SPIRE is a contractual Public-Private Partnership dedicated to innovation in resource and energy efficiency enabled by the process industries and addressing three fundamental European challenges:
Urgency to create growth and increase the competitiveness of Europe in a global market.
Need to rejuvenate the European process industry that is at the basis of the European economy in terms of turnover, employment and generation of technologies for all industrial sectors.
Imperative to reduce resource and energy inefficiency and the environmental impact of industrial activities.
SPIRE aims at integrating, demonstrating and validating systems and technologies capable of achieving
a reduction in fossil energy intensity of up to 30% from current levels through a combination of, for example, introduction of novel energy-saving processes, process intensification, energy recovery, sustainable water management, cogeneration heat-power and progressive introduction of alternative (renewable) energy sources within the process cycle
a reduction of up to 20% in non-renewable, primary raw material intensity compared to current levels, by increasing chemical and physical transformation yields and/ or using secondary and renewable raw materials
a significant contribution to the political and societal objectives of drastic efficiency improvement in CO2-equivalent of up to 40%
across all SPIRE sectors.
A.SPIRE is the European Association which is committed to manage and implement the SPIRE Public-Private Partnership. It represents innovative process industries, 20% of the total European manufacturing sector in employment and turnover, and more than 130 industrial and research process stakeholders from over a dozen countries spread throughout Europe. SPIRE brings together cement, ceramics, chemicals, engineering, minerals and ores, non-ferrous metals, steel and water sectors, several being world-leading sectors operating from Europe.