LCBA alliance in Colombia: TB PLUS and CIRCONTROL

THE PROJECT:

Tb Plus is a Colombian company founded in 2010 that is dedicated to the generation, distribution, construction and implementation of renewable energy projects in Colombia. It has extensive experience in the renewable energy sector and is currently focusing on an innovative approach: the development of chargers for electric vehicles. It is a challenging project with which it hopes to implement more than 350 electric charging stations, using public chargers installed along the country’s roads. Thanks to this development, the company aims to reduce its carbon footprint by around 154,000 tCO2 equivalent over the next 10 years.

THE SOLUTION:

To achieve this goal, Tb Plus, through the European Low Carbon Business Action programme in Colombia, found the Spanish partner Circontrol to manufacture the electric chargers. Circontrol has extensive experience in providing vehicle charging solutions worldwide and the two companies recently closed a commercial agreement to develop electric charging stations in Colombia. Also, through the programme, Tb plus contacted the company Etecnic Energy & Moblity with whom they have developed the mobile application for the operation, administration and payments integrated to the chargers.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:

Tb Plus continues to be committed to its sustainability and climate change strategy, promoting the use of non-conventional renewable energy sources and encouraging their implementation in Colombia.
It is estimated that in 6 years 82,000 tonnes of CO2eq would be avoided and 84 GWh of renewable energy would be generated, which means an average of 8,357 tonnes of CO2eq avoided per year.

LCBA interview: João Teixeira, Executive Director and Owner of EULA IT

João Teixeira, Executive Director and Owner of EULA IT, a German startup specialised in the development of Industry 4.0 and environmental solutions that launched the SmartPlanet platform.

João always said that “if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem”. That is why he created SmartPlanet. An open that offers everything needed to create environmental insights, integrate these insights into legacy applications, react to special events, present the results & trends in a powerful dashboard and make key insights available to the population in an intuitive and didactic way.

  • What is the background and motivation behind SmartPlanet?

The environmental issue has always been important to me, but, like most people, I didn’t see a way to engage myself personally to contribute positively to projects and solutions to existing problems. In 2015 I co-founded a startup, EULA IT, specialized in developing solutions for the so-called Industry 4.0, and the environmental area seemed very distant from our day to day.

This began to change when we started receiving requests from various partners to leverage our expertise in sensors, IoT, and satellites to develop solutions for monitoring environmental projects. Besides the evident interest of the population and the media in the issue, characterized by protests and appalling news, we noticed that a huge number of resources were invested in numerous initiatives to mitigate this problem. However, the lack of transparency gives people the impression that very little is being done and does not allow one to differentiate serious from ghost projects, providing the explosive proliferation of socalled “greenwasching”. So, we decided that bringing our expertise in digitization in the context of Industry 4.0 to the environmental area would help good projects gain efficiency and transparency, and consequently make it easier to uncover bad actors, channeling resources for the good ones. Therefore, we founded SmartPlanet UG.

  • What is the SmartPlanet Project?

The SmartPlanet project is coming to bring digitalization, efficiency, transparency, engagement, and new sources of revenue to activities that involve environmental and sustainability issues. The project is based on a double pillar: the SmartPlanet platform and the TerraBeat mobile app.

Two of the main objectives of the project are:

  1. Support organizations to plan, execute and monitor the activities of environmental projects.
  2. To provide transparency and accountability to the (global) population, allowing them to inform and
    collaborate with these environmental projects.

The platform allows governments, NGOs, researchers, and companies executing environmental projects to access data, algorithms, workflow models, and visual components for processing, monitoring, and calculating performance indicators for project management, and to share best practices, methods, and techniques.

A significant part of this project is the use of Wikidata and the Wikibase software suite to create a comprehensive, free, and collaborative environmental knowledge base to support planning and follow-up of environmental projects, and to bring environmental education and reliable project information to the world population via the TerraBeat mobile app.
The app also allows organizations to demonstrate to the world their commitment to the environmental cause and to provide transparency about their project, and also opens a new and innovative channel for the population to engage in various ways in the environmental and sustainability cause.

  • How does it contribute to the environment?

