EEA and Norway Grants: Business Cooperation and the European Green Deal

Thematic Sessions

The European Commission presented the Union’s plan to overcome the challenges faced by climate change and environmental degradation in December 2019, the European Green Deal. The plan aims to turn climate and environmental challenges into opportunities across policy areas, which creates extensive possibilities for European businesses to create new technologies and sustainable solutions that leads to value creation. This event aims to contribute to reaching the goals set out in the European Green Deal, identify challenges for business cooperation on green solutions, explore how to best cooperate on green business solutions, and create synergies between the EEA and Norway Grants, and European and national funding schemes or programs.

This event will contain four thematic sessions focusing on the following areas within the European Green Deal. Participants should indicate when registering which two 2 of the thematic sessions they would prefer to participate in.

Day 1, 4 June:

Hydrogen for Greening Transportation

Hydrogen stands as a key clean fuel in transportation, particularly within fuel cells, emitting solely water vapor. It has been highlighted as a crucial energy carrier in achieving the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. The EU aims to produce 10 million tonnes of hydrogen by 2030, underlining its significance as a clean energy source. There's a pressing need to accelerate the hydrogen value chain's development, swiftly transitioning from pilot initiatives to establishing market driven value chains and a cohesive industry capable of meeting the required volume. Can we rise to the challenge and fulfil these ambitions?

Moderator: Mr. Thomas Bjørdal, Cluster Manager, Renergy Norway

Speakers:

Mr. Vasco Amorim, General Assembly President, Portuguese Hydrogen Association, Portugal

Ms. Danica Maljković, Head of Energy R&D, DOK-ING, DOK-ING and Indeloop, Croatia

Mr. Paul Benson, CTO, PowerUP Energy Technologies, Estonia

Mr. Imants Martinsons, Board Member, Green Tech Cluster Latvia, Latvia

Raw Materials for Zero-Emission Targets

Raw materials and rare earths are crucial for achieving the EU's zero-emission targets. The EU is currently heavily dependent on imports for several raw materials, with these imports highly concentrated in a few countries. The European Union's Critical Raw Materials Act emphasizes the link between raw material availability and zero-emission technologies. What are the most demanded materials in the European industry, and how does the current global geopolitical situation affect the industry? What role can the European Union play to ensure safe and sustainable access to raw materials?

Moderator: Ms. Teresė Škutaitė, Head of GreenTech Hub, Innovation Agency Lithuania

Speakers:

Ms. Mirjam-Kim Rääbis, Product Developer, UP Catalyst OÜ, Estonia

Mr. Espen Lea, CEO, Cemonite (Saferock), Norway

Mr. Kalin Marinov, Head of International Affairs and Strategic Development, Glavbolgarstroy Holding, Bulgaria

Day 2, 5 June:

The Role of Carbon Capture and Storage

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) mitigates climate change by capturing and storing CO2 emissions from industrial processes and power plants underground. The EU has highlighted CCS as a key technology to reach its climate neutrality goal by 2050. CCS offers a promising avenue for sustainable growth, encompassing business opportunities from technology development to storage solutions. What role will CCS play in the green transition, and how can CCS enable us to reach our decarbonization commitment on time? What are the possibilities for regional and international cooperation?

Moderator: Ms. Iva Petrova, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Energy, Bulgaria

Speakers:

Mr. Rossen Papazov, CEO and member of the Management Board, Holcim Bulgaria, Bulgaria

Ms. Laura Štrovalde, Deputy Director for investment and energy, Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, Latvia

Ms. Luciana Miu, Head of Clean Economy, Energy Policy Group and Co-Chair of the European Commission’s Working Group on Public Perception of CCS

Digitalisation of the Sustainable Blue Economy

Digital Ocean Twins support a sustainable blue economy by providing powerful tools for ecosystem-based management, marine spatial planning, and marine protected areas. President von der Leyen announced the European Digital Twin Ocean initiative in 2022, emphasizing the role of digital twins in reaching a sustainable blue economy. In this session, we will explore the many uses of digital twins related to the ocean, ranging from resource management and monitoring tools to optimize offshore renewable energy, waste management and much more.

Moderator: Mr. Sigurður Bjartmar Magnússon, Chief Technical Officer, Greenfish, Iceland

Speakers:

Mr. Bartosz Langowski, Safety & Drone Services Project Manager, Port of Gdynia Authority S.A., Poland

Mr. Pavol Dvoriak, Development manager, BAMIDA s.r.o., Slovakia

Mr. Carlos Pinho, Manager of the Portugal Blue Digital Innovation Hub project at Fórum Oceano, Portugal

Mr. Andrei Covatariu, Co-Chair of the 'Digitalization in Energy' Task Force at UNECE based in Bucharest, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe