KIC InnoEnergy has backed Skeleton Technologies’ graphene ultracapacitors with a €4m investment.
The money will be used to further develop the competitive advantage of the ultracapacitors, high-energy storage devices with greatly increased power density and longer lifecycles than batteries.
Skeleton Technologies’ ultracapacitors are the only such devices to use a patented graphene material, carbide-derived carbon (CDC), in their manufacture, which allows them to deliver twice the energy density and five times the power density of their competitors. The Global Cleantech 100 company aims to reach the ambitious target of 20Wh/kg energy density for its technology by 2020.
“Energy storage is one of the key issues facing the European energy sector,” said Kenneth Johansson, CEO of KIC InnoEnergy Sweden. “Getting it right will help with everything from smart grids and smart buildings to ensuring better integration of renewables in electricity networks across the continent.
“We’re excited to engage with Skeleton Technologies because we believe that their product is a potential game-changer in the energy storage space. The future need for energy storage can hardly be underestimated, and we look forward to embracing this opportunity through the development of this technology.”
The investment was made as part of the €9.8m Series B financing secured by Skeleton Technologies in 2015. Work will now begin to develop electrodes that can fully capitalise on the performance advantages offered by CDC. These electrodes will then be integrated into smaller modules, reducing both the weight and cost of the final energy storage system.
Once work is complete, Skeleton Technologies intends to offer three times the performance/weight ratio of current market-leading products at the same price. This is expected to play a significant role in accelerating the adoption of ultracapacitors across transport, industrial equipment and grid applications.
The development work will be undertaken in collaboration with partners who will independently evaluate the performance of the ultracapacitor modules, including Finnish electric drive train manufacturer Visedo OY.
The ultracapacitors are set to be launched into orbit as part of a European Space Agency project and have been incorporated into the world’s first kinetic recovery system for freight vehicles, as well as being available in an engine state module for trucks and as part of a hybrid unmanned ground vehicle for defence applications.
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Projeler
Possible Answer S.A. writes about its ambitions, technology, strategies and products in impact protection technology.
Possible Answer S.A. is specialised in the development and production of dilatant fluids for impact protection, based on the principle of non-Newtonian fluids, with Polyanswer patented technology. We produce a gel that hardens almost immediately on impact. In obtaining our fluid we resort to recyclable materials giving excellent impact properties (up to 80% of impact absorption), making products lighter, more flexible, more comfortable, ergonomic, safe, customised and easy to use.
Polyanswer developed a technology to be applied in products or solutions that protect the user from collisions and impacts. Traditionally, materials used for impact protection are heavy, rigid and inefficient in preventing collateral damage from impacts due to poor absorption and dissipation of the impact energy. There is a wide range of impact protection products in different economic sectors, namely sports (winter sports such as skiing, extreme sports, hockey, American football, etc.), motorcycle garments and helmets, footwear, personal protective equipment (PPE) and defence (ballistic vests, shields, batons, military vehicles, etc.).
Our technology is based on the production of a non-Newtonian fluid (reo-thickener fluid) produced from recyclable materials and conferring excellent properties to devices that are impacted at high speeds. The product is malleable and flexible, but its viscosity increases when a force is applied, so the fluid turns immediately solid. Following the impact the material returns to its original flexible state.
Our strategy is not to produce for end users but for equipment manufacturers and retailers. In this business-to-business (B2B) model we are able to assist each of our clients and focus on the impact material. We also aim to maintain a continuous investigation programme in order to improve product development for different utilisations. Our ambition is to become a world-leading reference company in impact protection and shock absorbing materials.
Our product will be manufactured in different modalities according to each target client’s needs. Each component is tested to the highest standards to ensure the protection of the end user. We have protocols with Faculdade de Engenharia, Porto, and Universidade do Minho, Braga, to test and characterise our products.
