project’s intervention will take place, and other experimental facilities, where ORC technology is tested combined with biomass and solar energy. Conditions permitting, we hope to meet in person again the April of 2022.
AUA’s experimental poultry farm for egg production – © AUA
The RES4LIVE project: “Energy Smart Livestock Farming Towards Zero Fossil Fuel Consumption” receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under Grant Agreement No. 101000785. To find out more, visit RES4LIVE official website www.res4live.eu, as well as our social media accounts (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube ), or contact Project Coordinator Prof. Dimitris Manolakos (dman@aua.gr), and Assistant Project Manager Dimitrios Tyris (dtyris@aua.gr).
