On January 1st, 2021, the project EiCLaR was launched. This 6.7 million Euro project funded by the EU and PR China is composed of 13 EU and 5 Chinese partners. One of the project partners is the Research Facility for Subsurface Remediation (VEGAS) at the Institute for Modelling Hydraulic and Environmental Systems (IWS) of the faculty.
EiCLaR will develop scientific and technical innovations for in situ bioremediation technologies that will be directly developed into industrial processes for the rapid, efficient, cost-effective treatment of a range of environmental pollutants such as chlorinated solvents, heavy metals and pesticides over the next 48 months. These technologies (Electro-Nanobioremediation, Monitored Bioaugmentation, Bioelectrochemical Remediation, and Enhanced Phytoremediation) will enable bioremediation approaches to expand their range of applications to industrial sites that contain complex, high concentration pollutant mixtures. This project will move the proof-of-concepts to industrial commercial processes through laboratory studies to explore the scientific base, scale-up techniques and field demonstrations. EiCLaR’s environmental sustainable and low impact methods will provide partners involved across contaminated land management value chains (researchers, site managers, developers, procurers, service providers, technology providers) with the tools to manage contaminated soil and groundwater, and improve the environmental quality across many sites throughout Europe and China.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N°965945