Fifth Consortium Meeting of Neohire

The NEOHIRE Project continues its journey.  A new meeting was held to monitor the status of the project at University of Birmingham (UOB) premises in Birmingham (UK) last 22nd and 23rd October 2019.

NEOHIRE aims to reduce the dependence on scarce magnet materials for the manufacture of electric motors and generators. As part of Cidaut’s contribution to the project, the status of the Work Package 3 was presented, which is related to the design, modeling and simulation of a novel full-scale wind turbine generator using the magnets developed in the project. For more information on NEOHIRE, please visit http://neohire.eu/

CIDAUT attends several hydrogen events in Brussels

Hydrogen is an essential key in Europe’s energy transition and its efforts to cut carbon emissions and tackle climate change.  It is therefore expected to play an important role in the European Commission’s Green Deal. The FCH sector is also a valuable source of future jobs and growth in a green economy and CIDAUT is focused on this strategy.

Different events have taken place in Brussels at the end of November in relation to hydrogen technologies and fuel cells. CIDAUT had the opportunity to be there.

Programme Review Days 2019

The Programme Review Days (PRD) 2019 took place on the 19th and 20th of November in Brussels preceding the FCH JU Stakeholder Forum on the 21st of November

The Programme Review Days, organised annually, aims to provide an overview on the progress of the FCH JU funded projects. It constitutes an excellent visibility platform for the projects and the technological developments achieved in the sector and provides networking opportunities for the participants.

A number of 27 projects and 3 studies as well as other FCH JU initiatives, were featured this year, gathered around the following main sessions: Hydrogen for Sectoral Integration, Fuel Cell Applications for Energy, Fuel Cell Applications for Transport and Support for Market Uptake.

FCH JU Awards 2019

The Awards were presented at a ceremony at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels on 20 November 2019, attended by about 300 industry, research and EU representatives. The winners were chosen by public vote, which mobilised the European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen community around the 24 nominees – 12 for each category (success stories and innovation).

This year’s Best Success Story, ‘Driving forward fuel cell technologies’, is looking at a series of projects (VOLUMETRIQ, INSPIRE, CRESCENDO, GAIA and PEGASUS) which are making fuel cells more affordable and competitive.

“These projects are delivering results that enable Europe to be a leader in the fuel cell technology and have a strong impact on the clean energy transition. The aim is to pry open market potential, ensuring a greener future for the EU’s transport sector” said FCH JU’s Executive Director Bart Biebuyck.

BIG HIT project was presented with a special award for Best Outreach Hydrogen achievements in Scotland (Orkney Islands).

Stakeholder Forum 2019

“The green energy transition is not an option but a necessity. I see a pivotal role for clean hydrogen…it is an area where Europe is still leading. Why not extend the lead on something that could be one of the most important solutions for clean energy?” said Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission, in the opening session of the 2019 Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) Stakeholder Forum, on 21st November. ‘The most important thing is that you help us to find ways to make relatively quick successes to show people that it works’ continued Timmermans,” addressing the forum – energy and climate experts from industry, research, EU institutions and local and regional authorities.

Discussions among more than 500 Forum participants in Brussels’ Charlemagne building focused on how to tackle the remaining hurdles to deployment, the importance of promoting an innovation culture in activating new markets, and the impact of synergies and international scale-up efforts on growth and jobs. Delegates explored the latest developments in the sector, showing how Europe is capitalising on new FCH developments and forging ahead towards a zero-emission economy.

Participants could also download the event app to stay up date with the conference programme and also join us on social media by following @fch_ju on Twitter – #PRD2019 #SF2019 #CleanHydrogen.

S3P HYDROGEN VALLEYS Working Groups

And to close the week, CIDAUT attended the meetings organized by the S3P Hydrogen Valleys working groups that took place on Friday the 22th November.

The working groups have been organized based on themes that arouse common interests for the development of interregional projects. Thus, CIDAUT as a representative and supporting the region of Castilla y León attended the meetings of the Hydrogen Production, Transportation and Storage groups, as well as Mobility uses. The objective of these groups is the approach of projects in the different themes that can be presented at the Hyvolution event that will take place on February 4 in Paris. CIDAUT will co-coordinate Production working group with Aragon Hydrogen Foundation and University of Bologna.

