Erasmus+ Project: E-Learning Platform: Energy and Water Efficiency in the Aquaculture Sector

The aquaculture sector has experienced significant development over the last half-century, currently accounting for almost half of the global fish supply. Future growth in fish demand is expected to be met through aquaculture production. Aquaculture accounts for around 20% of seafood production in Europe and directly employs approximately 85,000 people, mainly in rural and coastal areas. The sector has incorporated sustainability principles since its inception.

However, in terms of energy and water efficiency, the various proposals focus on addressing the main existing horizontal technologies, such as pumps or filtration systems, or on optimizing energy contracts to reduce costs. These proposals represent improvements that are soon undermined by the emergence of new inefficiencies elsewhere in the facilities or by production changes that require further reviews of energy procurement conditions. The high energy consumption in this sector is due to the need to use high-consumption technologies, such as pumps, aerators, and temperature control systems, as well as the fact that many of these facilities are located far from urban centers, further complicating the availability of energy resources. Therefore, there is a growing demand for a minimum level of training in the energy field that would enable both those responsible for production and the technical teams in charge of farm control and maintenance to detect and respond appropriately to inefficiencies that may arise in the various energy and water systems.

The tools provided address the computer processing of collected information, the analysis of energy indicators, and the formulation of improvement proposals. They provide operational managers at farms with the skills and tools necessary for continuous plant monitoring. Planning, needs assessment, evaluation of alternatives, and decision-making are essential to ensuring the proper functioning of farms in the future, from an energy and water efficiency perspective. The training program has been transformed into an e-learning program to make all these resources available to the sector through an interactive platform. This open educational resource is accessible online to all. The EWEAS program proposes good practices, innovative tools, and practical solutions to increase growth and productivity by reducing the carbon footprint and wastewater.