This past month (june 2023), eurodeputies provisionally agreed on new legislation for batteries sold in the EU. It has already been hailed as a “game changer” for batteries, creating a framework to foster a competitive and sustainable battery industry in Europe.
After lengthy negotiations, the European Parliament adopted the EU Battery Regulation on 14 June. Batteries are a key technology that plays a fundamental role in moving towards a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. In this context, the Battery Regulation is a key achievement of the European Green Pact, under which all 27 member states have committed to making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
But what exactly is the European battery regulation, and what do manufacturers need to do to stay ahead of the regulations?
Proposed initially in december 2020, EU Regulation about batteries are progressive requirements to guarantee that all comercialized batteries in these countries are more sustainable, circular and save along its entire life cycle. For electric vehicles and industrial batteries with a capacity superior to 2kWh, the requirements relapses mainly in battery manufacturers and are divided into (1) guarantee supply practices more transparent and accountable and (2) facilitate circular economy (see Figure 1).
Figura 1: Highlights of the European Regulation about batteries
Go ahead the events. How can companies response to fulfill the next regulation
Regulation shall enter into force in 2024, what means that companies has to act now to establish the need bases to fulfill and overcome the requirements:
Know all the impacts
While batteries are obviously more sustainable than fossil fuels, they are not exempted of negative impacts. While carbon emissions receive the most attention, the impacts associated with battery supply chains are much broader- from water use to child labour and end-of-life waste- and this is one of the driving forces behind the scope of the EU Battery Regulation.
Companies will therefore need to understand the wide range of environmental and social impacts of their direct operations and supply chains. And to adequately measure, reduce and/or eliminate propperly these impacts, companies must develop specific and tailored strategies based on their current performance and processes.
Prioritising supply chain collaboration
While battery manufacturing itself is often a high impact process, many of the sustainability impacts associated with batteries can be found in the supply chain, such as carbon emissions from the extraction and refining processes. Therefore, it is not only the data that is important for companies to comply with regulations, but also the processes and systems to manage and improve the sustainability of the supply chain.
The EU Battery Regulation has taken this into account by setting requirements for all economic operators placing batteries on the European market (except small and medium-sized enterprises) to develop and implement due diligence policies in line with international standards. Battery manufacturers will therefore have to implement communication and collaboration systems with suppliers, such as sustainability questionnaires for suppliers, continuous sharing of results, audtis of high-risk suppliers and improvement programmes.
Reporting, improving and being prepared for comparison
Once companies understand their impact and put systems and processes in place to improve the sustainability of their company and supply chain, they must report on their results. Standardised reporting is a key component of sustainability legislation, and the EU Battery Regulation is no different.
Because reporting drives benchmaking and provides stakeholders with greater decision-making power, the EU Battery Regulations are intended to create the necessary incentives for companies to improve their sustainability performance. Battery manufacturers can prepare for this developing a systematic approach to reporting that allows them to effectively communicate their impacts, their progress and how they relate to others in the sector.
Where we are going?
EU Battery Regulation is part of a broader set of global standards aimed at improving the sustainability of the battery industry. EU regulators have yet to formally approve the regulation and develop guidelines for its implementation. However, battery manufacturers that want to differentiate themselves and be leaders in sustainability must act now. In short, they can do so by investing their resources in understanding their sustainability impact alongside regulatory requirements, managing and improving their supply chain sustainability processes and reporting their progress in a standardised way. While this may seem daunting, there is still time to act.
If you found this content interesting, you can follow the progress of FREE4LIB project, coordinated by CARTIF, which is fully alligned with the new Battery Regulation.
The global challenges we face in achieving sustainable resource management, while delivering economic development, require the close collaboration of all actors in a chain consisting of industrial (business), government and research sectors. In this context, Circular Economy offers solutions to change and enhance the traditional Linear Economy and the development of a Circular Bioeconomy is a crucial opportunity for sustainable growth at regional, national and international level, through the contribution of all sectors involved. The Bioeconomy is defined as a set of activities that encompasses all sectors and systems that are based on biological resources (animals, plants, macro-organisms, and the biomass derived from them, including organic by-products).