VALORCOMP visits CIDAUT in the last meeting of 2019

The past 14th November 2019, VALORCOMP consortium met in CIDAUT facilities to monitor all its activities before the end of the year. As usual and close to the end of the project, representatives from the entire consortium attended the meeting: Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB, Principal Beneficiary), CIDAUT Foundation, University of Valladolid (UVa), Resíduos do Nordeste (RN) and Nertatec.

The Coordination commission started the meeting with the objective of evaluating common management aspects. The most significant data was the project request extension agreement until mid-2020 with the objective of disseminating the results of the project. For this purpose, two workshops were agreed, one in Valladolid (Spain) in March 2020 and the other in Mirandela (Portugal) organized by Residuos do Nordeste in April 2020. The project is scheduled to close in June 2020 at the facilities of IPB.

Within the Technical commission, the main objective of the meeting was to share the progress in each of the aspects compost use under study in the framework of the project. CIDAUT presented the results obtained in the pelletization and gasification tests in the pilot plant. Pelletization shows very satisfactory results. The gasification results are under evaluation, but a priori it seems that the low quality of the compost causes the gas obtained to have limited applications. Combustion test in updraft boiler are pending.

IPB presented the conclusions of the adsorption process modeling for CO2 separation using activated carbon from activity 2. The results of compost carbonization were also shown using two different techniques: hydrotreatment (HTC) and functional carbonization using TEOS and EDTA. Activity 2 concluded with the advances in the use of compost in construction materials and the results of temperature tests.

Within the framework of agronomic valorization in activity 3, the UVA presented the results of the technical-economic balance of the nutrient extraction process studied. On this activity, IPB showed a final review of the characterization of the leachates obtained in the Residuos do Nordeste plant to be used as fertilizer.

Nertatec presented the tools developed in activity 4. Two simple tools have been developed for the evaluation of compost quality as a fertilizer and as a fuel for energy use based on the characteristics of the compost. Work is being done on these tools in order to show them to the administrations and entities interested in the project workshops that will be held next year.

Finally to conclude the meeting it was made a visit to the combustion test facilities in CIDAUT. This experimental pilot plant will be used to carry out the combustion test for thermal valorization of compost. The purpose of the visit was to show VALORCOMP members the test capabilities of CIDAUT and the facilities for such test.

ENERUSER kick-off meeting in Valladolid

The consortium team of the project “User empowerment  for intelligent management of energy and indoor air quality through innovative forms of consumption and control” (ENERUSER) ” held its Kick-Off meeting in the “Lucía” building of Valladolid University on Nov 6th.

Representatives of all the partners attended the meeting with the presence of the Construction Institute of Castilla y León (ICCL, Main Beneficiary), Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB), Natural Heritage Foundation of Castilla y León (FPNCYL), Municipality of Bragança, National Federation of Energy Promoters (FENAGE) and CIDAUT Foundation.

The main objective of the project is to propose a change in the form of energy consumption and control in homes, as well as air quality. Results will have a significant impact on climatic change and they will come through new consumption habits and citizen empowerment on energy control.

An innovative energy control methodology will be developed, specializing in housing and social rent. Two pilot buildings will be analysed, monitored and evaluated, thus resulting in proven models and solutions that could be applied in the development of near zero energy buildings.

The project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the programme of cooperation INTERREG V-A Spain-Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020 and will be further developed until June 2021.

Cidaut in Innovation Funds workshop in Madrid

As part of the preparation of the first call for proposals under the Innovation Fund (IF), the European Commission has invited sector associations and Member States to organize workshops in all European countries. Last 19th November, the Spanish workshop took place in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism where the Commission presented the Innovation Fund and the essential elements to be developed for the first call.

The Innovation Fund is one of the world’s largest funding programmes for demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies. The Innovation Fund focuses on 4 pillars of work: EEI, renewable energy, energy storage and carbon capture.

General scheme for Innovation Fund Programme

17 industrial and energy partners such as Repsol, Enagas, ArcelorMittal, Fertiberia and Saint Gobain exposed different low carbon solutions related with future eligible projects in IF. CIDAUT, together with the Spanish Bioethanol Association (Bio-E), proposed the most important lines of work for this renewable fuel. Solutions are focused on increasing the production of bioethanol per hectare of crop, eg: increasing the added value of co-products obtained in alcoholic fermentation processes; or focused on increasing the use and presence of bioethanol in different sectors: transport (extensive use of E10 and E85 gasoline vehicles), cogeneration or use in dedicated engines for nZEB (nearly Zero Emission Buildings).

