La Palma Research Centre

LPRC team joins the Raw Materials Week 2022 in Brussels

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The Raw Materials Week is already a current and important event in the raw materials value chain panorama. LPRC has attended all previous editions since 2o17 and this year was no exception. As usual, the Raw Materials Week is a great opportunity to discuss and present current EU projects, catch up with raw materials professionals and engage in new ideas and visions for the future of the EU.

This year’s event included many relevant topics for raw materials development in Europe: EU Horizon technology success stories (where the ROBOMINERS project was mentioned), the 9th Annual High-Level Conference of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on raw materials, including EU-Ukraine strategic partnership on raw materials and batteries, Future trends Innovation and skills for raw materials (where the TIMREX project was used as an education-focused example) and Knowledge needs: future supply/demand foresight.

Projects that were mentioned during the event – during presentations, through posters and videos – and where LPRC contributes to included ROBOMINERS, START and TIMREX. Finally, the UNEXUP Final Conference was also included in the event’s agenda as a Satellite event.

Until next year!

 

EFG

LPRC participation at the CROWDTHERMAL Final Conference, Berlin, October 2022

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On 19 and 20 October 2022 the CROWDTHERMAL project held its final events in Berlin – Germany, with the participation of consortium partners in person and online. The purpose of the event was to review the progress of the work packages, future tasks, as well as administration and financial issues to be completed before the official closure: December 2022.

On the first day, 19th November 2022, the consortium held an internal meeting at IZES facilities, in which LPRC (represented by Márcio Tameirão) introduced the current state of the CROWDTHERMAL Core Services – followed by discussions and comments on how to improve them – the Core Services were developed by LPRC. The next day was dedicated to the Final Conference of the CROWDTHERMAL project, as a joint event with COST DHC: ‘’First Geothermal District Heating and Cooling Day event’’. In this opportunity, LPRC introduced the Core Services to the wider audience that attended the event, with an overview of the 7 tools that are currently available on the project website to help project developers, communities and local authorities to implement geothermal projects in Europe.

The CROWDTHERMAL consortium during the Berlin meeting

The next two months, up to the project final day, will be dedicated to addressing comments and implementing the necessary changes in CROWDTHERMAL tools to further improve the user’s experience and added value in their projects.

AGH

RaVeN Project Kick-Off meeting, Krakow, October 2022

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The RaVeN project – a new EIT RawMaterials project in which LPRC takes part – had its Kick-Off meeting in Krakow, Poland in on the 17 and 18 October. This was the first time that project partners got together to discuss the implementation of the project, with special emphasis on the EIT Label that RaVeN applied for its Master’s programme.

RaVeN is a new two-year M.Sc. degree scheme that take into account a wide geographical spectrum, diversification and needs of social inclusion, and builds the capacity of higher education in the RIS and ESEE regions. Its main strength is its innovative approach to teaching along the raw materials value chain through the involvement of non-academic experts, mobility exchanges, industry and start-ups to support the learning process.

The meeting agenda included discussions on Management and project coordination, the EIT Label process and next steps, Students recruitment, Didatics, Summer School, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and, finally, Dissemination and Communication. LPRC leads the last of these Work Packages, but also contributes to some other Work Packages and Tasks.

As part of the its work until now, LPRC has been drafting a few communication and dissemination tools (website, social media, banner, etc) and the overall strategy that will help with the recruitment of students for this Master’s Programme on the Raw Materials Value Chain.

Follow the project on its website and social media for more information!

La Palma Research Centre

LPRC attends AGEO 8th Consortium Meeting in Dublin

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La Palma Research Centre (LPRC) attended the AGEO 8th Consortium Meeting, hosted by University College Dublin (UCD) in Dublin, from the 6th to the 8th of October. In this meeting, more than 30 members of the international consortium presented the progress being made in each one of the five pilots that are being developed within the project, conducted collaborative sessions to improve and to share ideas regarding its development and implementation, and harmonized the contents of the book that will be published as an output for AGEO.

The event was divided in three days:

  • On the 6th, we discussed sustainability, the roadmap for the AGEO App for geohazard monitoring, the harmonization of the book chapters and held parallel sessions.
  • A specialized session was held on the 7th to discuss educational contents, usability aspects of the AGEO App, and the crisis management conducted by IGME during the eruption of La Palma.
  • On the 8th, the attendees visited the Causeway Coast and the Carrick-a-Rede pilots in Northern Ireland, hosted by Geological Survey Northern Ireland (GSNI)

As the leaders for the Communication Work Package (WP2), La Palma Research Centre presented the roadmap for communication and the new table of contents for the communications chapter that will be included in the AGEO book.

