Clara Bilbao

The kick-off meeting of ECORES WIND, an ambitious European initiative aiming to contribute to the development of sustainable and environmentally conscious practices in the wind energy industry by providing a viable alternative to conventional resin systems, took place on 18^th and 19^th September 2024, at the Basque Technology Park (Euskadiko Parke Teknologikoa) in Zamudio near Bilbao. The initiative is led by GAIKER, member of Basque Research & Technology Alliance, BRTA, which is a private non-profit organisation with 39 years of experience dedicated to research and offering innovative tech solutions to companies in several sectors.

In addition to leading the project, GAIKER will work on characterizing the new materials to be developed, as well as the manufacturing processes. The Centre will also be in charge of scaling up the recycling processes defined by the partners developing the new resins.

ECORES WIND Overview, Consortium and Collaboration

ECORES WIND, a Horizon Europe-funded Research and Innovation Action, aims to revolutionize the wind energy sector by developing novel circular resinsystems tailored for composite structures in wind energy applications. The initiative will run for 42 months, focusing on enhancing the circularity of wind turbine components, particularly wind blades, to minimise their environmental footprint throughout their lifecycle.

ECORES WIND addresses environmental challenges associated with conventional resin systems in the conditions of a fast-evolving European wind power industry by developing alternatives that promote recyclability, extended lifespan, and efficient decommissioning processes. ECORES WIND seeks to introduce innovative circular resins combined with advanced disassembly strategies, enabling cost-effective decommissioning and material reutilisation.

The project is led by GAIKER with a consortium of 13 partners from across Europe, including leading research institutions, universities, and industry stakeholders. The diverse expertise of the partners will ensure a comprehensive approach to tackling the project’s objectives.

The Challenge Ahead: The urge for the wind power generation to go circular

ECORES WIND is set to make significant strides in the wind energy sector by advancing the development of sustainable materials and processes. Wind energy plays a critical role in enabling the European Union to decarbonise and develop a clean, resource efficient, and carbon-neutral future. Its current infrastructure used for clean electrical energy generation is, paradoxically, a source of contamination. While Europe is the main market for wind power generation and the global leader in offshore wind, the industry is expected to grow by 6.5% on average by 2030. The increase of the wind power capacity, which grew by more than 70% from 2019 to 2023. From 2024 to 2028, global wind power capacity is expected to continue growing rapidly. The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has increased its growth forecast for 2024-2030 by 10%.

Wind farms also have a finite operational lifetime. For the oldest wind farms this is typically in the area of 15 – 25 years. As the European wind turbine fleet ages, a solution for EoL is paramount. Many of Europe’s onshore wind farms are approaching the end of their planned operational lifetime.

The strategies to address the replacement or repowering of wind farms are complex with legislative frameworks for repowering not yet in place. Most rotor blades are constructed from composite materials, including glass and carbon fibres, plastics, and resins which have a typical lifespan of 25 years and critically present challenges for recycling.

Specific objectives of ECORES WIND

Key Objectives and Innovations of ECORES WIND include the development of circular resin systems that enhance the recyclability and sustainability of wind turbine blades and incorporation of advanced disassembly strategies to ensure that wind turbine blades can be decommissioned, and their materials reused efficiently. The setup of the project is developed in close cooperation with RTOs, universities, SMEs and other relevant stakeholders to integrate the supply chain. This collaboration is essential to ensure the proposed solution is industry ready. Furthermore, the initiative encompasses an ecological impact evaluation of aimed solutions: ecological advantages of the developed resin systems will be evaluated and compared to state-of-the-art materials, aiming to establish benchmarks for improved sustainability in the wind energy sector.

For more information about the ECORES WIND project, please visit www.ecoreswind.eu

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101148066.

GAIKER, member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA), will once again attend Spain’s leading annual event of the cosmetics industry, Cosmetorium, which will take place on 23rd and 24th October at the Palau de Congressos in Barcelona.

On this occasion, the expert in the in vitro evaluation of the safety and efficacy of cosmetics will be exhibiting its range of R&D&I services in the field of dermo-cosmetics at Stand 310, which will be shared with Dr. Goya Análisis and Anmar Clinical Services.

Organised by the Spanish Society of Cosmetic Chemists (SEQC) and Step Exhibitions, this eighth edition of COSMETORIUM will include a large number of national and international exhibitors and hundreds of cosmetics professionals who will provide new ideas, knowledge and endless business and networking possibilities. 

Come and visit us at Stand 310!

>> More information: https://www.cosmetorium.es/es/

New edition of this conference aimed at plastic processing companies.

ALLOD Werkstoff (specialist in R&D in thermoplastic rubbers -TPR) and the GAIKER Technology Centre invite companies from the plastic processing sector to the fourteenth conference on "Innovation in Plastic Materials and Technologies". This latest edition will be held in the Edificio Barco on the Bizkaia Technology and Science Park (Zamudio) on 14th November.