More in detail, CIDAUT and Bio-E exposed a project approach focused on using CO2 emitted by bioethanol manufacturing industries together with renewable hydrogen to increase the synthesis production of chemicals such as methanol.

CIDAUT exposition and proposal overview

 

The Spanish Bioethanol Association is constituted

On June 25, THE SPANISH ASSOCIATION OF BIOETHANOL, Bio-E, was officially constituted.  This association aims to carry out all those actions aimed at
promote the use of biofuels substitute for gasoline (renewable gasoline) in the mobility sector.

Bioethanol is a renewable fuel produced from sustainable crops. It provides undoubted environmental improvements, contributes to the development of the rural economy and the maintenance of jobs in the agricultural sector and is a transition towards a low carbon economy.

One of the first objectives of the association is to advocate that in Spanish service stations the user could find the so-called E85 (85% bioethanol), so popular in other countries such as France. A balanced policy should align the objectives of decarbonization with the taxation of fuels. Additionally, it still does not have an advantageous labeling.

The elected Board of Directors is composed of the following companies: BIOETANOL GALICIA, S.A.; BERNABÉ CAMPAL, S.L.; CEFERINO NOGUEIRA, S.A.; ERSHIP S.A.; ADM AGRO IBÉRICA S.L.; COFCO INTERNATIONAL AGROCOMERCIAL S.A.; AGROALIMENTACION MENDOZA PEREZ SL, NOVOZYMES y COOPERATIVAS AGROALIMENTARIAS.

CIDAUT is part of this association as Institutional founding partner and we have been designated as coordinators of the R&D Working Group within the association. This Working Group will meet on November in order to stablish future R&D actions and evaluate potential projects within the partners of the association and other stakeholders.

On 25 september 2019, the First Regional Forum on Cybersecurity for SMES and entrepreneurs took place in Salamanca (Spain).

The 1st Regional Cyber Security Forum was organized CIDAUT Foundation, as well as, the Interreg Europe CYBER project partner Institute for Business Competitiveness of Castilla y León (ICE) under the training and support Program for R&D Business Centr@Tec, in collaboration with the General Foundation and the BISITE Research Group of the University of Salamanca, the VIEWNEXT Innovation and the National Cybersecurity Institute (INCIBE). This Forum had aimed to facilitate the development of the regional cybersecurity ecosystem, to encourage the regional entrepreneurship and the attraction of talents to the cybersecurity field. Finally, it also aims to promote the activities of the Regional Cybersecurity Pole.

The official opening of this event was carried out by Mrs. Beatriz Casado (Chief of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Institute for Business Competitiveness of Castilla y León) and Mr. Enrique Cabero (Vice-rector of Academic Policy and Social Participation at the University of Salamanca).

Next, Mr. Deepak Daswani (Chiefs Security Ambassadors of ELEVENPATHS) presented a global view of the cybersecurity for a competitive industry. Mr. Faustino Nieto (CEO of Productos Ibéricos FANISA SL) showed that cyber-attacks exist across his own personal story. This was followed by a presentation of different successful cases in the cybersecurity context. Different cybersecurity solutions used by the automotive industry and food sector was showed, respectively, by Mr. Álvaro Villarino and Mr. Eduardo Sanz (R&D Project Managers of CIDAUT Foundation) and Mr. Juan Manuel García (CISO of Cerealto Siro Foods). While, Mr. José Alberto García Coria and Mr. Victor Flores (VIEWNEXT) made an applied demonstration of ethical hacking. Subsequently, Mr. Daniel Fírvida (Project Manager at National Cybersecurity Institute – INCIBE) made a presentation on “Industrial cyber-security vs Industry 4.0” and Mr. Miguel Carriegos (Professor at University of Leon) spoke about “Competences, skills and talent management in cyber-security”.

After lunch, Mr. José Francisco de Diego (Regional Manager of Institute for Business Competitiveness of Castilla y León at Salamanca) showed the Interreg Europe CYBER project, and Mr. Tomás Castro (president of the Spanish Cybersecurity Innovation Cluster) made a presentation on the Cybersecurity Innovation HUB.