In recent decades, personal protective solutions have undergone a great evolution, mainly in the development of new materials. In sports markets, motorcycling and personal protective equipment, the most used materials are the foams and polymeric composites in helmets, body protection, elbow pads and knee pads. Despite the great effort and development, the materials currently used are not efficient in avoiding collateral damage and injuries resulting from impacts and collisions because these materials do not have the capacity to absorb and dissipate impact energy. Besides, these types of materials in general are rigid and uncomfortable.
In other sectors, some competitors are developing similar products based on combinations of different materials. In comparison, our product has greater absorption and dissipation of impact energy, greater flexibility and adaptability. These features enable integration in different protection and security products for the fields of sport or personal protection, giving the user simultaneous protection and comfort.
Polyanswer will not be the first company offering impact protection, but we believe that our product specification will allow us a good market entrance without extra cost. Our objective is to gain market recognition with a sustainable growth rate and become a reference for quality and innovation.
Small variations of our product have been developed for applications in different situations. Each application can involve different formulations, for which technical sheets for use in a commercial approach have also been developed. We invite producers to test our product, for which we provide personal technical assistance.
The project has been co-financed with equity from the promoters (the team of five that began the project: three technologists, Igor Ribeiro, Nelson Oliveira and Bruno Oliveira; chief commercial officer Pedro Pinto; and myself) and Portugal Ventures, a venture capital and private equity firm based in Oporto, Portugal.
Miguel Pimentel
Chief Executive Officer
Possible Answer S.A.
+351 933 770 269
+351 253 540 107
m.pimentel@polyanswer.com
www.polyanswer.com
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Engineers from Trinity College Dublin have been awarded a €6m research grant from Horizon 2020 to improve air quality in cities and reduce their carbon footprint.
The funding will go towards the iSCAPE (Improving the Smart Control of Air Pollution in Europe) project, which will see the engineers develop sustainable and passive air pollution remediation strategies, policy interventions and behavioural change initiatives from this summer until 2019.
Next-generation environmental living labs in cities will be deployed throughout Europe, including Dublin (Ireland), Innovation-City Ruhr (Bottrop, Germany), Lazzaretto Bologna (Italy), Vantaa (Finland), Hasselt (Belgium), Bologna (Italy), and Guildford (UK).
The iSCAPE team, from the Department of Civil Structural and Environmental Engineering and the CONNECT Centre at Trinity, is led by assistant professor in civil engineering Dr Francesco Pilla, who is joined by Professors Brian Broderick, Aonghus McNabola and John Gallagher.
Pilla said: “iSCAPE encapsulates the concept of ‘smart cities’ by promoting the use of low cost sensors and by engaging citizens in the use of alternative solution processes to environmental problems. iSCAPE will support sustainable urban development by promoting the sharing of results with policy makers and planners using local test cases, and providing scientific evidence, ready-to-use solutions potentially leading to real-time operational interventions.
“This integrated approach will include the development and assessment of a framework aimed at changing the mobility behaviour of people by studying processes and dynamics that lead to more resilient, healthy, and sustainable cities, by bringing together theory from urban planning, public policy, urban and environmental sociology and urban geography.”
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The ‘Transport for smart cities 2016: scaling innovation in Europe’ conference has opened today in Brussels.
Some 200 leading players from the public and private sectors have gathered for the one-day event, which was opened by Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc.
Participants will discuss how smart city mobility concepts can be implemented at scale in Europe’s cities and witness the launch of action cluster initiatives in smart electromobility and in smart city mobility services. Both are part of the European Innovation Partnership in Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC) and bring together cities and industry to promote the rollout of smart electric and city mobility services at a large scale.
Areas of application include the intelligent management of fleets of electric cars and real-time travel information.
“It is not ‘us’ and ‘them’ anymore,” Bulc said. “We need to work together and drive this challenge to a good destination. These initiatives will lead to smart mobility solutions to the market at scale. They will support innovation to create new jobs and fully integrate transport in the digital single market. If the fight against climate change is to be won in cities, I am convinced that smart cities are part of the answer.”
