Finally, significant efforts continued to be made in diversifying renewable energy sources and in the nuclear power segment through: › the production of a staged biomass gasification plant prototype (for which the related patent application and trademark registration have already been filed) which is expected to enter service near the end of the first half of › construction of a prototype plant to produce liquid hydrocarbon from vegetable oils by means of a thermo-catalytic process, which does not require the use of methyl alcohol and does not produce glycerin as a by-product; › continued research into Generation IV nuclear reactors, which represents an industry standard in Europe for the development of the lead-cooled fast reactor through the coordination of the EU-FP7 LEADER contract.