{"id":478575,"date":"2024-05-29T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/?p=478575"},"modified":"2024-05-29T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T11:00:00","slug":"boost-for-thermal-battery-and-circular-construction-materials-this-months-green-snapshot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/boost-for-thermal-battery-and-circular-construction-materials-this-months-green-snapshot\/","title":{"rendered":"Boost for thermal battery and circular construction materials:\u00a0this month\u2019s GREEN+ snapshot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>As May draws to an end, we thought of grouping some of the most important developments in greentech for you. From the opening of innovative power plants to student teams\u2019 hydrogen vehicles, May has had plenty to offer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. <strong>Funding for thermal energy storage startup<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Newton Energy Solutions (NES) announced last week that it secured <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shell.nl\/over-ons\/nieuws\/venster\/2024\/newton-energy.html\">\u20ac2.5 million<\/a> in funding. The company developed <a href=\"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/en\/not-a-battery-not-a-boiler-but-nestore-promises-to-provide-cheap-energy-to-everyone\/\">NEStore<\/a>, an innovative thermal energy storage solution, and will use this money to bring it to market quickly. The investment was backed by Fair Capital Impact Fund and existing shareholders Carteman Ventures, TNO, and K\u00f6nig Metall Group.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like a conventional water boiler, NEStore converts electricity \u2013 from solar panels or the grid \u2013 into heat, storing it without heat losses in water for weeks. When discharged, the system, as big as a small fridge, delivers hot water. Pavol Bodis, CEO of NES, <a href=\"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/en\/not-a-battery-not-a-boiler-but-nestore-promises-to-provide-cheap-energy-to-everyone\/\">previously explained<\/a> to IO how the system was designed to use recyclable and widely available materials such as steel and water, stashing heat without critical minerals.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The company has already installed some of its devices and is offering its 20 kWh unit for \u20ac5,000 before taxes. The TNO spinoff for NEStore envisioned home use as the primary application, but any place where hot water is needed could benefit from it. Hotels, hospitals, and sports centers could also be potential use cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"vlp-link-container vlp-layout-basic wp-block-visual-link-preview-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/en\/not-a-battery-not-a-boiler-but-nestore-promises-to-provide-cheap-energy-to-everyone\/\" class=\"vlp-link\" title=\"Not a battery, not a boiler. But NEStore promises to provide cheap energy to everyone\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><div class=\"vlp-layout-zone-side\"><div class=\"vlp-block-2 vlp-link-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/OIG2.QcJuViLZHNBo2FTX.jpeg\" style=\"max-width: 150px; max-height: 150px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vlp-layout-zone-main\"><div class=\"vlp-block-0 vlp-link-title\">Not a battery, not a boiler. But NEStore promises to provide cheap energy to everyone<\/div><div class=\"vlp-block-1 vlp-link-summary\">Newton Energy Systems developed a device that can store electricity in hot water for months, offering it at an accessible price.<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. <strong>The opening of a concentrated solar power plant\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Last Monday, Suncom Energy started operating its first micro-concentrated solar thermal power plant in Someren, Noord Brabant. The facility, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/suncom-energy_sunfleet-grandopening-innovation-activity-7201126724045012994-Thyv?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop\">inaugurated<\/a> by the Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, Micky Adriaansens, will serve a veal farm.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suncom develops concentrated solar power (CSP) installations. CSP technology uses mirrors or lenses that concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver, a parabolic collector. In the case of Suncom\u2019s SunFleet technology, the collector can generate heat up to 475 \u00b0C and is coupled with a storage system. With its solution, Suncom plans to offer a sustainable alternative for industrial heat generation processes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. <strong>Student teams unveiling their creations\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Two student teams from the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) unveiled their creations.\u00a0 Eco-Runner Team Delft presented its latest hydrogen-powered car. Unlike previous models, this year\u2019s car can drive on <a href=\"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/en\/eco-runner-has-a-new-challenge-taking-its-hydrogen-car-to-public-roads\/\">public roads<\/a>, showcasing the potential of hydrogen tech. In fact, the students will hit Frysian roads on a hunt for the world\u2019s longest distance driven on a single hydrogen tank. Last year\u2019s car drove nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/en\/dutch-triumph-tu-delft-students-set-new-hydrogen-vehicle-record\/\">2500 kilometers<\/a> without refueling on a racing track in France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few days earlier, the Hydro Motion team introduced its latest hydrogen boat. The students plan to cross the North Sea on this foiling vessel, a journey that they forecast to last for 13 hours and that, again, aims to demonstrate hydrogen\u2019s potential for maritime transport. We\u2019re taking a step forward, trying to show that hydrogen is a possibility for the future,\u201d Jeroen von Berg <a href=\"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/en\/crossing-the-north-sea-on-a-hydrogen-boat-this-student-team-is-working-to-make-it-happen\/\">told IO<\/a> previously, exposure coordinator of the student team.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"vlp-link-container vlp-layout-basic wp-block-visual-link-preview-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/en\/eco-runner-has-a-new-challenge-taking-its-hydrogen-car-to-public-roads\/\" class=\"vlp-link\" title=\"Eco-Runner has a new challenge: taking its hydrogen car to public roads\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><div class=\"vlp-layout-zone-side\"><div class=\"vlp-block-2 vlp-link-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_02901.jpg\" style=\"max-width: 150px; max-height: 150px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vlp-layout-zone-main\"><div class=\"vlp-block-0 vlp-link-title\">Eco-Runner has a new challenge: taking its hydrogen car to public roads<\/div><div class=\"vlp-block-1 vlp-link-summary\">The Eco-Runner Team Delft unveiled its 2024 hydrogen car design. This year, the students will test their prototype on the public roads.