The Circular Bioeconomy requires a boost from the private sector which, combined with a brave and decisive strategy from public administrations, provides a regulatory framework that generates social consensus, active participation of the value chain, drives business investments and reinforces legal certainty; all with the dual objective of creating stable and quality employment and advancing in the ecological transition of our economy. This is an opportunity that cannot be missed. According to estimates by the European Commission, for example, if all the current regulations were applied in the specific case of waste, more than 400,000 jobs would be created in the European Union, of which 52,000 would be in Spain.
Some of the projects proposed in this area are linked to the reuse of packaging, the development of renewable gases, the promotion of domestic energy self-consumption or the incentive of industrial recycling in sectors such as the automotive industry. All of these projects are promoted with the clear intention of contributing to the transformation of the production system, raising its sustainability standards and taking advantage of all the economic opportunities offered by the Circular Economy as a whole and the Circular Bioeconomy in particular.
In this sense, INBEC project is a Circular Bioeconomy project whose objective has been to promote the creation of new industries and economic activities, as well as the diversification of productive activities through the transformation of biological resources and the development of new bioproducts and services. This project has sought to maximise the potential of this area in Castille and Leon and Portugal, promoting the presence in new markets and the demand of this type of reosurces and products.
INBEC project location
To this end, INBEC has encouraged and promoted a sustainable economy by increasing busines competitiveness in all sectors identifying existing resources in the regional sector of the Bioeconomy and Circular Economy, and thus promoting the development of R&D&I projects and cross-border cooperation, the creation of new industries and economic activities based on the transformation of biological resources and maximising the potential of the Bioeconomy.
Among the actions that have been carried out throughout the project, the following should be highlighted:
Characterisation and identification studies of companies, resources and activities by areas with the aim of finding out about the industrial base and endogenous resources present in areas of action. CARTIF has contacted and visited more than 25 companies in Valladolid and Zamora.
Nine action plans, one for each target area, have been drawn up to define the potential of possible actions to be
implemented in the field of bioeconomy and circular economy.
In terms of awareness-raising workshops, CARTIF has actively participated in the 16 workshops carried out in the project with the objective of informing and debating with SMEs and the self-employed on the principles of the bioeconomy and the benefits it generates for companies and society.
Coimbra meeting [April 2022]
CARTIF has organized nine training and innovation workshops, about innovative solutions in matter of organization and management of productive processes, solutions for the implementation of new product design, containers and packaging.
Individual diagnostics and implementation plans,dealing with the degree of innovation of companies, self-employed and entrepeneurs in terms of organisation and process management. CARTIF has carried out more than 25 personalised diagnoses in Spain (Valladolid, Salamanca and Avila) and Portugal (Beiras e Serra da Estrela, Coimbra and Douro) with the actions and roadmaps to be followed to implement the proposed innovations.
As for the project bank, initiatives have been collected to generate new technologies or economic activities in the field of Bioeconomy. CARTIF has carried out more than 20 tutorials in the areas of Portugal (Terra Tràs Os Montes, Beiras, Coimbra, Serra da Estrela and Douro) and has provided technical support in the implementation of collaborative R&D&IMprojects and/or projects that have generated new activities in the field of Bioeconomy.
Finally, with regard to the promotion of demand and market development, the INBEC project has drawn up a digitalisation itinerary for companies, freelancers and entrepeneurs working in the Bioeconomy and Circular Economy sector. To this end, digitisation workshops, diagnoses and implementation plans have been carried out, focused on bringing closer and facilitating the incorporation of ICT solutions as tools for the substantial improvement of the competitiveness of companies, freelancers and entrepeneurs. On the other hand, by-products and secondary materials derived form the Bioindustry have been identified and puto to good use with the aim of exptending the value chain of biotechnological materials and products. A Joint Comercialisation and Marketing Plan for bioproducts and by-products present in each study area has also been carried out, with the aim of becoming more competitive through a joint comercialisation strategy with the collaboration of different agents and companies. To conclude this activity and the project, CARTIF has organised an Internatinal Forum for the exhibition and exchange of bioproducts, bioprocesses, application technologies and knowledge,etc. to share all the results of the project and in this way value and take advantage of the potential of the agents participating in it and promote the development of this new economy among society.