The conference is designed to contribute to the development and implementation of future EU level smart city activities, including the annual assembly of the EIP-SCC on 24 May, as well as the EU’s decarbonisation and digital policies.
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The European Investment Fund (EIF) – part of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group – and Bank of Valletta (BoV) have signed the first SME Initiative transaction in Malta.
The agreement, which was signed by EIF deputy chief executive Roger Havenith and BoV chair John Cassar White, aims to facilitate access to finance for over 800 Maltese SMEs by enabling BoV to offer financing at even lower interest rates and less collateral requirements.
It is expected that SMEs, including start-ups, in need of financing will benefit from €60m of finance in Malta.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Malta’s Deputy Prime Minister, Louis Grech, said: “The government is alive to the fact that some SMEs in Malta face the problem of limited access to finance. Various studies have shown that commercial banks apply rules that are too rigid with respect to collateral, payback time, and the interest rate. On the other hand, many SMEs do not have the relevant knowhow to access finance. When finance has been made available on acceptable terms, Maltese SMEs have responded with enthusiasm.”
The SME Initiative Malta is a joint financial instrument of the European Commission, EIB Group and the Government of Malta which aims at stimulating SME financing by providing partial risk cover for SME loan portfolios originated by financial institutions.
Alongside EU Structural and Investment Funds resources contributed by the government, the initiative is co-funded by the EU through Horizon 2020 and EIB Group resources.
“This initiative underlines our commitment to assist local industry and business to be more competitive,” Grech added. “The government sees this as an important plank in its push to make innovative financing tools available to the country’s SMEs. I am certain that the SME Initiative in Malta will be a success.”
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EU research ministers met yesterday (27 January) in Amsterdam to consider how best to boost the impact of research and innovation.
All ministers agreed that an investment in research and innovation is an investment in the future of Europe and that better, smarter legislation must lead to a favourable investment and business climate.
To this end they discussed the ‘innovation principle’, whereby all new European legislation is evaluated in terms of its effect on innovation. Taking their cue from Dutch ‘green deals’, European innovation deals must ensure that all parties involved look at ways of eliminating problematic aspects of existing legislation, they agreed.
The minsters also welcomed the idea of a European start-up visa, which was presented by Neelie Kroes, special envoy for Start-Up Delta. This would make it easier for start-ups to begin operations in different member states without having to go through entry procedures again.
The ministers, as well as European Research Commissioner Carlos Moedas, were also presented with a petition from the League of European Research Universities calling for the expedited implementation of Open Access. With that in mind, the Dutch State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science, Sander Dekker, is organising a major European conference on this theme, to be held on 4 and 5 April.
“To maximise the impact of research, scientific knowledge must be shared,” he said. “This way, the results of publicly funded research can be used by anyone, from scientists to school teachers, and from doctors to business people. I want to use the Dutch Presidency to take major steps to increase the impact of research and innovation. One of these steps is encouraging Open Access.”
Moedas added: “We need a better regulatory environment that creates an appetite among private investors to investment in Europe. That’s no easy feat – legislative processes can take several years to adapt to new technologies that are evolving every month. That’s why I have made smart regulation part of my priority Open Innovation, and why I appreciate that the Dutch Presidency has put this high on the list of its own priorities for research and innovation.”
Yesterday’s meeting marked the first to be held under Dekker’s chairmanship. During the formal Council meeting in Brussels in May, he aims to adopt solid conclusions on the importance of investment to research and innovation, on better legislation for a better business climate in Europe, and on the accessibility of research outcomes with a view to bringing Open Access one step closer.
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Universities in Manchester, UK, and Abu Dhabi, UAE, are preparing to collaborate in the production of a graphene-based foam that they believe could augment its electronic properties.
One project involves researchers from both institutions developing affordable ink-based printing techniques designed for the challenging energy and military sectors, whose electronics applications are often undertaken under high temperature conditions, which is why graphene-based foam “packaging” is used to protect the otherwise two-dimensional surface of the nanomaterial.
