Today, at an H2CAT network conference in Lleida, the Eurecat technology centre presented innovations in new aviation fuels made from used oils and gases produced by combining captured carbon dioxide and green hydrogen which are expected to help decarbonise the industry and mobility.
Eurecat pointed out how these materials can be used as raw materials for making sustainable aviation kerosene using a range of innovative chemical processes with the goal of cutting emissions in the sector.
The conference of the H2CAT network, the Catalan renewable hydrogen network coordinated by Eurecat, took place at Lleida-Alguaire Airport and featured demonstrations of innovation projects geared towards promoting aviation and the sustainable mobility industry.
In the demonstration area, Eurecat showcased a prototype reactor for manufacturing chemicals tapping renewable energy through CO2 recovered from industry and solar energy developed in the European SunCoChem project.
This innovation aims to “validate more efficient and scalable energy production using CO2, offering the chemical industry an alternative for producing chemicals sustainably without fossil fuels,” said Miriam Díaz de los Bernardos, director of Eurecat’s Chemical Technology Unit and the H2CAT network.
The SunCoChem reactor, which runs on sunlight, captures carbon dioxide from combustion gases using membranes patented by Eurecat and converts this CO2 into synthesis gas, a mixture of CO and hydrogen, which can be used in various industrial processes such as producing sustainable fuels. Other applications include harnessing the CO2 generated during the fermentation of agri-food waste to cut emissions in this industry and make progress towards sustainability.
“The combination of distinctive technologies developed by Eurecat for CO2 capture and reuse, green hydrogen, advanced catalysts and more coupled with unique capabilities and pilot plants for rolling out innovations in industrial processes makes it possible to expedite scaling up solutions for industry in sectors such as sustainable mobility and many others,” noted Gabriel Anzaldi, Director of Technology Ecosystems at Eurecat and head of Eurecat Lleida.
He also picked out “Eurecat’s ecosystem strategy which, in addition to bringing together technologies and stakeholders, addresses the major challenges facing the region such as decarbonisation and the circular bioeconomy as shown by the more than one hundred attendees at the conference held in Lleida, most of them businesses together with knowledge agents and institutions.”
The technology centre presented other solutions to sector firms at the event for decarbonising the industry and mobility, including innovative new type IV tanks for hydrogen storage and one hundred per cent natural vitrimeric matrices for composite materials which can be recovered for reuse in the industry’s value chain.
The Demo Day conference, organised by the H2CAT network in conjunction with Aeroports de Catalunya, the Catalan Efficient Energy Cluster and ACCIÓ, the Agency for Business Competitiveness, also featured presentations of innovative projects by Vueling, the University of Lleida, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and the companies Indox Energy Systems and APPLUS along with a tour of the hydrogen pilot plant at Lleida-Alguaire Airport.
The event “ramps up the shared commitment to making headway in cutting emissions in sustainable air mobility and generating new industrial opportunities in the region,” commented Miriam Díaz de los Bernardos.
H2CAT is the Catalan renewable hydrogen innovation network coordinated by Eurecat which drives innovation and scalability in key industries to position Catalonia as a world leader in green hydrogen. The network has a catalogue of more than 100 innovative technologies designed to fast-track the energy transition and includes the renewable hydrogen infrastructure and technological capabilities of 17 research organisations across Catalonia, more than 80 groups and over 360 researchers.
