EnergyEfficiency (EnEf)

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EnEf is aimed at tackling energy reduction and limiting CO2 emissions, a goal that is evolving into two facets. The first focuses on reducing energy consumption in glass applications in a solar, greenhouse and built up environment, for example. Developing a multifunctional glass coating using nanotechnology will contribute to the efficient use of solar energy. This research is being conducted by SMOs, such as Kriya Materials and Ducatt, and knowledge institutions such as TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research) and the universities of Hasselt and Ghent. The Zuyd and Fontys universities complete the cross-border collaboration by offering customised courses. The economic feasibility of the prototypes is being examined in various test cases. Secondly, EnEf focuses on a cost and energy savings method for developing pharmaceutical peptides. Within this sector, peptides are crucial for developing new medicines for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, for example. There are long and short forms of peptide. Short peptides are produced on a large-scale using classical methods. At the moment, the current production technique for the long – and most efficient – version is a difficult, time-consuming, inefficient and energy-wasting process. New production technology has already been developed by, among others, Syncom and Enzypep. The initial scientific and technical results show that savings of up to 70% of energy consumption can be achieved in the production process. Within EnEf, together with the University of Ghent, the two aforementioned companies are researching a cost and energy-efficient method. Here, too, the Zuyd and Fontys universities provide an educational programme.

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