CIDAUT participates in the sustainability roadmap of the automotive ecosystem of Castilla y León.

The Automotive Cluster of Castilla y León, FaCyL, as part of the activities programmed by the Think Tank ‘Retos de Futuro de la Automoción de Castilla y León’ of the sectorial brand Polo de la Automoción, brought together around twenty experts on June 8. The objective was to share knowledge and develop a strategic vision on the roadmap for the sustainability of this ecosystem on the occasion of the celebration of Environment Day. This collaborative activity seeks to draw a strategic path for companies in the community in this area.

CIDAUT’s participation, led by José Ignacio Domínguez, from the Energy and Environment area, provided the vision of a technology centre with extensive experience in the automotive sector. Sustainability is one of the key lines of research, both from the point of view of the circular economy of the materials used, and from the perspective of efficiency and zero emissions from the propulsion systems of battery electric and hydrogen fuel cells vehicles. This activity provided an insight into how automotive companies in the autonomous community are facing the challenges involved in adapting to the manufacturing process of new vehicle models that are more environmentally friendly. In addition, the dynamic has also made it possible to exchange experiences on how companies see the new mobility and what actions can be developed to achieve a better understanding between all the actors involved in this challenge.

CIDAUT has participated in the “II Foro Iberoamericano de Energía” hold on-line

The COVID-19 has forced to celebrate the II Foro Iberoamericano de la Energía on-line. In this edition, Cidaut has been invited to show its know-how and experience in the development of solutions for sustainable mobility. The presentation made by the Research and Development Center has been focused on the methodology followed in the last twelve years to complete the whole path from the idea to the manufacturing of a safe urban electric vehicle.

The first point of the presentation was to highlight the support of the European Commission through the different funding programs and the great contribution of the different and numerous partners involved in the different project presented. Although Cidaut has worked in different solutions for the vehicle structures, mainly CFRP, light alloys and AHSS, in this case the solution based on Advanced High Strength Steel was presented. This working line started on 2012 with the design of a safe urban vehicle (PLUS-MOBY Project) and its related infrastructure. The vehicle’s power train consisted in two motor one per axle with and enhanced dynamic behavior and improvement crashworthiness for lateral and frontal crashes. Both the vehicle and the infrastructure used the photovoltaic energy to reduce de carbon footprint with cells in the roof of the vehicle and in the infrastructure, also the batteries available in the infrastructure were compatible with the batteries in the car to allow battery swapping.

Along Steel S4 EV Project, the vehicle structure is optimize paying special attention to the cutting and welding processes of the structure and the assembly of the vehicle as a whole. The aim is to make a clean safe vehicle easy and cheap to be manufactured. The design of the micro-factory where the solution achieved in Steel S4 EV can be produced is been tackled in Avangard Project, where the main objective is the definition of a 4.000m2 plant where different configurations of the vehicle (van, pick-up, enlarged van, standard,…) can de produced with an investment 90% lower in comparison to a standard vehicle factory.

Finally, the product will be improved thanks to the integration of automated driving capabilities that will be implement in the coming project MULTI-MOBY.

NEOHIRE Project closure

Last January 2020, coinciding with the end of NEOHIRE Project, several events took place at CEIT’s premises in San Sebastián (Spain).

On the 28th, the External Expert Advisory Board (EEAB) meeting was held. In addition to the project partners, Giuseppe Volpe (Motor Design Ltd.) and Mohan Pasupathy (Wall Colmonoy Ltd.) attended the meeting as representatives of the EEAB. Main technical achievements and results were shared and discussed.

On the 29th, the Final Review Meeting took place. Mr. Martti Paju attended the meeting as Technical Monitor. The overall progress of NEOHIRE project was thoroughly reviewed: milestones and deliverables status, main results per Task/Work Package and dissemination activities, including know-how generated during the project (publications and patents).

