The EU-funded CIPRNET project has contributed to the maintenance of European safety and security, through enhanced protection of its essential infrastructure.

At the recent European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna, work was presented from the EU-funded CIPRNET (Critical Infrastructure Preparedness and Resilience Research Network) project.

EU researchers have pioneered new calibration strategies for detecting “habitable” planets outside our solar system – with impressive results already.

The existence of extra-terrestrial life presupposes the existence of habitable planets – like Earth – outside our solar system. What makes our own planet so special is the fact that it has a solid outer crust and is situated at a distance from the sun where liquid water can exist. Only a few other planets have ever been discovered which satisfy these ‘habitability’ criteria.

The EU-funded ESTORAGE project has presented a range of options for increasing energy storage capacity across Europe, whilst also building flexibility into grids to better integrate renewables.

The project recently made some of its first results public, identifying an impressive 2291 GWh of energy storage capacity realisable through Pumped Storage Hydro Plants (PSPs) across existing development-ready sites. This is more than seven times the currently installed PSP capacity across Europe.