Aeronautics & Space Forum

To start this new issue, we are very pleased to invite you to attend to the Aeronautics Forum we are preparing and in which we would be delighted to count on you.

The Forum will take place next March 19 at the CIDAUT Foundation facilities located in the Boecillo Technology Park. Our intention is this Forum will become a place to share experiences, ideas and knowledge, creating new synergies, relationships and collaborations between the participants.

With this in mind, we have managed to bring together representatives of the main entities and companies in the sector who, without a doubt, will provide attendees with very interesting first-hand information on R&D, innovation, sustainability and current and future technological trends in the short, medium and long term, etc.

Please note that the number of places is very limited. Many people have already reserved their places and very few are still available. Therefore, if you are interested, we encourage you to register as soon as possible through the following link:

http://www.cidaut.es/AeronauticayEspacio

We hope we have the opportunity to meet you in the event.

CIDAUT Foundation

See you in the Forum!

The AIHRE Project kicks off to boost the green hydrogen industry in Spain and Portugal

  • This initiative brings together nine partners including the CIDAUT Foundation, the Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA), the Universities of Seville, Oporto and Évora, the Galicia Institute of Technology (ITG), the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre (IPP), the Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering (INEGI) and the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA).
  • The project has been financed with 1.5 million euros under the third call of the Interreg VI-A Spain-Portugal Cross-Border Cooperation Programme (POCTEP) 2021-2027.

The AIHRE European project, ‘Analysis and Boosting of Renewable H2 in the POCTEP area’, has initiated its activities to accelerate the green hydrogen industry in different areas of Spain and Portugal. The initiative, which has been financed with 1.5 million euros under the third call of the Interreg VI-A Spain-Portugal Cross-Border Cooperation Programme (POCTEP) 2021-2027, counts on the participation of nine partners from the two countries, including universities, research centers and business clusters.  

AIHRE aims to create a technological and business network to harness the potential of green hydrogen generation at industrial level. The project will focus its actions in certain areas of Spain and Portugal, the so-called cooperation area or POCTEP area, which includes regions close to A Coruña, Valladolid, Huelva and Seville; and the Portuguese regions of Évora, Oporto and Portalegre. These areas stand out for their natural resources and conditions for electricity generation, as well as for a corporate structure made up of small and medium-sized businesses that could take advantage of the hydrogen technologies to be proposed in AIHRE.

In a firm commitment to industrial decarbonisation, the project will promote the emergence of value chains based on green hydrogen that drive economic development at local and regional levels. To this end, it will involve players from the quadruple helix in its activities, namely the scientific and academic community, political decision-makers, companies from sectors such as energy or mobility, and end users.

The AIHRE project counts on nine partners, five Spanish and four Portuguese, including CIDAUT Foundation, acting as coordinator, Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA), the Universities of Seville, Oporto and Évora, the Galicia Institute of Technology (ITG), the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre (IPP), the Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering (INEGI) and the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA). Starting in July 2023, the initiative has a duration of 36 months.  

Technological development

The analysis and development of technologies to incorporate value chains based on green hydrogen is a key element of the AIHRE project. This process will be undertaken in separate phases, ranging from the analysis of the current energy scenario to the generation of prototypes and business models.

Particularly, during a first stage, the needs of the green hydrogen value chain in the POCTEP area will be analysed, as well as the technologies available or relevant. To this end, two co-creation workshops will be organised, one in Spain and the second one in Portugal, where key players in the hydrogen value chain will be invited to participate. Later, models and algorithms will be designed for the management of green hydrogen systems, together with prototypes for their generation, transport, storage and use. In a final phase, the viability of the business models devised around the technologies developed will be assessed.

The tools and project outcomes shall be accessible to the public through the AIHRE website: www.aihre.eu

CIDAUT, a reference in hydrogen technologies

CIDAUT, a reference in hydrogen technologies.

Thanks to the knowledge, capabilities and experience that CIDAUT has in hydrogen technologies, we have participated in several conferences where we have contributed with our vision regarding the role of renewable hydrogen.

On January 23rd of this year, Banco Santander organized a conference on hydrogen in Castilla y León, in which CIDAUT was present with José Ignacio Domínguez. The event highlighted the opportunities that exist in the region to tackle projects related to renewable hydrogen, as it has the renewable resource, technological capacity and business initiatives to carry them out.