Finally, on the 30th CEIT organized a NEOHIRE showcase as project Final Event. The event, which counted on the presence of the regional deputy of economy as chairman, allowed the partners to share key project results through about 11 specific dissertations with more than 50 relevant researchers in the field. Some of the topics covered were: sustainable alternative to rare earths, key minerals for mobility avoiding the dependence on China and magnets technologies for the future.

Meeting of BIOURB NATUR consortium in Bragança

The consortium team of the project Biobuilding diversity, bioclimatic architecture, sustainable rehabilitation and its application in natural areas” held a new meeting in the “Balcão Único” building of Câmara Municipal de Bragança on May 27th.

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

The main objective of the meeting was to review the progress of the technical activities, as well as the communication and the project coordination activities.

Within the project, five specific buildings located in natural parks in Castilla y León (Spain) and three located in Montesinho Natural Park (Portugal) are being rehabilitated with bioclimatic solutions in order to get better comfort and higher energy efficiency. The monitoring phase, conducted by CIDAUT, is just starting at this date. The project is co-financed by the programme of cooperation INTERREG V-A Spain-Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020 and will be further developed until December 2019.

Regarding Communication Activities, several technical workshops, informative sessions and a promotional video film are being developed.

http://www.biourb.net

                                             

CIDAUT highlights “The role of hydrogen in the energy transition”

The current decarbonisation policies place hydrogen in the spotlight of sustainable energy development. This aspect is reinforced by the fact of the need for large-scale energy storage to manage an electrical system with high renewable production where hydrogen plays a fundamental role. In addition, on February 11, the “Hydrogen Roadmap Europe” was published by the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, which highlights the need to use hydrogen to achieve high decarbonisation rates and reduce CO2 emissions by 80%.

CIDAUT as a national reference in the field of hydrogen technologies participated in the technical conference of February 28, 2019: “The role of hydrogen in the energy transition”, which was developed within the program of activities of the International Fair of Energy and Environment (GENERA) held in Madrid.

This conference helped to highlight the key role that hydrogen will play in the energy transition and to define the actions that must be carried out to achieve the development of these technologies in Spain. During the conference, attended by the Secretary of State for Energy, José Domínguez Abascal, the current decarbonisation policies were discussed and the need for the implementation of hydrogen technologies in the European context of energy transition was exposed.

In the first round table of the day, the representatives of the main Ministries and national entities related to Energy, Industry, Science and Innovation debated on the importance of hydrogen to reach a carbon-free energy system.

In a second part of the conference, institutional partners of the AeH2 presented the “Main initiatives of the hydrogen sector and fuel cells in Spain”. As one of the partners, CIDAUT exposed its extensive experience in R&D projects within the field of hydrogen technologies and stressed its commitment to the future of hydrogen as an energy vector and decarbonization factor.

But this was not the only event that took place in Madrid on hydrogen. On March 1, the National Infoday of the Call 2019 of the FCH 2 JU was held in the Assembly Hall of the Center for Industrial Technological Development, CDTI. CIDAUT attended the Infoday where we could know firsthand all the information related to the call.

During the Infoday, Ms. María Luisa Revilla, from the Department of Social Challenges of the CDTI, presented the objectives and general vision of the FCH 2 JU and the H2020, as well as the rules for participation and presentation of proposals within the framework of H2020. The infoday was attended too by Mr. Carlos Navas, Head of the Strategy and Market Development Department of the FCH 2 JU, who presented the strategic vision and role of hydrogen in the European energy transition. In addition, he presented the topics included in this call and the keys for the presentation of proposals. The budget of this call is 80.8 million euros and 17 topics are considered: 5 related to transport, 8 with energy, 3 cross-cutting or cross-sectoral themes and 1 general. Finally, Mr. Antonio González, vice president of AeH2 and president of PTE HPC, explained the current situation of hydrogen technologies and fuel cells in Spain, explaining the key role they will play in the energy transition towards a carbon-free system.