You can follow this project on the AGEO website and @ageoatlantic on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

La Palma Research Centre

TIMREX Steering Committee meeting, Zagreb, October 2022

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LPRC took part in the most recent TIMREX project meeting, which brought the partners together for discussions on the project objectives and activities, in Zagreb, Croatia, on the 3 and 4 of October.

The meeting agenda included discussions on Summary of the EIT label application and labelling process, the Joint curriculum, the Role of the Exploration entrepreneurship course, the Innovation and entrepreneurship development, the Curriculum development towards Lighthouse targets , the Pilot Cohort, the project Homepage and Promo video. From LPRC, Luís Lopes presented the company’s work on Innovation and Entrepreneuship skills and competencies for the Masters programme, while Márcio Tameirão presented the work on the project homepage and planned video, and the Roadmap for 2022 KPIs, deliverables and preparation for 2023 tasks.

LPRC will continue to lead and implement work on both the Innovation and Entrepreneurship skills and competencies development and work on the project’s communication and dissemination actions.

Follow the project on its website and social media for more information!

LPRC attends the premiere of LAVA BOMBS in La Palma

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Last Saturday our La Palma team attended the premiere of the LAVA BOMBS documentary produced by GeoTenerife (full credits, more news and details: https://twitter.com/LavaBombsFilm).

GeoTenerife was on the ground essentially from the beginning of the Cumbre Vieja eruption that started on 19 September 2021, filming and making interviews.

The cinematic scenes and drone footages are breathtaking, and the narrative is deep and compelling. But where this movie truly excels is that it takes us deep into the human dimension of the eruption. The strongest part of the documentary is where citizens, scientists and local politicians are sharing their thoughts, feelings and uncertainties as the volcano is erupting in the background.

There are no self-proclaimed prophets or omnipotent scientists making big statements here, only decent human beings, doing their best to manage a crisis, working at the limits of our understanding of volcanic processes, where uncertainty is always a key factor in the equation.

An impressive documentary that dares to touch so many sensitive issues. Living through the eruption on La Palma as ordinary citizens we were deeply moved by this film that focuses on us, and cares so much for the citizens of our island.

 

EFG

CRM-Geothermal Kick-off meeting, Potsdam, July 2022

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CRM-geothermal recently started and LPRC is part of it. The kick-off meeting was held in July – in hybrid mode. On the 13th and 14th the project partners met in Potsdam, Germany, as well as online, to start the high-level discussions involved in CRM-geothermal Work Packages and their respective technological aspects. CRM-geothermal will open up a potentially huge untapped resource and deploy solutions to help Europe fulfil the strategic objectives of the EU Green Deal and the Agenda for Sustainable Development by combining the extraction of heat and minerals from geothermal wells.

In this context, LPRC (portrayed by Marcio Tameirão) was present at the event to talk about what is planned to be performed in the next four years, as well as the expected results and collaboration from the consortium partners. La Palma Research Centre is the leader of two tasks:

Task 4.4 – Market Deployment. This task is from Work Package 4 – Deployment of the combined extraction of CRM and energy from geothermal fluids, led by INTRAW. The objective is to develop a roadmap for the potential upscaling and commercialization of the technology involved in the extraction of CRM (Critical Raw Materials) from the brine in geothermal wells.

Task 6.6 – Clustering. This task is from Work Package 6 – Dissemination, communication and exploitation, led by EFG. The objective is to foster connections with communities working on similar topics and challenges; create long-term research collaborations and scientific investigations; increase project visibility; and contribute to the exploitation potential of results.

The event was a great opportunity for the consortium partners to meet in person and get to know each other, which naturally improves the conditions to collaborate in the upcoming years.

Follow the project on the website and social media for more information!

UNEXUP Consortium Meeting, Ljubljana, July 2022

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The UNEXUP project partners met in Ljubljana – Slovenia, as well as online, for the 5th progress meeting. The hybrid event was held on 5 and 6 July 2022, with the purpose of discussing what has been achieved in the past semester (since the last Progress Meeting in January 2022), and to plan the activities to be completed until the end of the project – in December 2022.