<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. <strong>Biobased building blocks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the next three years, the Better Biobased Building Blocks (B4) project, led by the Dutch Institute for Applied Science TNO and 11 partners in West-Noord Brabant, will work to construct green building blocks from local vegetable waste. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tno.nl\/en\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/western-north-brabant-becomes-hotspot\/\">B4 project<\/a> will, for instance, use these waste streams to create glues, insulation foams, and paint. These eco-friendly materials not only make construction more sustainable but also enhance products with scratch resistance, flame retardancy, and UV protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Green Chemistry Campus in Bergen op Zoom is the heart of this project, home to Shared Research Center Biorizon. Here, small and medium-sized enterprises (like Relement and Baril Coatings) join forces with larger companies (such as Westlake Epoxy) and academic institutions to prove that biobased aromatics can successfully replace fossil ones in various construction applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>B4, co-financed by the European Union, the Dutch government, and the province of Noord Brabant, aligns with the goals to slash emissions from the construction sector. By 2030, the sector aims to halve its environmental footprint, cutting its emissions by 90% in 2050.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. <strong>The first Benelux e-methanol plant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The University of Twente joined forces with industrial partners Bright Renewables and HyGear to build the first <a href=\"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/en\/beneluxs-first-e-methanol-plant-to-be-opened-in-arnhem\/\">e-methanol plant<\/a> in Benelux. Located in Arnhem, the plant is expected to produce the first batch of green methanol by the third quarter of 2025. Methanol is a fuel for heavy-duty transport, such as aviation and shipping.\u00a0E-methanol is its greener version. Different methods exist to produce it, and in the case of Arnhem\u2019s plant, it will combine hydrogen, produced with local solar and wind energy, with captured CO<sub>2<\/sub>. The production facility will also help the electricity grid store excess electricity. At its full capacity, the plant should produce 500 tons of fuel annually.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"vlp-link-container vlp-layout-basic wp-block-visual-link-preview-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/en\/beneluxs-first-e-methanol-plant-to-be-opened-in-arnhem\/\" class=\"vlp-link\" title=\"Benelux\u2019s first e-methanol plant to be opened in Arnhem\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><div class=\"vlp-layout-zone-side\"><div class=\"vlp-block-2 vlp-link-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/05\/HyGear-Arnhem-960x539-1.jpg\" style=\"max-width: 150px; max-height: 150px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vlp-layout-zone-main\"><div class=\"vlp-block-0 vlp-link-title\">Benelux\u2019s first e-methanol plant to be opened in Arnhem<\/div><div class=\"vlp-block-1 vlp-link-summary\">The University of Twente joined forces with HyGear and Bright Renewables to build a plant to produce e-methanol, a fuel alternative to conventional ones.<\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As May draws to an end, we thought of grouping some of the most important developments in greentech for you. From the opening of innovative power plants to student teams\u2019 hydrogen vehicles, May has had plenty to offer.&nbsp; 1. Funding for thermal energy storage startup Newton Energy Solutions (NES) announced last week that it secured [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2084,"featured_media":506384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[83676],"tags":[84800,84343,83598,58804,25333,73934],"location":[6763],"article_type":[75557],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[82815],"class_list":["post-478575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green","tag-e-methanol","tag-green-snapshot","tag-nestore","tag-suncom-energy","tag-tu-delft-en","tag-tu-delft-19","location-netherlands","article_type-explainer","reboot-archive-green"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":"We grouped for you some of the most interesting developments around energy and circularity for our monthly episode of the GREEN+ snapshot.","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Mauro Mereu","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/mauro-mereu\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/GSN2-2.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/green\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">GREEN+<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">GREEN+<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/green\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">e-methanol<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/green\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">green+ snapshot<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/green\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">NEStore<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/green\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Suncom Energy<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/green\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">TU Delft<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/green\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">TU Delft<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">e-methanol<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">green+ snapshot<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">NEStore<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Suncom Energy<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">TU Delft<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">TU Delft<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on May 29, 2024","modified":"Updated on May 29, 2024"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on May 29, 2024 1:00 pm","modified":"Updated on May 29, 2024 1:00 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2084"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478575"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=478575"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=478575"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=478575"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=478575"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=478575"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=478575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}