As a final conclusion, after the ,completion of this three-year project, more than 140 interviews with companies, entrepeneurs, freelancers and relevant agents have been carried out duringthe course of the project. On the other hand, more than 200 participants have been trained in training days, more than 150 participants in training workshops in the field of Bioeconomy and Circular Economy and technology transfer has been facilitated to more than 100 companies, advising and tutoring them to incorporate innovations and improvements in their production processess and in the design of their products/services. Likewise, a study of the best initiatives in the field of Bioeconomy and Circular Economy has been carried out (more specifically 20 detailed initiatives), technical support and tutoring has been given to more than 50 companies in collaboration with research organisations and/or technology centres for the implementation of collaborative R&D&I projects and/or projects that have generated new activities in the field of Bioeconomy. More than 100 people have been trained in the incorporation of ICTs focused on marketing and e-commerce, the degree of digital maturity of the companies has been assessed and a personalised plan has been drawn up to implement the technologies identified, an analysis of bio-products and bio-processes that could be incorporated into the value chain of the entities in order to promote their competitiveness (in the areas of action) has been carried out and a joint commercialisation and marketing plan for bio-products and by-products present in each study area has been drawn up with the aim of making the companies more competitive through this joint commercialisation strategy. Finally, through the organisation of the International Forum and by means of different working groups and with the institutional presence of relevant international entities, the potential of all the participating agents has been valued and exploited, thus promoting the development of this new economy among society.
INBEC project, in its beginnings, coincided with the health situation by COVID-19, a situation that affected the execution of the tasks. However, throughout the project we have had the opportunity to bring together a large working team (Instituto para la Competitividad Empresarial de la Junta de Castilla y León; Universidad de Salamanca; Diputación de Ávila; Fundación CESEFOR; Fundación Patrimonio Cultural de la Junta de Castilla y León; Fundación CARTIF; Instituto Politécnico de Bragança e Instituto Pedro Nunes) to evaluate the progress of the project, share all the information collected, as well as the problems encountered throughout its implementation to achieve an undoubted success in its execution.
INBEC project with file 0627_INBEC_6_E has been co-financied by the European Regional Development Fund ERDF through the INTERREG V-A Spain-Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020.
Innovation and new technologies bring forth a variety of possibilities, obstacles and unknown questions that in order to be addressed, require the formation of interdisciplinary temas that allow for the reinforcement of each professional´s skills, enriching themselves with the knowledge, experiences and abilities of others.
This is how CARTIF understands it, and it becomes even more evident when approaching Cultural Heritage through the lens of the 21st century. As an example, the department dedicated to this cahllenging yet fascinating subject is currently comprised of Industrial and Computer Engineers, Physicists and Architects. They are always opent to new additions and work closely in collaboration with professions that naturally reside in this field, such as Historians and Archaeologists. Together, they work to respond to the six fundamental pillars internationally recognized for ensuring the sustainability of Heritage in its tangible, intangible, and digital forms.
Applied and continuous R&D leads to products, processes and services that prove to be useful in the medium term for the research, protection, conservation, restoration and dissemination of cultural heritage assets. Not only with technologies, but also with corresponding methodologies, even allowing for the evaluation of their economic and social impacts in both urban and rural areas. We couldn´t study historical aspects or analyze buildings or monuments architecturally without scientifc knowledge, the devices created by engineers, or the programs developed by computer scientists.
