LIFE-HEAT-R was a close to market project that aimed to demonstrate a new technology for directly converting waste heat into electricity, based on a thermoelectric principle called the Seebeck effect. The technology consisted of a modular unit using multiple thermoelectric generator cells controlled through a patented programmable control unit based on system-on-chip technology.
This technology would be demonstrated in industrial sectors with high levels of waste heat emissions, through five pilot sites (classified by temperature ranges) that would permit part of the wasted energy to be recovered in the form of heat and transformed into electricity. This would allow the energy to be used for other activities and processes. The net effect would be to reduce CO2 and other GHG emissions, due to the improved resource efficiency for the whole process.