The renewable hydrogen economy involves a series of challenges and opportunities that the actors involved in the hydrogen value chain have to face.

FaCyL, the Automotive and Mobility Cluster of Castilla y León, analyzed the impact of European emissions regulations on heavy vehicles on Friday, January 26 in Valladolid. This took place within the framework of the first session of the 2024 Think Tank ‘Challenges for the Future of the Automotive Industry in Castilla y León’, an initiative promoted by Polo de la Automoción, the sectoral brand developed by the cluster.

This first session of Polo de la Automoción’s 2024 Think Tank also served for the sharing, through a collaborative dynamic in which the attendees participated, of the challenges faced by automotive and mobility companies in Castilla y León at this time. The new form of mobility and the underpinning of the sector as one of the references of the economy of Castilla y León were three of the issues highlighted in this strategic reflection of the automotive and mobility of the autonomous community.

The participation of CIDAUT, as a reference center in intelligent, connected and sustainable mobility, served to emphasize the decarbonizing role of renewable hydrogen, especially in heavy transport.

Fundacion CIDAUT celebrates the 3rd General Assembly and First Review Meeting of the European Project ESTELLA

Researchers from the CIDAUT Foundation Centre, as coordinators of the ESTELLA project, have travelled to Belgium on 30 and 31th January to celebrate their third General Assembly. The meeting was held at the facilities of Celabor, partner which is contributing to research activities related to nanocellulose fibres.  Hence, the 13 members of the consortium presented the progress made in their competences, the results achieved so far and, consequently, defined the new tasks to be carried out in the coming months.

ESTELLA aims to solve the major environmental problem of composites based on conventional fibre-reinforced epoxy resins, which are technical materials with a very low recyclability rate. So far, the researchers have worked on the development of recyclable thermosetting biocomposites, with a methodology based on the development of innovative recyclable thermosetting matrices, the functionalisation of fibres (continuous and discontinuous) highly compatible with the resins developed, the design and manufacture of composites, and the recycling of matrices and composites.

The current challenge focuses on the selection of epoxy fibres and matrices within the battery developed in the project for use in the manufacture of the composite prototype in wich Fundacion Cidaut is working, as well as the study of the different types of recycling (chemical, mechanical and biological) applied to the composites obtained.

All these results were successfully presented on 6th February 2024, when the ESTELLA consortium attended the First Review Meeting of the European ESTELLA project with the European Commission.

For further information on ESTELLA, please visit www.estellaproject.eu

The research leading to these results has received funding from Horizon Europe Programme under grant agreement nº 101058371.

CIDAUT participates in GENERA 2024 through the Complementary Energy and Hydrogen Plan Instrument

Madrid has hosted the GENERA 2024 Fair from 6 to 8 February in IFEMA as in previous editions. This International Energy and Environment Fair is aimed at all professionals related to the world of energy efficiency and renewable energies in the commitment to climate neutrality.

In this edition, CIDAUT had the opportunity to participate in one of the round tables organised within the programme of activities on the 6th of February. The round table, organised by CIEMAT, was entitled: Building territorial synergies for the energy transition: Complementary Energy and Green Hydrogen Plan. This programme is part of the Complementary Plans for Research and Development with the Autonomous Communities in R&D&I actions, of Component 17. Investment 1. It is financed by the Funds of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism -NextGeneration EU Funds- and the Funds of the Autonomous Communities that make it up. In this case, Castilla y León and CIDAUT are part of it through the H2METAMO project.  The round table was organised in different blocks according to the Hydrogen value chain: Generation, storage and applications and uses. Specifically, Henar Olmedo, responsible for the H2METAMO project as part of the Complementary Energy and Green Hydrogen Plan, participated in the round table on Storage. The round table was moderated by Miguel Ángel Fernández from the National Hydrogen Centre, and the storage block was attended by entities such as CIEMAT, CIIAE and the University of Cantabria.

After a brief introduction of the speakers, the round table focused around two questions. Firstly, there was a discussion on how complementary plans were seen as an instrument to be implemented in more areas and programmes, as an element of inter-territorial cooperation. Finally, the moderator opened the debate on how inter-regional cooperation in the development of storage infrastructures can facilitate a more resilient and efficient network for handling renewable hydrogen, taking advantage of the unique capabilities of each region. In this case, the importance of deploying storage infrastructures to boost the hydrogen value chain and thus link production and use as a key element was highlighted.