In fact, the digitization of Cultural Heritage, whose correct technological understanding and translation was addressen in a previous blog post, has positioned CARTIF at the forefront of defining the European Union´s research and technical priorities in the field. Now, it expands with the definition of new business models that ensure the preservation of the Heritage we currently enjoy for future generations.
Nevertheless, technology and innovation must always be accompanied by directives, guidelines and recommendations that take into account the local population; policies where Heritage is truly considered an asset; and the promotion of professional training, dissemination, awareness, and education, as it is impossible to value what is not known.
That is why Cultural Heritage, far from being something static, is constantly evolving, even as a concept, and demands updated professional profiles that address everything we have discussed. It´s quite a challenge. And these profiles begin to take shape in the collaborative project we have been carrying out at CARTIF. We always consider the business perspective, the requirements of public administrations, the uniqueness and sensitivity that each site requires, and the places and people involved. It´s another way to involve and build a future rooted in the past for the younger generation.
Analysis of a pictorial artwork using Terahertz cameras, which have applications ranging from material analysis and conservation status assessment to art authentication. Their ability to penetrate different materials and reveal hidden detials makes them a valuable yet uncommon tool.
Universal acces to sustainable energy is an indisputable objective for the human development and the fight against poverty. Electrical energy services are vital “satisfiers” of human needs such as cooking and refrigeration, lighting, heating, trasnport, communication, among others. It is therefore possible to state that access to energy reduces poverty, improves health, the environment, increases productivity and promotes economic growth. However, there are still more than 1,100 million people in the world without access to electricity supply -nearly 15% of the global population-1 , of which, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), 34 million live in Latin America and the Caribbean, which represents 5% of the total population. In addition, what remains to be electrified are poor, hard-to-reach locations, which require new service models and new actors, and for which sustainability and affordability will require special attention and support.
Source: Freepik
These, among other points related to access, equity and quality of energy sources to meet the basic needs of the population, constitute a number of challenges yet to be addressed. In areas with precarious electricity supply, power cuts represents a serious threat to the well-being of communities and their economic development. The cascading effects after an electric interruption can cause major social and economic losses.
Traditionally in the Ibero-American region, the solutions for electrification, either in emergencies or due to lack of access, have been the extension of the distribution grid, the use of fossil fuel generators for a limited number of hours and, lately, incentives and support for projects based on Non-Conventional Renewable Energies (NCRE). It can sometimes be difficult to extend the electricity grid to these locations due to: remote locations, low population density or lack of existing infrastructure. Consequently, electricity must be supplied locally using stand-alone household systems or microgrids that make use of the local resources at their disposal (a microgrid is basically, a local electricity service that produces energy by means of a generator and distributes it through several wires to surrounding households and businesses).
The importance of implementing local renewable energy systems, whose operation doesn´t entail high costs for the different users, helps to transform the vicious circle that exist between economic development and energy supply into a virtuous one, in a relationship where the lack of the former makes the latter impossible and vice-versa. However, these projects boosted by the State and/or private entities often depend tehnically and economically on external agents, and therefore, their continuity is often subject to continuous contributions from entities outside the area where they are installed, relegating the beneficiaries to a primarily passive role vis-à-vis the installed technology, and to high additional costs for the installer for maintenance actions, which on many cases makes them “forget” about the installation, as their business is oriented towards investment and not towards operation.
Therefore, the implementation of this type of systems not only requires an economic effort, but it is also necessary to incorporate new innovative models fso that the implementation is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable, with the participation of new actors. Thus, the actors providing the energy service must necessarily involve the beneficiaries, in line with their traditional ways and uses.
Fredy Vélez, Álvaro Corredera and Jesús Samaniego. CARTIF researchers of the Energy division
Therefore, in isolated rural communities where grid extension isn´t the most appropriate solution in terms of time or cost, it is necessary to install local microgrids to help meet the energy needs of the rural community. For their design and plannning, it is necessary to use planning tools that assess the coverage of demand, recommending which technology would meet this requirement. This type of planning, which takes into account the different technologies available and local renewable resources, allows for a coordinated organisation with distribution companies, preventing private initiatives for isolated electrification from being overtaken in a short time by grid supplies, thus wasting valuable available energy resources2.