The meeting started with a clustering workshop between the UNEXUP, ROBOMINERS and Pipebots projects. After that, the Work Package leaders presented their work, followed by short discussions about the covered topics – which closed the first day of the event. On the 6th of July the meetings resumed with open discussions about post-processing of underwater images, the draft agenda of the UNEXUP Final Conference, as well as a visit to the facilities of the partner – and host of the event – GeoZS (Geological Survey of Slovenia).

In this opportunity, LPRC (portrayed by Marcio Tameirão) presented the progress of Work Package 4: Communication, dissemination and outreach, which it leads. The talk covered the updates on the main tasks, such as communication and dissemination management; production of outreach materials; and collaboration with the promotion of UGR (UNEXMIN GeoRobotics) services, the commercialization partner in UNEXUP. The main topic of discussions was the UNEXUP Final Conference, which is planned to happen in November 2022 – in Brussels, Belgium. The partners reviewed the draft agenda that was presented, and jointly made improvements – which will be further discussed in the upcoming months.

July 2022 clustering 1
July 2022 clustering 1

This event was the last official Progress Meeting before the UNEXUP Final Conference. In the next months there will be further robotic developments and field missions, and you can stay tuned by following UNEXUP on social media and through the project website!

ROBOMINERS

ROBOMINERS Consortium and Review meeting, Brussels, 29, 30 June and 1 July 2022

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The ROBOMINERS consortium met in the capital of Europe, Brussels, for the most recent project meeting, which was coupled with a field visit and a review meeting with the European Commission-related personnel.

The meeting agenda started with a field trip to the South of Belgium to see the ROBOMINERS prototype in action in the field on 29 June, where the project partners had the chance to see the prototype (currently in development) in action.

On the following day, 30 June, the consortium members got together to discuss the state of project – with a review on the past, present and future status of all the operating Work Packages. La Palma Research Centre presented WP8 – Active roadmapping and Clustering, providing a view on the clustering activities and the many foresight actions towards future ROBOMINERS roadmaps. In the afternoon, which was dedicated to internal workshops and discussion groups, LPRC organised a visioning workshop with the participation of several project members. Data obtained from this interactive exercise will be used for implementation of the Work Package 8 foresight methodology.

On the 1st of July it was time for the Review meeting with the European Commission. The Work Packages leaders presented the work done and answered the questions and doubts put forwarded by the reviewers. Luís Lopes from LPRC represented Work Package 8.

Work within ROBOMINERS will now continue with technological development and integration into the prototype, aiming at the field tests of 2023. This work will be supported by foresight analysis developed and implemented by LPRC and ethical, environmental and economical analysis made by other project partners.

Follow the project through its website and social media to be up to date with ROBOMINERS developments!

START

START Kick-off meeting, Lisbon, 20-21 June 2022

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We are very proud to announce the official beginning of the START project, which took place on June 1st, 2022, with the Kick-off meeting held on June 20 and 21 in LNEG, Lisbon, Portugal. START, which stands for “Sustainable Energy Harvesting Systems Based on Innovative Mine Waste Recycling”, with the concept of transforming mining waste into materials for waste heat recovery, will create a sustainable supply chain and a corresponding business-innovation ecosystem for tellurium-free thermoelectric green energy harvesting products based on secondary raw materials responsibly sourced from within the European Union (EU).

START is an Innovation Action project supported by the EU and its Horizon Europe programme (HORIZON-CL4-2021-RESILIENCE-01-07). The Consortium comprises 15 multidisciplinary institutions with large experience in international innovation projects: LNEG (coordinator), 3drivers, ASGMI, BGR, EPMA, GeniCore, GEO-U, GBA, LPRC, MBN, RGS, SGUDS, SINTEF, TEGnology and IGME-CSIC. The START project have a total duration of 48 months and 9 194 441.25 € of total eligible costs.

The project partners – including LPRC represented by Luís Lopes – discussed the implementation of the seven Work Packages throughout the meeting days. The Work packages are:

  1. Coordination and management
  2. Selection of mine waste sites; physical minerals separation and concentration
  3. Materials modelling and processing
  4. Materials characterization
  5. Device production, validation and demonstration
  6. Dissemination and communication
  7. Innovation and exploitation strategy

LPRC is the leader of Work Package 7 and all its four tasks. In this part of the project, LPRC will implement a foresight exercise for the development of a flexible, scalable and adaptable business case design for the START value chain, document industrial viability and economics, develop a business focused roadmap and develop sustainability plans. LPRC also participates in Work Packages 2, 5 and 6.

START started in June 2022 and will end in May 2026 (48-month project duration). There is a long way to go, full of work ahead.

Keep informed by following the project website and social media channels.