Once again, the different talks will present the latest national and international trends in the plastics sector, along with the most innovative developments and advances in the fields of raw materials, processing and machinery for the plastic processing sector.

This conference is a benchmark for companies and suppliers in the sector, enabling them to get to know each other and build relationships. The event, which is free of charge, has a limited number of places.

Further information and registration: Viviana Avendaño (informacion@allod.com) or on the GAIKER website.

The European FASTER H2 project aims to foster climate neutrality in the aviation sector

GAIKER Technology Centre, a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance, BRTA, is one of the thirty-four participants in the European FASTER H2 project (Fuselage, Rear Fuselage and Empennage with Cabin and Cargo Architecture Solution Validation and Technologies for H2 integration), which aims to validate, pre-select, develop and demonstrate key technologies that enable the architectural integration of an ultra-efficient fuselage for short and medium range (SMR) hydrogen-fueled aircraft.

From a climate perspective, to make climate-neutral flights possible, short and medium-range aircraft, i.e. 150-250 passengers and 1,800-2,700 km, need to focus on ultra-efficient thermal energy-based propulsion technologies using sustainable drop-in and non-drop-in fuels, in this case hydrogen. To achieve climate neutrality in the sector, it is essential to integrate the fuel tanks and distribution system and to use sustainable materials for the fuselage and empennage.

For this purpose, the FASTER H2 project is exploring new advanced production technologies to design an integrated fuselage and empennage. By doing so, it aims to reduce aircraft production waste and increase material and energy exploitation.

Thermoset composites are one of the commonly used materials in the aeronautical sector due to their light weight, efficiency and safety, but they need to be improved in terms of sustainability in order to reduce their environmental footprint throughout their life cycle. GAIKER is working on this improvement by formulating bio and/or recyclable systems for the infusion and production of prepregs. These resins will then be used in the production of sustainable composites to build aircraft.

The FASTER H2 project is funded by the European Union as part of the Horizon Europe Clean Aviation programme (R&D grants for green improvements in the aeronautical sector), over a period of 39 months (2023-2026) and it is led by Airbus Operations GmbH.

More information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjQTZYN4Wj0

The project is supported by Clean Aviation. It is funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No. 101101978. However, the views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or Clean Aviation. Neither the European Union nor Clean Aviation can be held responsible for them.

The SAbyNA project, which is funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme, has come to a successful conclusion after more than four years of work dedicated to providing guidance on how to develop nanomaterials and nano-enabled products more safely and sustainably.

The project was coordinated by Dr. Socorro Vázquez-Campos de Leitat and led to the creation of a comprehensive web-based guidance platform (https://platform.sabyna.eu/) which provides guidelines and tools to support the development of safer nanomaterials and products. This platform is aimed at designers, developers and producers of nanotechnology-enabled materials and products, and researchers. The platform focuses on guiding two main sectors in particular, Paints and Additive Manufacturing, on developing safer nanotechnology-based products.

Socorro Vázquez-Campos: “SAbyNA represented a crucial step forward in providing methodologies for designing and developing safer nanomaterials and nanotechnology-enabled products. The web-based guidance platform produced in this project will be an invaluable resource for driving innovation and ensuring a safer, more sustainable future for nanotechnology.”

Unlike traditional approaches that address the safety of new technologies reactively, SAbyNA focused on building strategies to assess safety proactively in the early stages of designing and developing products and processes. This is aimed at maximising safety for workers, consumers and the environment, while maintaining all the benefits of the functionality provided by nanomaterials and nanotechnology-enabled products.

Integrated Platform for Developing Safer Nanotechnology
The SAbyNA Guidance Platform offers a wide range of resources to support the safer, more sustainable design and development of nanotechnology, including:

• A step-by-step procedure to assess the safety of nanoparticles, manufacturing processes and the intended use of nanotechnology-enabled products more easily and in greater depth.
• Detailed guidelines covering the workflows and strategies needed to improve safety, sustainability and costs throughout the entire life cycle of nanomaterials and nanotechnology-enabled products, from production to disposal.
• Tools, models and methodologies to assess safety, sustainability and costs in the design and development of nanomaterials and nanotechnology-enabled products.
• Data resources to facilitate access to existing and new environmental and occupational health and safety data for conducting various assessments.
• Simplified life cycle assessment (LCA) and cost assessment tools for environmental sustainability and cost assessment adapted to the two main sectors (Paints and Additive Manufacturing).

As Ralph Vanhauten, co-owner of ThinkWorks B.V., who led the development of the platform, said, “SAbyNA provides expert guidance with resources such as guidelines and databases. It also makes it possible to configure customised cases and carry out simplified sustainability and cost assessments. To build a case, users need to enter materials, and describe the intended use and possible release, exposure and risk scenarios. These steps can be carried out using clickable menus and databases linked to the online application. Users are guided through knowledge modules on how to identify potential risks to human health and the environment, and specific actions are suggested to reduce or mitigate those risks. Finally, different scenarios can be compared, thereby facilitating the decision-making process (safer, sustainable, cost-effective solutions that maintain or improve the functionality of the product)”.