The selection and sizing of the most appropriate electrification technologies for each user and each community based on geographical, natural, technical, socio-economic and other large-scale environmental variables for energy planning and investment analysis is a fundamental challenge.
CARTIF researchers at UPB Smart Energy Center
In systems with controllable generation, adjustment to demand can be made, so balancing the grid is simpler. However, in grids with a high penetration of renewables, it is necessary to complement them with storage systems or demand management systems to balance the availability of non-controllable renewable energy with needs that can often be shifted over time (demand flexibility). Design tools, on the one hand, and control strategies, on the other hand, are different in both scenarios.
In consideration of the above, with the aim of providing a quality energy supply solution in isolated, non-interconnected areas of Latin America, CARTIF, together with the other partners in thePLADEMI project, has developed a tool that allows the dimensioning of microgrids, taking into account both energy parameters of renewable and indigenous origin, and social parameters, so that the energy-social development nexus can be evaluated in a coordinated manner. Without energy there are no services, without services there is no development, without development there is no quality of life. Within this framework, CARTIF researchers have travelled to Colombia for several days to hold meetings with theTAYEA research group of the National University of Colombia, Medellin, and theUPB Smart Energy Center of the Pontifical Bolivarian University, in order to share information, knowledge and experiences, visiting their pilot facilities focused on the development of communities in the context indicated. On the other hand, we also visited the community ofIsla Fuerte, a small island (3.25 km²) located in the Colombian Caribbean, with a population of 2500 inhabitants living in approximately 500 houses, energetically supplied by a micro-grid consisting of a 400 kW diesel generator set, a 175 kWp photovoltaic plant and 432 batteries of 3850 Ah. Thanks to conversations held with the island’s community, an exercise of understanding and analysis of the social aspects to be taken into account in this type of project has been carried out, and which need to be included in the tool developed in the PLADEMI project.
New European directives on energy efficiency, targeting a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to be achieved by 2023, are triggering deep renovation building projects, which are largely responsible for these emissions. This high demand for the transformation of the existing building stock makes us consider the need to execute this type of renovation projects in the shortest period of time. Furthermore, it is important to offer an adequate cost/benefit balance for the proposed interventions.
And in this process of transition towards climate-neutral buildings, how can the use of new technologies and the application of methodologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) help in the implementation of deep renovation projects? The adoption of BIM models, traditionally used for new buildings, can provide important decision support when selecting solutions to be implemented in renovation projects. This was one of the main objectives of the H2020 BIM-SPEED Project, to improve deep renovation projects of residential buildings, reducing the time and costs associated with them, and promoting the use of BIM among the different stakeholders involved. To this end, standardised processes, with the creation of Use Cases, and different BIM‑based tools were developed as part of the BIM‑SPEED web platform ecosystem, as well as training materials on how to use these services1. To address interoperability issues, different ETLs (Extract, Transform and Load) and BIM connectors were implemented.
Interoperability framework between BIM tools and the BIM-SPEED web platform, showing the connection to the implemented ETLs and BIM Connectors. To ensure the reliability of the data, different Checker tools were applied
It was also possible to see how beneficial the combination of Machine Learning techniques with BIM models is for decision making in deep renovation projects, allowing the automatic selection of the most appropriate renovation option. This selection is based on national building envelope regulations, and also takes into consideration a number of user-defined input parameters on the limitations of its application2. The combination of the Scan to BIM process with the automatic creation of walls in BIM, using point clouds as input data, was also of great interest to end users3.
And now, what else?
The possibilities of using BIM models do not end with the renovation phase of the building. These models can also play a key role in the Operation and Maintenance phase. The development of Digital Building Twins based on BIM models can help in the optimisation and control of buildings to improve their energy performance. In line with this, projects such as BuildON, coordinated by CARTIF, and SMARTeeSTORY, the latter focused on monitoring and optimisation of the energy performance of non-residential historical buildings, are starting. We will keep you updated on further developments in future posts.
2 Mulero-Palencia, S.; Álvarez-Díaz, S.; Andrés-Chicote, M. Machine Learning for the Improvement of Deep Renovation Building Projects Using As-Built BIM Models. Sustainability2021, 13, 6576. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126576
3 Álvarez-Díaz, S.; Román-Cembranos, J.; Lukaszewska, A.; Dymarski, P. 3D Modelling of Existing Asset Based on Point Clouds: A Comparison of Scan2BIM Approaches. In 2022 IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for Living Environment (MetroLivEn); IEEE, 2022; pp 274–279. https://doi.org/10.1109/MetroLivEnv54405.2022.9826964
In the field of health, it is known that is more effective prevent illnesses than treat them once they have manifested themselves. In a similar way, it can be apply in the context of industrial data, its continuous and proactive maintenance helps to avoid the need of an extensive pre-treatment before using advance data analytic techniques for decision-making and knowledge generation.
Pre-treatment data implies doing several tasks as: (1) data cleaning, (2) correction of errors, (3) elimination of atypical values and (4) the standardisation of formats, among others. These activities are necessary to assure quality and data consistency before using it in analysis, decision-making or specific applications.
Fuente: Storyset en FreePik
However, if robust data maintenance can be implemented from the outset, many of these errors and irregularities can be prevent. By establishing proper data entry processes, applying validations and quality checks, and keeping up-to-date records, it is possible to reduce the amount of pre-treatment need later, identifying and addressing potential problems before they become major obstacles. This includes early detection of errors such as inaccurate data, correction of inconsistencies and updating of outdated information. It is true that companies currently store large amounts of data but it is important to highlight that not all of this data is necessarily valid or useful, for example, for use in anartificial intelligence project. Indeed, many organisations face the challenge of mantaining and managing data that lacks relevance or quality. This management aims to ensure te integrity, quality and availability of data over time.
Efficient data maintenance is crucial to ensure that data are relaible, up-to-date and accurate, but this involves continuous monitoring and management by company staff, ensuring that they remain accurate, consistent, complete and up to date. The most common activities related to data maintenance include:
Regular monitoring: Is carried out a periodic data tracking to detect possible problems, such as errors, inconsistencies, loses or atypical values. This can involves the revision of reports, tendance analysis or the implementation of authomatized alerts to detect anomalies.
Updating and correction: If errors or inconsistencies in data are identified, maintenance staff will ensure that theyr are corrected and updated appropriately. This may involve reviewing records, checking external sources or communicating with those responsible for data collection.
Backup and recovery: Procedures and systems are established to back up data and ensure its recovery in the event of failure or loss. This may include implementing regular backup policies and conducting periodic data recovery tests.
Access management and security: Data maintenance staff ensure that data is protected and only accessible by authorised users. This may involve implementing security measures such as access control, data encryption or monitoring audit trails.
Documentation and metadata update: Dara-related documentation, including field descriptions, database structure and associated metadat, is kept up to date. This facilitate the understanding and proper use of the data by users.
In summary, data maintenance involves: (1) regularly monitoring, (2) correcting errors, (3) backing up, and (4) securing the data to ensure that it is in good condition and reliable. These actions are fundamental to mantaining the quality and security of stored information.
At CARTIF, we face this type of problems in different projects related to the optimisation of manufacturing processes for different companies and industries. We are aware of the amount of time consumed in staff hours due to the problems explained, so we are working on providing certain automatic mechanisms that make life easier for those responsible for the aforementioned “data maintenance”. One example is s-X-AIPI project focused on the development of AI solutions with auto capabilities that require special attention to data quality starting with data ingestion.
CO-authors
Mireya de Diego. Researcher at de Industrial and Digital Systems Division
Aníbal Reñones. Head of Unit Industry 4.0 at the Industrial and Digital Systems Division
