SILC II Is A Funding Opportunity For EU Industry To Cope With The Climate Challenge

The European Commission has just launched the Sustainable Industry Low Carbon II (SILC II) initiative with a budget of €20M. This new initiative, funded under Horizon 2020, aims at contributing to the achievement of the stringent EU climate and energy targets and the decarbonisation of the EU economy in the long run. In particular, in the context of the EU’s decarbonisation ambitions, breakthrough solutions for advanced low-carbon manufacturing and processing are important to maintain the competitiveness of EU industries.

The SILC II initiative will fund projects which develop low-carbon technology solutions, with a special focus on energy-intensive industries, in order to achieve significant greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reductions in EU industry. In practice, the SILC II initiative will support the development of new technologies, and their implementation in some “pilot” industrial plants under real working conditions, that will allow goods to be produced with much lower GHG emissions. Targeted industries include inter alia iron and steel, non-ferrous metals such as aluminium and copper, cement, glass, pulp and paper, chemicals and ceramics.

European Commissioner Michel Barnier, who is acting Commissioner for industry and entrepreneurship, said: “We need to tackle the problem of climate change, but we cannot give up on industrial production in Europe. Therefore, the call for proposals intends to help industry to adapt, modernise and become more energy efficient and competitive on the global markets and to maintain employment in the EU. Moreover, the projects will boost EU leadership in advanced manufacturing and low-carbon technologies."

Innovation is key
Innovation is key for making low-carbon manufacturing and processing a reality. The support under Horizon 2020 of SILC II projects will provide the opportunity to bridge the gap between research and its exploitation and overcome what is often referred to as the “valley of death”1 by seeking to validate low-carbon technologies with demonstration programmes prior to their industrial implementation.

EU industry is challenged at the same time by ambitious EU environmental policies and strong global competition. The potential technology transfer of the innovative solutions developed and tested in SILC II, which is expected within the energy-intensive sectors and beyond, will help EU companies to reduce their compliance costs with the EU Emission Trading System (EU ETS) and improve their competitiveness.

Potential applicants are invited to submit their SILC II proposals by 2 September 2014. Please refer to the call for proposals H2020-SILC II-2014 published on the Participant Portal for more detailed information.