At the core of the platform are tools to support the planning, execution, and monitoring of environmental projects, considerably increasing efficiency and transparency in the issuing of different environmental certificates (CO2 sequestration, environmental services, biodiversity, etc.). These can be environmental recompositing or restoration projects either through legal commitments such as forest replacement, or through projects aiming at carbon fixation (compensation of emissions by third parties, stock expansion with densification and/or environmental restoration), or other projects of a social nature, environmental preservation/protection, scenic beauty, biodiversity, or the most diverse and potential environmental services related.

The mobile app uses gamification strategies for greater engagement of the population in environmental education and causes. It also allowed the population to monitor the effective application of public resources in the mitigation of negative environmental impacts and the recovery of degraded areas, increasing the pressure on the various stakeholders to control the efficacy of environmental projects and to combat “greenwasching”.

  • What was the main challenge regarding the development of the solution?

The biggest challenge was to create a business model that on the one hand provides the population with reliable, quality information about the environment and environmental projects at no cost, and yet is economically sustainable. Fortunately, there are several examples of digital platforms that use multi-sided business model to allow the most important audience, the global population, to enjoy the benefits for free.

The platform adopts the SaaS model to make its features available to companies involved in the execution of environmental projects and is open for third parties to generate revenue by contributing to its expansion. The mobile application enables organizations to use this channel to engage with the population in different ways.

  • What inspires you?

“If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.”This African proverb serves as a source of inspiration and motivation and guides our planning and actions.
Today we see so many protests and speeches with accusations and apocalyptic messages, but few actions to solve the problem. We want to stop being part of the problem by creating software that helps other organizations and people around the world to also be part of the solution.

  • What stage is the project at and what are the next steps?

Together with our first client/partner we are carrying out the pilot projects foreseen in the “Joint Business Concept” (JBC) that was presented and approved by the LCBA program. This activity will give us subsidies for the final improvements to the platform.

We are also strengthening our ecosystem through strategic partnerships with European entities, such as Fraunhofer IIS and Wikimedia Deutschland, and Brazilian ones, such as SOBRADE and EMBRAPA.

We have also put online through our website an opinion poll to collect data for the design of the TerraBeat application, whose development will begin soon. So, I invite everyone to access our site www.smartplanetplatform.com and participate in the survey so that we can make our platform even better and together we can collaborate to solve the greatest challenge facing humanity today.

 

SmartPlanet Screenshot

LCBA Alliance in Colombia: SUNEO and Pronutec

New Alliance in Colombia: SUNEO ENERGY and PRONUTEC

LCBA accelerates the commercial agreement between SUNEO ENERGY -a Colombian company specialised in the research and development of renewable energy technologies- and PRONUTEC -a Spanish company that designs, manufactures, and commercializes equipment for photovoltaic plants-. 

The project: 

Due to Colombia’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the country is willing to invest in renewable energies, such as solar energy. Therefore, the aim of this project is to promote, commercialise and distribute actuators, cells, combiner panels and protection equipment. All these products are created exclusively for photovoltaic plants. 

Environmental impact:  

The implemented solution will result in an environmental impact:  

  • Renewable energy production of 18.25 GWh per year. 
  • Reduction of CO2 emissions of 2,174 Ton CO2 per year. 

LCBA ALLIANCE in Brazil: Burntech and Advanced Cyclone Systems

LCBA ALLIANCE: IMPLEMENTATION OF CYCLONIC FLUE GAS FILTRATION APPLICABLE TO BIOMASS BOILERS

Burntech is a Brazilian boiler manufacturer responsible for the design, manufacture and installation of high-quality boilers and steam production implementing thermal energy solutions for sectors such as textile, food, chemical and timber industries

The project:

Industrial boilers can be powered by fossil fuels or by biomass. Fossil fuel-powered boilers, such as oil and natural gas, contribute to carbon and other polluting gas emissions, making efforts more necessary for the transition to cleaner and more renewable energy sources. Based on it, biomass-powered boilers do not contribute to carbon emissions comparing to conventional fossil fuel-powered boilers. It is important to remember that the combustion process can still generate gases that, if not properly treated, can pollute the environment. Therefore, it is essential that biomass boilers are equipped with gas treatment systems to ensure that emissions are within appropriate environmental standards.

