Bio Industry
The bio industry comprises the use of renewable biological resources from land and sea, like crops, forests, fish, animals, and micro-organisms to produce food, materials, and energy.
We have experience in several projects related to the bio industry, such as ICT-BIOCHAIN, which aimed to identify opportunities for the Information and Communication Technologies to increase the efficiency of biomass supply chains; URBIOFUTURE, an initiative that boosted careers in the bio-based industry, and its follow up BIOBEC; MPOWERBIO, which implemented capacity building strategies to help SMEs find investment to get from idea to business; and BIOSWITCH, which supported and helps brand owners to switch from fossil-based to bio-based approaches. BOOST4BIOEAST and BEAMING are two initiatives focused on boosting the bioeconomy in Eastern countries through cross-border collaborations. Finally, ALFAFUELS whose objective focuses on the development sustainable jet fuels from CO₂ by micro-algal cell factories.
Other projects related to the bio industry are AGROBRIDGES, an initiative to empower local farmers and to connect them with consumers; IFISHIENCI, which is boosting smart aquaculture; GREENER, whose objective is to develop integrated systems for effective environmental remediation; and BIO4AFRICA in the framework of supporting the deployment of the bioeconomy in Africa.
We have also active participation in recent European projects such as ALIGNED, a project to optimise the environmental and socio-economic performance of bio based industries; BEATLES, which seeks to boost climate smart agri-food systems; and ALFA
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Boost4bioeast
Advanced Materials
The search for more eco-friendly manufacturing techniques is key in our current society. At Sustainable Innovations we are involved in several R&D projects advancing technologies that are used for production of advanced materials, especially in the replacement of plastics and metals with ceramics and composites in high-performance applications.
Some of these projects are LIGHTCOCE, which offered an open access Ecosystem for upscaling and testing multifunctional lightweight concrete and ceramic materials; LEE-BED, which worked to accelerate the development and manufacturing of nanomaterials and lightweight embedded electronics. Likewise, BE-SMART worked to boost new cost-effective building integrated photovoltaic product concepts with high quality architectural design.
Energy
Leveraging renewable energy sources and energy efficiency is key to mitigate climate change and accelerate the green transformation. At Sustainable Innovations we are part of several initiatives related to energy efficiency, such as SPEEDIER, which facilitated energy audits in SMEs; SUPER-HEERO, which fostered innovative funding schemes for energy efficiency in supermarkets; SOWHAT, whose tool eased Waste Heat and Cold recovery and reuse; HP4ALL, an initiative that provided the skills required for high quality, optimised Heat Pump installations; HEROES, which will develop and demonstrate a disruptive hybrid high power/high energy stationary storage system for fast charging of electric vehicles, GIGAGREEN a project with the aim of developing sustainable processes for the production of lithium-ion battery cells; NEXTCELL, an initiative in the framework of providing the next generation of high performance li-ion battery cells; and TEMPEST, which seeks to develop and mature a new generation of safe-by-design, batteries for transport applications. Likewise, BE-SMART worked to boost new cost-effective building integrated photovoltaic product concepts with high quality architectural design. Finally, the AMIGDALA project is building an alliance for modelling industries towards the Green Deal’s objectives and circularity.
Circular Economy
At Sustainable Innovations, we look beyond the current take-make-waste production models, and we want to boost a circular economy that accelerates the transition towards a regenerative growth model that gives back to the planet more than it takes, reducing the society’s consumption footprint.
Several of the projects we are involved in are thriving the path for the circular economy. For instance, UPLIFT aims to design new polymerisation routes to upcycle plastics food and drink packaging with better end-of-life characteristics, STOPP aims to create the basis for a new food packaging value chain while CATCO2NVERS will create added-value chemicals from bio-industrial CO₂ emissions using integrated catalytic technologies; PERFORM developed and constructed a highly versatile and modular electrochemical PowerPlatform for the valorisation of biomass; and RECYCALYSE is manufacturing highly active sustainable oxygen evolution catalysts. Other projects we are part of revolve around the recycling of advanced materials. For example, REMADYL aimed to recycle the so-called “old PVC”, while PLAST2BCLEANED developed a human and environmentally safe recycling process for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment plastics.
Industry 5.0
The Industry 5.0 goes beyond the Industry 4.0 in its highlight of research and innovation as drivers for a transition to a sustainable, human-centric, and resilient European industry. While the Industry 4.0 focused on increasing the efficiency and flexibility of production through new technologies such as digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, the Industry 5.0 aims to leverage them to improve social fairness and sustainability.
At Sustainable Innovations we are part of different initiatives related to the industry 5.0, such as DEFACTO, which worked to revolutionise the cell manufacturing industry for electric vehicles; and FASTEST, a project to develop fast-track hybrid testing platform for the development of battery systems.
