ECOLOOP

Integrating diverse renewable energy sources, optimising energy needs, and improving waste and land management in rural areas are essential for meeting local sustainability goals and demand for electricity, heating, cooling, and transportation resources. The EU-funded project ECOLOOP focuses on reducing carbon footprints through the increased use of renewable energy, self-consumption, and effective agricultural/forest waste management. Its objectives include enhancing biogas production from waste, combining renewable sources like biogas, biomass, agri-PV, and geothermal energy, while advancing sustainable agricultural practices. ECOLOOP promotes regional development, contributing to job creation, gender equality, and climate resilience. The project's impact will be showcased in pilot sites across Bulgaria, Spain, Estonia and Slovenia, considering diverse environmental and socio-economic factors.

ECOLOOP project develops and demonstrates a set of solutions to optimise the combination of different energy distributed sources (biogas, biomass, agri-PV, geothermal), meeting the local needs for electricity, heating, cooling, transport and waste and land management in rural areas, fostering regional development and creating benefits for farmers and foresters. The project solutions will focus on promoting the reduction of carbon footprint in rural areas by means of the higher penetration of distributed renewable energy sources, self-consumption and an optimal agricultural/forest waste management, while creating positive effects in biodiversity and soil health and reducing the risk on groundwater contamination. Following this approach, ECOLOOP objectives are:
- To optimise the production of biogas from agriculture and forestry wastes in situ.
- To combine in an efficient and sustainable way different distributed renewable energy sources (biogas, biomass, agri-PV, geothermal), meeting the local needs for electricity, heating, cooling, transport and waste and land management in rural areas.
- To develop innovative renewable-based agricultural protocols and advance bioproducts to increase sustainability and circularity while creating positive effects on biodiversity and soil health and groundwater pollution.
- To foster regional development in rural areas.

ECOLOOP project will move towards a circular economy in rural areas, focusing on agriculture and forestry sectors, contributing to job creation, gender equality, biodiversity and climate resilience and adaptation.

All the benefits provided by ECOLOOP solutions will be demonstrated in 4 pilot sites in Spain, Estonia, Bulgaria and Slovenia, involving different forest and agriculture natural conditions (climate, soils), size and types of crops trees, management techniques, degree of mechanisation, geographic location and socio-economic factors, and considering the interaction of different types of energy sources.