Professor Brian Derby of Manchester University said: “The advantage of using a 2D material like graphene in battery electrodes, for example, is that it has a very high surface area, and yet is only one atom thick. But in order for the material to be useful, the atom-thick layers have to be packaged in a 3D object.
“We’re trying to develop ways of packaging these materials so that they assemble in space, but hold their surface area as much as possible.”
Alongside the creation of a graphene-based foam as packaging, the research team will investigate the use of composite materials in which ultra-thin graphene flakes are dispersed within a polymer matrix, which, according to Derby, will allow efficient removal of stress “from the polymer to the graphene flakes, creating a stronger, but still workable composite”.
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Dr James Poulet, of the Max-Delbrück Center (MDC) for Molecular Medicine and the NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence, Germany, has received a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to continue his research on how the brain generates sensory perception.
This marks the 15th ERC grant to be awarded to MDC researchers since 2009 and the second to be won by Poulet, who set up his laboratory with a €1.5m Starting Grant.
His newly awarded €2m Consolidator Grant will last over five years and could help pave the way to a better understanding of pain perception and neurological conditions like schizophrenia.
By training mice to report somatosensory stimuli delivered to their forepaw, Poulet and his team recently discovered that the same brain region and even individual nerve cells in the primary somatosensory cortex detect and are required for the processing of touch and cool.
Poulet now hopes to explore how it is “possible that different sensory inputs like cold and touch can be discriminated from one another when they are detected by the very same cells”, as well as how they are “integrated or ‘bound’ together to generate a single, coherent percept of a cool object”.
To answer these questions, he plans to continue using the mouse forepaw model and current optogenetic and behavioural approaches.
The post ERC awards 15th grant to Max-Delbrück Center appeared first on Horizon 2020 Projects.
Dr James Poulet, of the Max-Delbrück Center (MDC) for Molecular Medicine and the NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence, Germany, has received a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to continue his research on how the brain generates sensory perception.
This marks the 15th ERC grant to be awarded to MDC researchers since 2009 and the second to be won by Poulet, who set up his laboratory with a €1.5m Starting Grant.
His newly awarded €2m Consolidator Grant will last over five years and could help pave the way to a better understanding of pain perception and neurological conditions like schizophrenia.
By training mice to report somatosensory stimuli delivered to their forepaw, Poulet and his team recently discovered that the same brain region and even individual nerve cells in the primary somatosensory cortex detect and are required for the processing of touch and cool.
Poulet now hopes to explore how it is “possible that different sensory inputs like cold and touch can be discriminated from one another when they are detected by the very same cells”, as well as how they are “integrated or ‘bound’ together to generate a single, coherent percept of a cool object”.
To answer these questions, he plans to continue using the mouse forepaw model and current optogenetic and behavioural approaches.
The post ERC awards 15th Max-Delbrück Center researcher appeared first on Horizon 2020 Projects.
Nine cities have been shortlisted as potential recipients for the 2016 European Capital of Innovation award.
Three countries have two shortlisted nominees: Milan and Turin represent Italy; the UK is represented by Glasgow and Oxford; and the Netherlands is hopeful for success from either Amsterdam or Eindhoven. Germany, France and Austria are also present with their state capitals, Berlin, Paris and Vienna respectively, each having made significant achievements in their ability to innovate.
The initiative was launched by the EU in 2014 in recognition of its urban spaces that have shown an outstanding ability to nurture and promote innovative development. To qualify for the prestigious accolade, each nominated city must submit a proposal with the development of ‘innovative ecosystems’ as its focus, have over 100,000 inhabitants whose lives have been positively affected by said proposal, and belong to an EU member state that also participates in the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
With grants for the cities placed second (€100,000) and third (€50,000), an award of €950,000 will also be given to the city named European Capital of Innovation. The winner, to be named in April, will receive the mantle held by Barcelona, Spain, since 2014.
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