• Fycma hosts the event ‘Innovation for an energy transition in sustainable cities’ organized by Finnova in the framework of Greencities and S-Moving
  • The event was held during the European Sustainable Development Week and the European Sustainable Energy Week

On 21 September 2022, within the framework of Greencities and S-Moving, Fycma, Palacio de Ferias y Congresos de Málaga, hosted the event “Innovation for an energy transmission in sustainable cities”, organized by Finnova. The LIFE ECODIGESTION 2.0 project, led by the company Global Omnium and whose partners are Finnova and Águas do Centro Litoral, was the protagonist of this event in which key issues for the future of the European Union in terms of environment were discussed.

The event took place during the European Sustainable Development Week and the European Sustainable Energy Week, and featured two panels, one focused on the LIFE ECODIGESTION 2.0 project and the other on sustainable mobility and smart cities.

Natalia Cediel, Communication and Institutional Relations Officer at Finnova, was in charge of opening and moderating the event. Cediel focused her speech on the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN. During her speech, she also explained the REPowerEU Plan, created by the European Commission in May 2022, to respond to the difficulties in the energy market caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “In this way, the European Union seeks to find sustainable, safe and, above all, affordable energy for citizens,’ Cediel stressed.

Juanma Revuelta, CEO of Finnova, explained the main milestones of the LIFE ECODIGESTION 2.0 project whose main objective is the scaling up of the technology for on-demand biogas production with WWTP sludge, using agri-food waste and slurry as co-substrate. “The innovative biogas-on-demand technology contributes to energy efficiency. In this way, the smallest possible amount of energy resources is used,” Revuelta said.

Lola Bordás, Marketing Officer of Finnova and president of Fundadoras, was in charge of talking about digitalization, female entrepreneurship and energy transition. “Three keys to the energy transition that the European Union seeks to experience, aiming at the digitization of all services to make it easier and faster to access them and that cannot leave women behind during this change”, she concluded. For her part, Inés Larrea, manager of Cimico, discussed the technical development of her project in biotechnology and the innovative treatment of wastewater.

Sustainable mobility and smart cities

The second block was opened by Alberto Moreno, CEO of T-box Delivery&Solutions, who stressed that “entrepreneurship for a sustainable future means stopping obsessing about algorithms and dreaming of unicorns” in an attempt to bring entrepreneurs back to the real world and forget about their presence on the internet.

Carlos David Gutiérrez, coordinator of the Fuerteventura Smart Island, coordinator of AFRIMAC and professor at the National University of Distance Education (UNED) presented his Fuerteventura Smart Island project, which he described as a “case of success and good practice”. “This initiative, chosen within the 1st Call for Smart Islands, seeks to turn the island into a smarter territory thanks to new technologies,” he explained.

Thereafter, Jesús Cumplido, Technician of the Andalusian Entrepreneurship Centres (CADE) of Málaga, in charge of subsidizing women’s businesses, helping innovative companies and the creation of new products, among other incentives, took the floor. Carmen Alonso Saavedra, Councillor for Transport, Communications, Accessibility and Mobility of the Fuerteventura Island Council, was in charge of closing the event, highlighting the potential of her territory to capture innovation and implement projects in the field of sustainable mobility.

About Greencities and S-Moving

Greencities, Intelligence and Urban Sustainability, and S-Moving, Intelligent and Sustainable Mobility is a national and international reference forum on sustainability, urban management and intelligent mobility. It is a space for the dissemination of research, experiences, success stories and analysis. In the 2022 edition, more than 250 international experts, 200 companies from around thirty countries and 2,500 total attendees will participate to share knowledge and opportunities for a more sustainable and digitized urban management.

About LIFE ECODIGESTION 2.0

The LIFE ECOdigestion 2.0 project presents a digital automatic control system for the dosing of organic waste in anaerobic digesters of WWTP (Waste Water Treatment Plant) to maximize the production of biogas on demand as renewable energy. This project has a budget of more than 970,000 euros. The pilot project, which has a duration of four years (2020-2024), is led by Global Omnium Medioambiente (Spain) and has as partners the Finnovaregio Foundation (Belgium) and Águas do Centro Litoral (Portugal). The production of biogas to cover energy demand and reduce the amount of waste in landfill contributes to compliance with the European Landfill Directive.

About the Finnova Foundation

Finnova is the European foundation for financing innovation that seeks to promote public-private cooperation through the transfer of the best available low-cost technological solutions. It aims to address societal challenges such as employment, entrepreneurship, the UN SDGs, the circular economy, waste recovery, sustainable tourism and the fight against climate change. The Finnova Foundation promotes green jobs, economic recovery and training and youth employment.