The solution proposed by European company Advanced Cyclone Systems to prevent such contamination is based on the implementation of a more efficient multi-cyclone filter solution that avoids particulate material emissions even with less than 200 mg/Nm3. In addition to contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions using biomass instead of fossil fuel. The solution proposed by European company treat exhaust gases from the boiler efficiently to comply with environmental rules.

The technical solution implemented:

The Portuguese company, Advance Cyclone Systems, has developed its own and unique model of prediction of cyclone efficiency, which takes into account agglomeration in turbulent flow zones. Advanced Cyclone Systems is responsible for the supply of the multi-cyclone gas filter, for import and logistics, and for the nationalization of the filter that will be installed in the boiler.

Environmental impact:

A positive environmental impact is identified by the implementation of this solution:

 

  • Replacement of 43,160,500 m3 of natural gas* per year using 219,000 tons of biomass.​
  • Estimated GHG emissions mitigation of 64,903 tCO2e per year.

Italy: first stop of the energy effiency business mission

Within the framework of the energy efficiency mission taking place in Europe, the LCBA Colombia team provided the participating Colombian companies with the opportunity to visit the Italian cities of Padua and Treviso in February.

Each of the Italian companies presented their technological solutions, which are aligned with the needs and decarbonisation strategy of the Colombian companies:

  • Zuccato presented a cogeneration system which transforms biomass into gas and steam that even taking advantage of low temperatures manages through ORC to generate electricity.
  • Gasparin OMG presented a mobile shredder for solid construction and demolition waste, which shreds around 40 tons per hour, adjusting the screening to the needs.
  • Forrec presented its modular shredding equipment to treat different types of waste. These equipment and solutions are adapted to each of the specific needs of different companies and waste types.
  • Zago, a specialist in organic waste from agriculture, presented innovative machinery specialised in treating, sorting and processing this waste.

The next commercial visit of the LCBA Colombia team will take place in Austria.

 

Spain: last stop of the energy efficiency business mission

The energy efficiency business mission led by the LCBA team in Colombia has arrived to an end in Spain . The team was able to visit companies implementing technologies in biogas, hydrolysis and waste recovery in the cities of Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Burgos and Madrid.

The Colombian representatives visited the following Spanish companies: 

  • BARCELONA

-WAGA: Finances, builds and operates WAGABOX under long-term contracts with operators of waste centers sharing with them the income from the sale of biomethane, according to the company, they produce and distribute the cheapest biomethane on the market.

-DFACTORY: Hub for the creation of a system that promotes the promotion and development of industry 4.0

-Leitat: Technology center that provides solutions with high added value to the technological challenges of companies and organizations.

-CAN MATA – PreZero: One of the most important waste dumps in Spain operated by the company PreZero, where the WAGABOX of the WAGA Energy company will operate, “This unit will inject 70 GWh of biomethane per year into the network of the operator Nedgia, which is equivalent to to the gas consumption of 14,000 Spanish households (or a fleet of 200 trucks). The project will avoid the emission of 17,000 tons of eqCO2 per year, by substituting fossil natural gas.” According to figures and company data.

-NATURGY – Biogas plant: It is the second Spanish biomethane generation plant from biogas and the first private initiative industry after Valdemingomez. Thanks to this renewable gas plant, the biogas produced by landfills is recovered to be injected into the city council’s gas network, benefiting families in the use of energy.

  • VALENCIA:

-RECIOIL: Company specialized in commercial management and advice on the exploitation of biogas and composting plants.

  • BURGOS:

-ANAGAS AGF: Biogas and compost plant designed, built and operated by AGF which processes the extracted biomethane transforming it into biogas to be injected into the NETWORK, they have created an innovative technology to reduce the size of the plant and to be able to make them from two containers for process a ton of waste per day and thus feed up to 4 homes.

  • MADRID

-ECONWARD: Global technology company specialized in the development of innovative, efficient and sustainable solutions for the treatment, recycling and recovery of biowaste.

-VALDEMINGOMEZ: Technological park that concentrates practically all of the urban waste facilities (RU) in Madrid, where the more than 4,000 tons that are generated daily in the city converge.

-PROMA INGENIEROS: Company dedicated to technical assistance, advice, research and development and application of results in the field of engineering of urban services and smart cities.

