KET4F-Gas

Reduction of the Environmental Impact of Fluorinated Gases in the Sudoe space using Key Enabling Technologies

KET4F-Gas is a European project co-funded by the Interreg Sudoe Programme through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with a funding of 1.7 million euros.

Project summary

In the current context of persistent drought in the Southwestern regions of Europe (SUDOE area), in which more and more difficult fire events are occurring due to prolonged drought periods and high winds, research on alternatives that contribute to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions is a high-priority issue.

KET4F-Gas is a European project co-funded by the Interreg Sudoe Programme which aims at reducing the environmental impact of fluorinated gases (F-gases) through the development and implementation of Key Enabling Technologies (KETs).

The use of fluorinated gases has drastically increased in recent years, especially in the refrigeration sector, as they are a good substitute for ozone-depleting substances that phased out under the Montreal’s Protocol.

Despite their good properties and characteristics (energy efficient, ozone-friendly, safe for users and handling, low flammability, non toxicity, among others), F-gases are powerful greenhouse gases, showing a global warming potential up to 23,000 times higher than carbon dioxide one. Hence, their emissions to the atmosphere should be considerably reduced according to the Kyoto’s protocol and the new EU regulation.

Objective

The objective of this project is to contribute to the reduction of F-gases emissions by developing and implementing Key Enabling Technologies, which follow benign and efficient green chemistry principles and use alternative climate-friendly solvents to recover these F-gases, usually employed in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems.

In this sense, this project boosts the growth of applied research and eco-innovation to mitigate environmental impacts, and the technological transfer to enhance the competitiveness of SME’s in the region of Southwest Europe.

The results of this research will also benefit society by raising awareness to the F-gases problem. Moreover, waste managers, public administration and industry will benefit these results, since there is not any technology applied to this problem yet in the region of Southwest Europe and enterprises have a clear and imminent need to acomplish the challenging objectives of the current legislation.

Interreg Sudoe

The Interreg Sudoe Programme supports regional development in the regions of Southwest Europe by funding transnational projects through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

The programme promotes transnational cooperation to solve common problems within the regions of Southwest Europe, such as low investment in research and development, low competitiveness of SME’s, and exposure to climate change and environmental risks.

The KET4F-Gas is a project included within the priority axis 1, Research and innovation, which aims at (1) strengthening the synergic and networking cooperation of R&D+i at a transnational level in the specific Sudoe sectors as from smart specialisation and (2) developing dissemination of applied research related to key enabling technologies (KETs).

SOE2/P1/P0823
Poject Budget: 1,742,800€ with a funding through the ERDF of 1,307,100€