Renewable power with college seal: strong hydrogen ‘made in’ Barcelona | Training | Economy | EUROtoday

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When Anna Martín, Marcel Rovira and Mariona Figueras, at this time graduates in Industrial Design Engineering by the Elisava University School of Barcelona, ​​they had been in second profession, they had been clear that they wanted to create one thing able to transferring the slender margins of their notes. So, after a hackaton In which Rovira participated, they started to remain each Friday afternoon to work on what they usually referred to as “their own subject”, a venture that handle the necessity to benefit from surpluses of renewable power that weren’t consumed.

Of these Questas and Work classes, pushed by their very own ardour and need to innovate, and with the addition of Lucas Vicent, chemist, ATOM H2 would come up, an answer that converts extra clear power into hydrogen that’s saved in a strong state for use once more as power when essential. A venture that had the chance to incubate in Silicon Valley (USA) and feed private and non-private funds (primarily European).

The storage module they created earned them the nationwide part of the James Dyson Awards 2024; Awards organized by the muse of the identical identify that search to “celebrate, motivate and inspire the next generation of engineers, challenging them to design something that solves a problem” current in society, in accordance with María Rodríguez, senior design engineer in Dyson.

Solid hydrogen to benefit from clear power

In a primary part, the ATOM H2 resolution will deal with service to distant locations disconnected from the electrical energy community, so they’re conducting pilot checks with firms within the telecommunications towers sector (which work with diesel mills). But how does the method work?

“First the generation takes place on-site of renewable energy, thanks to solar panels or wind mills. That energy is consumed by the tower, but when there is more energy produced than consumed, that surplus passes through an electrolyz that converts the energy into hydrogen by separating the molecules of the water, “explains Rovira.” Then we store it in a solid state in our CORE technology, which does not need high pressures or low temperatures, and when necessary we pass it through a stack of fuel and becomes again. winter, ”he adds.

A system that complements lithium batteries since, as they point out, hydrogen is going very well for long -term storage, while these batteries are very efficient on a day -to -day basis. Therefore, before generating hydrogen, the first step is to recharge these batteries. “In all this technique there are three elements: the electrolyzer; the storage; and the gasoline pile, which permits us to make use of it once more within the type of electrical energy,” says Martín.

The fact that it is a modular system would also allow additional storage units, depending on the demand for energy. A versatility that, in the future, will make it suitable for both residential and industrial environments, although for now they focus on the needs of remote sites or as backup Energy to, for example, hospitals or data centers: “For a telecommunications tower that consume between one and two kilowatts, having a diesel generator continuously working means a cost (including maintenance) of about 160,000 euros in 10 years, an expense that they estimate would be reduced by half with our system,” says Rovira.

People who solve problems are sought

Initiatives such as James Dyson Awards, which have been held uninterrupted since 2004, not only serve to recognize innovation efforts, but can generate a multiplier effect on the entrepreneurial ecosystem and researcher in a country. “At the native stage, as a result of they worth the significance of innovation, particularly in relation to world points, comparable to power storage within the case of ATOM H2,” says Rodríguez. “A successful venture attracts the curiosity of traders and potential collaborators, which might enhance the nationwide entrepreneurial tradition and encourage different modern to discover concepts that face new challenges.”

The key, he adds, is to develop projects that seek to generate a positive impact on communities and address urgent challenges globally. Areas such as sustainable technologies; climatic solutions such as waste reduction; Innovations in renewable energy; and advances in medical engineering. “In addition, the expansion of synthetic intelligence (AI) and related applied sciences presents alternatives to combine improvements based mostly on knowledge into sensible functions that enhance the every day lifetime of many individuals, comparable to these with disabilities, power ailments or decreased mobility,” says Dyson’s spokeswoman.

Make visible the most social side of engineering

Applications such as those indicated can help new generations of students to make visible the most human and social side of engineering, moving away from the false idea that these are always something cold and technological. An incorrect impression that, in the opinion of Marta Olea, Vice Chancellor for Communication and Professor at the Higher Technical School of Computer Systems Engineering of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, can partly explain the decrease in the demand for engineering degrees.

“This occurs as a result of notion that exists relating to the issue of engineering careers, as a consequence of their mathematical, bodily and technological load. But it can be defined by our failure when speaking engineering from the social and human perspective,” or even the previous educational stage, “when secondary and highschool academics don’t handle to sufficiently encourage college students to name their consideration a technical profession,”

According to a study by the Institute of Graduates in Engineering and Technical Engineers of Spain (INGITE), the number of students enrolled in engineering degrees has decreased 40 % in the last 20 years, in addition to assuming 24 % of students in the 2002-2003 course only 12.72 % in 2022-2023. Data that, however, contrast with expectations for net growth between 2023 and 2027 for most branches of engineering, according to Randstad, and especially in the areas of computer science and telecommunications (due to digital transformation); the modernization of the industry; and sustainability, due to the transition to green economies and the adoption of clean energy.

To Olea, visible that more human engineer would lead to multiple benefits: on the one hand, they would help reduce the gender gap in these studies; and, on the other, the number of vocations would increase. “Applications in the Biomedical Engineering area are evident, by all gadgets and similar that are being done. For example, a project that we had here in the Polytechnic of Madrid was a bracelet that was put to the elderly to foresee, based on five parameters and with the help of AI, when they were going to be admitted, and thus take the necessary steps to avoid it. ”A critical application when it comes to extending the quality of life of people, especially if you take into account that, as Olea remembers, when someone elderly remembers, when someone is remembered, when someone is remembered in a hospital. considerable deterioration in their faculties.

The social impact of engineering is also noted very notably in a large number of international cooperation projects. “In a city in Africa we developed a venture financed by the José Entrecanales Ibarra Foundation, as a result of within the wet season they all the time remained remoted and the youngsters couldn’t even attend college. The solely factor to do was elevate the street that joined them with the principle city, in order that was the top of the top of a grade group of a gaggle of street engineering college students. They noticed the way to drain the water, what supplies, what materials

With regard to the gender hole, Olea admits that the scenario for engineering research has improved in recent times, one thing that corroborates Ingite: within the final 9 years it has elevated by 27.42%, from 44,402 within the 2015-2016 yr to 56,579 within the 2023-2024 course, and representing 24.8% of the whole variety of college students enrolled within the levels of engineering.

https://elpais.com/economia/formacion/2025-04-25/energia-renovable-con-sello-universitario-hidrogeno-solido-made-in-barcelona.html