Contribution to standards

Many of the contributions that will be made to European standards by this project have already been touched upon by the previous sections.  The report suggesting the future direction of European research in the field of renewable micro-CHP will be the most important contribution to be made by this project.  At present, European research in this field is unfocused and, sometimes, duplicated in member states.  Different member states are pursuing very different policies, with poor degrees of complementarity.  Considerable research effort is being expended on technologies that have little or no chance of ever yielding commercial results. 

The research direction report, which will identify the most promising technologies for further development, will be presented to all major funding bodies in Europe (the EC, NATO, national funding councils etc.) will allow these bodies to focus their research efforts on the most promising technologies available.  This will not totally remove the variations in research policy and emphasis in different member states – indeed, these different foci are essential to obtain complementarity of research and satisfy the principle of subsidiarity – but it will allow for some degree of convergence and standardisation of research direction.  This will lead to better value for money being obtained from research grants and, in general, to results being more readily commercialised.

Other contributions to standards include a Europe-wide market survey of the industry, which will allow governmental and non-governmental organisations across the EU to frame their energy policies based upon accurate figures, and also to encourage the most economically-promising technologies.  The staff exchange programme will also assist the goal of standardisation.  By observing many different techniques and technologies, it is inevitable that some convergence of research and manufacturing techniques will occur, as the staff involved will recommend changes and improvements to their companies, in order to adopt best practice.

Contribution to policy developments

This co-ordination action aims to help refine European and national research policies in the fields of micro-CHP, renewable energy sources and energy research generally.  The state of the art and market potential will be thoroughly analysed by the project.  Current hot topics in research will be studied in small expert groups.  From this, a report, showing the consortium’s recommendations for future research policy to encourage the development of renewable micro-CHP operations will be prepared.  This report will aim to highlight the different needs in each European member state, identify synergies or overlaps with other research areas, and encourage development of the most economical, environmentally-safe options.  This report will be presented at a special seminar alongside the final meeting.  Representatives from the European Commission and other key funding bodies will be invited to attend, along with major industrial and academic figures.  The report will be widely distributed, with the goal of reaching all the main policy-shapers within Europe.

This report is likely to have a significant impact in shaping the direction of European and national research policy in this field in the short and medium term.