In the near future, both urban and rural environments will manage water and energy as an integrated system. The first situation directly leads us to the smart cities' concepts, where the city is ruled as an integrated environment, where all systems inside it should cooperate to achieve an optimal point of operation. In the second case, the intensive use of hydric resources comes with an increasing modernization of agriculture by introducing electrical machinery and monitoring networks which demand a growing energy availability. Despite the differences between these two environments, they both share issues that can be solved by the same scientific thinking. Water and wastewater processes lack low energy technologies, whereas the application of renewable energy is hindered by low efficiency. In addition, these processes demand a constant supply of energy, while most renewable energy sources can’t provide energy in a continuous time base.
The project EdGeWIsE will contribute to the integration of the water and energy systems in a single and efficient system. To achieve this vision, the following objectives will be pursued:
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Improve and promote efficiency based on data collected by low power wireless sensor networks.
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Identify renewable energy sources inside urban and rural areas.
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Research new methods for water and energy caption/storage.
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Stimulate the intelligent use of the available water and energetic resources.
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Explore the impact of Micro-Hydro technology on river systems.
To reach the above-mentioned general objectives, the project will develop research activities concerning renewable solar and wind energy; wireless sensors network powered by energy harvest form microbial fuel cell and vibrations; energy storage in and production from water systems. These research activities will lead to scientific advances that after incorporation in energy and water systems will contribute to integrate both systems in a single highly efficient system.
Project Participants
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University of Beira Interior (Portugal)
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University of Poitiers (France)
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University of Tunis (Tunisia)
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National Technical University of Athens (Greece)
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University of Cyprus (Cyprus)
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Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (Malta)
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Alexandria University, Renewable Energy Centre (Egypt)
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ICOVI - Infra-estruturas e Concessões da Covilhã (Portugal)
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GB Solar - Groupe (France)
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Green Energy Solutions company (Egypt)