The results of the SAbyNA project mark a significant breakthrough for the nanotechnology industry, providing a comprehensive framework for developing nanomaterials and nanotechnology-enabled products responsibly. The SAbyNA Online Guidance Platform is expected to become an essential tool for industry, developers and researchers, and will contribute to a safer, more sustainable future for nanotechnology.

Daniel Persson, an Inorganic Specialties R&D scientist at Nouryon, commented: “Nouryon is a global leader in speciality chemical products and a supplier of standard, silane-modified colloidal silica, and we joined the SAbyNA project to further our understanding of the reduced toxicity observed after the surface modification of silica nanoforms with silane. We used the SAbyNA methodologies and other assessment tools to confirm our previous studies and identify the optimal degree of surface functionalisation required to achieve the full effect on a range of samples with increasing surface coverage of silane. These findings are of great interest to producers of other nanomaterials, where similar safe design strategies could be applied during the design of nanotechnology-enabled product materials”.

Although the SAbyNA project officially ended on May 31, 2024, its legacy of innovation and safety in nanotechnology lives on. The online Guidance Platform and resources developed during the project will continue to be accessible and updated, thereby ensuring that their positive impact will carry on over time.

Beyond the Platform, the SAbyNA project community has grown into a vibrant network of experts and practitioners committed to developing nanotechnology responsibly. This network will continue to collaborate and promote new research and projects, and will make sure that SAbyNA's proactive, safe approach continues to set the standard for future applications of nanotechnology.

Araceli Sánchez-Jiménez, from the Spanish National Institute for Safety and Health and a member of the SAbyNA Advisory Board, said: "SAbyNA has transformed the complex Safety and Sustainability by Design (SSbD) assessment into an optimised, collaborative process. It has made it possible to visualise the impact of changes to the properties of materials and process parameters on safety and sustainability, facilitating informed decision making". She added: “Looking beyond assessment, SAbyNA focused on design and provided solutions to make its nanomaterials, products and processes safer and more sustainable.”

The community and resources created during the project will serve as a solid basis for future initiatives, ensuring that nanotechnology continues to support technological progress while producing safer, more sustainable nanotechnology-enabled products.

About SAbyNA
SAbyNA (Safe by Design for Nanomaterials) was a project funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 programme (G.A. No. 862419) which was aimed at developing safe design strategies for nanomaterials and nanotechnology-enabled products. The project was coordinated by Dr. Socorro Vázquez-Campos from Leitat and included a consortium of 17 partners, made up of universities, technology centres, research institutes and industry (SMEs and large companies).

GAIKER's work
In this project, GAIKER, which has extensive experience in assessing the safety and sustainability of products that contain nanomaterials and in the use of safe, sustainable design tools, was responsible for developing a simplified platform for carrying out a life cycle analysis (LCA) to assess the environmental implications of incorporating nanomaterials into products in two main sectors, additive manufacturing and paints. It was also involved in developing a strategy for assessing security that was verified with two case studies for these sectors.

For more information:

• SAbyNA Project Website: https://www.sabyna.eu/
• Official SAbyNA Video: https://youtu.be/j9NGxPtl8Xs?feature=shared
• SAbyNA Project on the European Commission Portal:
  https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/862419

The European TRANSEATION project will develop and demonstrate the effectiveness of hybrid blue-grey infrastructures in marine and coastal areas

GAIKER Technology Centre, a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA), is taking part in the European TRANSEATION project, the ultimate goal of which is to protect and restore the health of marine ecosystems by combining nature-based solutions, social participation and digitalisation.

This research is aimed at demonstrating the effectiveness of hybrid marine infrastructures combining nature-based solutions (NBS) as a transformative means to preserve marine biodiversity and ecosystem services, while tackling key social challenges by implementing three use cases: off-shore wind platforms, coastal protection infrastructure and an aquaculture infrastructure.

GAIKER is involved in developing low trophic aquaculture infrastructure. In this demonstrator, led by the AZTI Technology Centre in collaboration with ITSASKORDA, nature-based solutions for the European aquaculture sector will be implemented through the development of bio-based compounds, technical monitoring of capture and cultivation systems during use, study of compostability, recycling of bio-based ropes, and evaluation of the environmental impact.

With this work, GAIKER is looking to consolidate its position in the field of sustainable and bio-based materials, in particular, new applications with potential demand for eliminating conventional plastic materials. It also wants to broaden the scope of results obtained in projects it has previously carried out.

Driven by the EU Commission and led by the Naval and Maritime Technology Centre (CTN by its Spanish acronym), this research will last for 3 years (2024-2027) and will involve a network of sixteen partners and collaborators, including research centres, industrial companies and environmental management organisations.

The TRANSEATION project represents a significant advance in ecosystem management through the development and application of hybrid blue-grey infrastructures in marine and coastal areas.

This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe innovation programme under grant agreement no. 101096457. This document reflects the views of the author only. The Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein