HRS4R Seal
Mentoring for Euriclea research
Raul Garcia Hemonnet
The objective of the programme, which began its activities last January and will end in December 2028, is threefold in terms of deploying solar concentration in energy end-use sectors and applications that are difficult to electrify.
Firstly, ACES4NET0-CM aims to develop and improve unique facilities and specialised training in the Community of Madrid in the area of concentrated solar thermal energy. In addition, the programme aims to progress in the development of solar heat solutions for industrial processes, and finally, to accelerate the roadmap of the first demonstrators for the thermochemical production of hydrogen and synthetic fuels. The ultimate goal of the project is to contribute with results in the race to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Each member of the consortium contributes their knowledge and experience in their field of specialisation. The URJC and, specifically, the URJC-Solar group (made up of members of the chemical and environmental engineering research group, GIQA) is involved in the “development of materials for obtaining solar fuels such as hydrogen (or hydrogen and carbon monoxide) through thermochemical cycles from water (and carbon dioxide), which will allow us to obtain synthetic fuels similar to the conventional ones we normally use”, says Juan Ángel Botas, the group’s principal investigator. The researcher adds that “concentrated solar energy in combination with the developed materials allows us to work at temperatures between 800 and 1000 degrees centigrade, which represents a significant reduction in the usual temperatures required in these thermochemical cycles”. The URJC-Solar group also participates in the development of materials for thermochemical energy storage.
URJC-Solar researchers have been working for more than 10 years on the line of thermochemical cycles for obtaining hydrogen and already have 3 doctoral theses behind them, as well as numerous scientific articles in specialized journals and a registered patent. “For us, continuing to participate in this consortium means collaborating by coupling our work in other areas or dependencies with facilities that we do not have, for example we do not have a solar simulator, which, however, IMDEA Energía has,” explains Professor Botas. He adds that this initiative allows the research group “to collaborate with other groups in tasks of developing materials and to be able to test them in scenarios closer to reality, and to achieve greater visibility in the area of the Community of Madrid, which is the one that finances the project.”
The activities for obtaining solar fuels that the URJC-Solar group plans to develop within the framework of ACES4NET0-CM are complementary to the hydrogen production activities that it is developing in the RHYDROGENALTES project, funded by the State Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research.
The URJC-DIMME group, specialized in research on the Durability and Mechanical Integrity of Structural Materials, also participates in the ACES4NET0-CM program.
The ACES4NET0-CM initiative is being developed by 8 research groups from 7 R&D centres and universities: IMDEA Energía (coordinator), Rey Juan Carlos University, the Institute of Catalysis and Petrochemistry of the CSIC, the Polytechnic University of Madrid, the Carlos III University of Madrid, the National University of Distance Education and CIEMAT. The initiative also includes the participation of the Spanish Association for the Promotion of the Solar Thermal Industry (PROTERMOSOLAR) and the companies REPSOL, Empresarios Agrupados, Aelius Energies, Grupo COX, Fersisolar, Solatom, Tewer Ingeniería and SISTEM CPS.