Austria: second stop of the energy effiency business mission

The LCBA team in Colombia continues with the energy efficiency business mission in Europe. The second stop has been Austria, thanks to the invitation and organisation of the Austrian trade office in Colombia, headed by Mrs. Mirijam Gelbmann.

The Colombian companies were able to visit Austrian waste, water treatment and biogas plants and learn about cutting-edge technologies in product development and innovative tools generating solar energy sustainably.

The visits were carried out in the cities of Vienna, Wels and Salzburg, where the following Austrian companies are based:

  • WABAG: It is one of the world’s leading companies in the planning, construction and operational management of water, wastewater and recycling treatment plants.
  • BIOGEST: International manufacturer of biomethane and biogas plants, which includes the development and planning of projects, the joint venture and the operation of plants of various capacities.
  • World Sustainable Energy Days // We Build: The largest and most relevant energy efficiency fair in Europe where the latest developments in energy sustainability and sustainable development are presented through trade stands, conferences and networking spaces.
  • FRONIUS: Develops innovative digital products, solutions and tools to generate, store and distribute solar energy in a profitable and intelligent way.
  • UNTHA: Company dedicated to the innovation, development of technologies and manufacture of shredders for the revaluation of solid waste and preparation of alternative fuels.
  • STRUBER: Family company that manages waste that goes from the collection, management, revaluation and to the final disposal of solid waste.
  • SFC UMWELTTECHNIK: Company that provides services for the design and supply of water and wastewater treatment processes for large-scale installations in municipalities and industries.

 

energia eolica

The European Union accelerates more than 160 Cleantech projects between European and American businesses

The European Union accelerates more than 160 Cleantech projects between European and American businesses Low Carbon and Circular Economy Business Action (LCBA) programme, funded by the EU, promotes the commercialisation of low-carbon technologies of small and medium-sized enterprises from the European Union in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, in key business sectors with […]

New partnership between Terra Santta and Paques

Terra Santta Energia is partnering with the Dutch technology provider Paques to transform the left-over waste from the production of ethanol (which is vignesse stillage) into biomethane and digestate for biofertilizers.

For this reason, Terra Santta aims to carry out a project for the conversion of waste from the sugar and ethanol production called vignesse that will be transformed into biogas, and into biomethane. In addition, what is left from that process will be turned into digestate.
The project is structured in 4 phases:

1. Waste out of the ethanol (Vignesse) pre-treatment
2. Conversion of the pre-treated vignesse into biogas
3. Removal of the sulfuric acid (H2S) from the biogas through the compression of biogas to obtain biomethane
4. Conversion of the biogas waste into digestate and fertilizer.

The European company Paques will provide the technological solution, implementation and management of the project.

 

New LCBA Seal recognises the potential of circular and decarbonisation projects in the Americas

The Low Carbon and Circular Economy Business Action (LCBA) programme, funded and promoted by the European Union, launches the LCBA Seal to recognise the environmental commitment of technology transfer initiatives in the field of decarbonisation, circularity and energy efficiency, carried out between American companies and European SMEs. To receive the LCBA Seal, the projects go through an acceleration, assessment and evaluation phase, the latter carried out by independent experts who make an estimate of the environmental, social and economic impact. In addition, the projects are formalised with the signing of a commercial agreement between the companies in the American markets (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia and Mexico) and the European technology suppliers.

The LCBA Seal is part of the European Union’s efforts to promote and recognise the path taken by many American companies towards sustainable transition, as well as to support the internationalisation of European technology SMEs with innovative solutions for the fight against climate change.

Although all the acceleration projects have a common element such as positive environmental impact and the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the sectors they come from are varied: waste recovery, energy generation from agricultural process residues, renewable plants, ammonia generation and green hydrogen, among others.

The LCBA programme, which offers support services, advice and technical assistance to the selected projects, will run until September 2023, and countries are currently actively recruiting projects that can benefit from the support it offers.

The leader of the LCBA Latam project team, Alfredo Caprile, pointed out that “with more than 100 projects in acceleration in the six countries, the LCBA Seal comes to publicly recognise the efforts of companies to innovate and take a firm step in their ecological transition”.