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.

La Palma Research Centre

LPRC representing CROWDTHERMAL at GeoTHEM expo

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On June 1-3 2022 the Messe Offenburg-Ortenau GmbH held the GeoTHERM expo & congress, in Offenburg – Germany. The event gathered relevant experts in the Geothermal sector in Germany and Europe, including academic, research, industry, and stakeholders from other sectors. These experts and companies had the opportunity to deliver formal presentations, set up and showcase their products and developments in their booths, as well as to engage with stakeholders and network during coffee breaks and the social dinner.

The agenda of the formal presentations was organized in two parallel sections: Deep and Shallow Geothermal Energy. In this opportunity, CROWDTHERMAL was selected to be presented in the first day of event (2 June 2022) as part of the Deep Geothermal Energy section – presented by Marcio Tameirao (La Palma Research Centre). The purpose of the presentation was to introduce the upcoming CROWDTHERMAL Core Services that are planned to be launched in June 2022, and how they will be implemented and made available on the project website.

The audience topic raised the audience’s attention, and the Q&A session included questions related to the meta-database of geothermal projects in Europe and alternative finance.

GeoTHERM conference

In the upcoming days the CROWDTHERMAL Core Services will be launched on the website, stay tuned!

La Palma Research Centre

LPRC co-organised the recent ROBOMINERS workshop

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The most recent ROBOMINERS-related workshop entitled “Innovation in Selective Mining: new trends and technological advances to reduce the environmental footprint of mineral extraction“ was co-organised by the  Geological Survey of Belgium (GSB), European Federation of Geoligists (EFG) and La Palma Research Centre (LPRC) on the 8th June 2022, in a physical event in Brussels, Belgium. The main goal of this workshop was to bring together internal and external partners working on selective mining to discuss the current and future research on the field.

The Workshop was inaugurated by Giorgia Stasi (GSB), with a welcome speech made by Vanessa Heyvaert (GSB). Then, a series of presentations on the topic followed: Patrick Nadoll (EIT RawMaterials) presented the overall raw materials panorama and the work of EIT RawMaterials; Christian Burlet (GSB) presented the ROBOMINERS project; Sophie Decree (GSB) and Nolwenn Coint (Geological Survey of Norway) discussed the phosphate exploration in Europe; Pablo Sobron (Impossible Sensing) mentioned how precision mining can be used from deep sea to deep space applications; Christophe Germay (EPSLog) presented their transdisciplinary multi sensor core logging technology. After the presentations, authors participated in a Panel Discussion on raw materials, mining and other related topics.

In the afternoon, two sessions were held. The first focused a laboratory demonstration LIBS and Fluorescence, techniques used in mining exploration and was presented by GSB. The visioning exercise that followed was led by LPRC. The event finished with a few remarks and conclusions made by the organisers.

A total of 25 participants on site and 10 participants online from different fields including technology development, policy and journalism were present to learn more and discuss the development of selective mining, topic especially important for the ROBOMINERS project.

EMPORIA4KT

LPRC organised an international bootcamp in La Palma

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On May 26th, 2022, the Emporia 4KT international bootcamp was held in La Palma. This event, organized by La Palma Research Centre together with Campus de Excelencia Internacional Global del Mar (CEIMAR) and Centro de Nuevas Tecnologías del Agua (CENTA), is part of the Emporia 4KT project, and is funded by the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund. Its objective is to foster cooperation between universities, companies and government for knowledge transfer, as well as the promotion of the Blue Economy.

The Bootcamp was inaugurated by Mr. Francisco Raúl Camacho Sosa, delegate in charge of Tourism and Sports of the Cabildo de La Palma, Mr. Carlos Andrés Navarro Martínez, director of the Agencia Canaria de Investigación, Innovación y Sociedad de la Información (ACIISI), Mr. Ernesto Pereda de Pablo, Vice Rector for Research, Knowledge Transfer and Campus Santa Cruz y Sur of the University of La Laguna, Mr. Aridane González González, director of Research and Technological Development, on behalf of the Vice Rector of Research and Knowledge Transfer of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Ms. Mónica Quesada Peña, Project Manager of the Canary Islands Maritime Cluster and Mr. Alfonso Montes de Oca Acosta, president of the La Palma Isla Azul Association.

Representatives from 15 organizations from the Canary Islands in the field of blue economy worked together to identify barriers and solutions, sharing their experience in innovation and knowledge transfer with Emporia4kt partners, who represented 14 institutions and 5 countries of the Atlantic area. The aim is to bring members of the triple helix together and promote the sustainable growth of the Blue Economy. Furthermore, the event was streamed, allowing the participation of 30 attendants online.

During the event, the potential of the Canary Islands as a hub for this type of economy, related to the oceans, seas, and encompassing activities such as fishing, shipyards, tourism and tidal energy, was highlighted.

As a result of this project, a joint action plan will be created. In addition, the Innovation Enhancer Tool Academy, a learning program that has already been tested in other countries, will be implemented in the Canary Islands as of September of this year.

EMPORIA4KT Logo and Funding

 

LPRC presents its projects during the EGU General Assembly 2022

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Similarly to previous EGU editions, La Palma Research Centre took part in this year’s EGU General Assembly. LPRC presented 4 of its EU projects: UNEXUP, ROBOMINERS, ENGIE and CROWDTHERMAL.

This time, the EGU General Assembly was hosted in an hybrid format. All LPRC projects were presented online in 5-minute style presentations followed by questions made by the online and in person participants. Find our views and more information on each of our presentation below:

UNEXUP (Session ERE4.4 – Automation and robotics for raw material exploration and production in Europe)

  • Abstract & Information
  • Number of attendes: 12 online + 10 in person
  • Questions and discussion: How deep can the UX robot dive? For how long can it work?

ROBOMINERS (Session ERE4.4 – Automation and robotics for raw material exploration and production in Europe)

  • Abstract & Information
  • Number of attendes: 12 online + 10 in person
  • Questions and discussion: What type of minerals can be mined with ROBOMINERS? What is the state of the technology? When will the first field results come out?

ENGIE (Session EOS3.1 – Promoting and supporting equality, diversity and inclusion in the geosciences)

  • Abstract & Information
  • Number of attendes: 36 online + 18 in person
  • Questions and discussion: No questions during the session, but a few participants promised to send an email for follow-up discussions.

CROWDTHERMAL (Session ERE2.5 – Exploration, utilization and monitoring of conventional and unconventional geothermal resources)

For now, it is still possible to have a look at the uploaded project material – just click on the project links above and get more information on these projects!