The Forum proceeded with a discussion panel in which all attendees were encouraged to take part: Mr. Antonio Sahagún (ELEVENPATHS), Mr. Juan Manuel García (CEREALTO SIRO FOODS), Mr. Fernando Pérez (AETICAL), Mr. Manuel Domínguez (UNIVERSITY OF LEÓN), Mr. Benjamín Sahelices (UNIVERSITY OF VALLADOLID), Mr. Javier Martín Limorti (UNIVERSITY OF SALAMANCA) and Mr.  Álvaro García (CIDAUT Foundation).  Finally, Mrs. Beatriz Casado (Chief of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Institute for Business Competitiveness of Castilla y León) closed the Forum and invited the attendees to participate in the next workshops and events organized under the training and support Program for R&D Business Centr@Tec.

In addition to thematic workshops and panel discussions, a cyber-exercise “Capture the Flag” (CTF) took also place on the day of the event. This cyber exercise provided a forum for the local cybersecurity talents to demonstrate their skills and to be recognized by the cybersecurity stakeholders.

ReFreeDrive Consortium meets at Coiltech 2019

Coiltech hosts the World Magnetic Conference, chaired by Prof. Marco Villani (University of L’Aquila one of the partner of ReFreeDrive project), the biggest conference in its field. WMC offers both visitors and exhibitors and excellent opportunity to update one’s knowledge about innovation of materials, methods and technologies for further improvement of efficiency in production, distribution, transformation and consumption of electrical energy.

ReFreeDrive’s partners had an excellent experience last year at Coiltech 2018. For this reason, they have met again at Coiltech 2019. During the Conference the partners presented the most relevant technical results of the project that is starting its third and last year. The session, specially dedicated to the ReFreeDrive project, started with the general overview of the project presented by Cidaut as Coordinator. After the introduction, Jaguar Land Rover, Motor Design Limited, IFPEN, L´Aquila University, Breuckman and European Copper Institute explained some of the technical details of the project.

ReFreeDrive has been funded by the European Commission in the H2020 Frame Programme and it aims to avoid the use of rare earth magnet through the development of a next generation of electric drive trains, ensuring the industrial feasibility for mass production while focusing on the low cost of the manufacturing technologies.

SAFE STRIP ready to start the trial phase

Safe Strip is a European Project funded in the H2020 Frame Programme. It started in May 2017 with the aim to introduce a disruptive technology that will achieve to embed C-ITS applications in existing road infrastructure following a low cost – high impact approach. For the last two years and a half the technical development of the strips and the definition of the different use cases have been achieved. The performance of the different parts of the system have been tested in laboratory and open road conditions, but now the trial phase has reached to the critical point.

The 35 scenarios, classified in 9 uses cases defined in the project are going to be tested with real users in five different test tracks: Centro Ricerche Fiat and A22 in Italy, Thessaloniki and Atiki Odos in Greece and Cidaut in Spain. For the tests different vehicles will be used, motorcycles and cars, with different levels of automation.

Trials sites and some of the vehicles to be used

The results of the tests will be quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed, through vehicle instrumentation, surveys and questionnaires in order to assess the impact of the applications developed in Safe Strip in the safety, environment, society, traffic, economy and the users’ acceptance.

Cidaut presents STEEL S4 EV’s results in the International Symposium on Impact Engineering 2019

The international Symposium on Impact Engineering, ISIE 2019, aims to establish a professional dialogue between cultures, scientists and industry engineers on the field of experimental and computational mechanism with focus on impact and other dynamic problems.

The 2019 edition was hold in Gmunden in Upper Austria on 2-5th July 2019, the location offers a relaxed atmosphere, a beautiful environment, and a high-class service for the conference. Cidaut was there as Coordinator of Steel S4 EV project, presenting the preliminary results obtained in this project funded by the European Commission in the frame of the H2020 initiative. The presentation was focused on the crash results taking advantage of the participants’ expertize in impact engineering, mainly coming from Asia and Europe, but also with representative from America. The advances on the vehicle structure design and the evolution of the crash behavior from the starting of the project to the nowadays situation was presented.

The project has covered the first year out of three, its main target is putting high strength steels at the forefront of a new trend in electric vehicles: light vehicles with three or four wheels that comply with crash regulation and with more restrictive Euro NCAP demands. Weld joint design and welding methodologies research to maintain the material properties in the weld area, assuring the robustness and long term durability.

Cost effective low-investment manufacturing will be achieved by a modular and flexible structural design: a complex 3D skeleton frame of welded tubes, bent with high accuracy using programmed laser cuts will enable the production of different vehicles sharing the same tooling.